Related papers: Shape Selection in Nanopillar Formation

We perform extensive Monte Carlo simulations of a lattice model and the Go potential to investigate the existence of folding pathways at the level of contact cluster formation for two native structures with markedly different geometries.…

Point defects in real crystals at finite temperatures are inevitable. Their dynamics severely influence the mechanical properties of crystals under shear giving rise to nonlinear effects such as ductility. Therefore, it is crucial to…

The energetically optimal position of lattice defects on intrinsically curved surfaces is a complex function of shape parameters. For open surfaces, a simple condition predicts the critical size for which a central disclination yields lower…

Solid substrates can be endued with self-organized regular stripe patterns of nanoscopic lengthscale by Langmuir-Blodgett transfer of organic monolayers. Here we consider the effect of periodically prepatterned substrates on this process of…

Amorphous solids, confined on the nano-scale, exhibit a wealth of novel phenomena yet to be explored. In particular, the response of such solids to a mechanical load is not well understood and, as has been demonstrated experimentally, it…

Crystallization of supersaturated liquids usually starts by heterogeneous nucleation. Mounting evidence shows that even homogeneous nucleation in simple liquids takes place in two steps; first a dense amorphous precursor forms, and the…

We investigate experimentally and numerically the defect configurations emerging when a cholesteric liquid crystal is confined to a spherical shell. We uncover a rich scenario of defect configurations, some of them non-existent in nematic…

Vortex crystals, ordered structures observed in superconductors and rotating superfluids, have also been hypothesized to form in classical fluids, based on numerical simulations and observations of the Jovian polar atmospheres. We perform…

During the catalytic synthesis of graphene, nanotubes, fibers, and other nanostructures, many intriguing phenomena occur, such as phase separation, precipitation, and analogs of capillary action. We demonstrate that catalytic nanoparticles…

Understanding the drift motion and dynamical locking of crystalline clusters on patterned substrates is important for the diffusion and manipulation of nano- and micro-scale objects on surfaces. In a previous work, we studied the…

We propose a novel approach to continuum modeling of the dynamics of crystal surfaces. Our model follows the evolution of an ensemble of step configurations, which are consistent with the macroscopic surface profile. Contrary to the usual…

Using a version of density-functional theory which combines Onsager approximation and fundamental-measure theory for spatially nonuniform phases, we have studied the phase diagram of freely rotating hard rectangles and hard discorectangles.…

Collective dynamics in proliferating anisotropic particle systems arise from an interplay between growth, division, and mechanical interactions, often mediated by particle shape. In classical models of prolate, rod-like growth, flow-induced…

Various metallic structures of complex shape, resembling natural objects such as plants, mushrooms, and seashells, were produced when growing nanowires by means of pulsed current electroplating in porous membranes. These structures occur as…

Structural disorder causes materials surface electronic properties, e.g. work function ($\phi$) to vary spatially, yet it is challenging to prove exact causal relationships to underlying ensemble disorder, e.g. roughness or granularity. For…

We demonstrate scaffolding of plasmonic nanoparticles by topological defects induced by colloidal microspheres to match their surface boundary conditions with a uniform far-field alignment in a liquid crystal host. Displacing energetically…

We use molecular dynamics to study the ordering of a nematic liquid crystal around a spherical particle or droplet. Homeotropic boundary conditions and strong anchoring create a hedgehog director configuration on the particle surface and in…

We have studied the optical properties of metallic nanoparticles with arbitrary shape. We performed theoretical calculations of the absorption, extinction and scattering efficiencies, which can be directly compared with experiments, using…

The relaxation of axisymmetric crystal surfaces with a single facet below the roughening transition is studied via a continuum approach that accounts for step energy g_1 and step-step interaction energy g_3>0. For diffusion-limited…

We consider a two-dimensional layer of dipolar particles in the regime of strong dipole moments. Here we can describe the system using classical methods and determine the crystal structure that minimizes the total energy. The dipoles are…