Related papers: Shape Selection in Nanopillar Formation
We review several aspects of aerodynamics that affect the growth, morphology, and symmetry of snow crystals. We derive quantitative estimates for aerodynamical forces that orient falling snow crystals, estimate how air flow around snow…
The physical gelation of colloids produces elastic structures that are commonly used to stabilize complex fluids in multiple industries. However, the ability to control the level of elastic modulus of these materials is limited by the…
Hard convex polyhedra, idealized models for anisotropic colloids and nanoparticles, are known to form variety of orientational phases despite the regular arrangement of particles in the crystalline assemblies. Based on the orientational…
We consider the shape of crystals which are soft in the sense that their elastic modulus $\mu$ is small compared to their surface tension $\gamma$, more precisely $ \mu a < \gamma$ where $a$ is the lattice spacing. We show that their…
Using concepts from fluid dynamics, a partial differential equation for the shape evolution of a metallic nanowire is derived from a semiclassical energy functional that includes electron-shell effects. A rich dynamics, involving movement…
We perform numerical simulations to study self-assembly of nanoparticles mediated by an elastic planar surface. We show how the nontrivial elastic response to deformations of these surfaces leads to anisotropic interactions between the…
We report on the crystallographic structure of penta-twinned gold nanoparticles. Although gold typically exhibits a face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice, other phases have been reported in some nanoscale systems. We show that the…
The assembly of colloids in nematic liquid crystals via topological defects has been extensively studied for spherical particles, and investigations of other colloid shapes have revealed a wide array of new assembly behaviors. We show,…
Unlike other tissue types, like epithelial tissue, which consist of cells with a much more homogeneous structure and function, the nervous tissue spans in a complex multilayer environment whose topographical features display a large…
Amorphous silica deforms viscoplastically at elevated temperatures, as is common for brittle glasses. The key mechanism of viscoplastic deformation involves interatomic bond switching, which is known to be a thermally activated process. In…
When thermal energies are weak, two dimensional lamellar structures confined on a curved substrate display complex patterns arising from the competition between layer bending and compression in the presence of geometric constraints. We…
When two molecular species with mutual affinity are mixed together, various self-assembled phases can arise at low temperature, depending on the shape of like and unlike interactions. Among them, stripes -- where layers of one type are…
The self-assembly of nanocrystals enables new classes of materials whose properties are controlled by the periodicities of the assembly, as well as by the size, shape and composition of the nanocrystals. While self-assembly of spherical…
Understanding and mastering the mechanical properties of metallic nanoparticles is crucial for their use in a wide range of applications. In this context, we use atomic-scale (Molecular Dynamics) and continuous (Finite Elements)…
Topological defects, such as disclination lines in nematic liquid crystals, are fundamental to many physical systems and applications. In this work, we study the behavior of nematic disclinations in thin parallel-plate geometries with…
Morphogenesis emerges from dynamic feedback among geometry, mechanics, and chemistry; however, disentangling these contributions in living systems remains challenging. Here, we focus on the interplay between geometry and mechanics by…
We study the influence of particle shape on growth processes at the edges of evaporating drops. Aqueous suspensions of colloidal particles evaporate on glass slides, and convective flows during evaporation carry particles from drop center…
Directed growth, anisotropic cell shapes, and confinement drive self-organization in multicellular systems. We investigate the influence of particle shape on the distribution and dynamics of nematic microdomains in a minimal in-silico model…
Quasi-periodic structures of quasicrystals yield novel effects in diverse systems. However, there is little investigation on employing quasi-periodic structures in the morphology control. Here, we show the use of quasi-periodic surface…
Inhomogeneities in deposition may lead to formation of rough surfaces, whose height fluctuations can be probed directly by scanning microscopy, or indirectly by scattering. Analytical or numerical treatments of simple growth models suggest…