2D Colloidal Crystals with Quenched Anisotropic Impurities
ORAL
Abstract
The microscopic mechanisms by which materials change from liquids to solids without the usual crystallization process remains unknown. Whether window glass is a slowly aging liquid, or a true solid remains a longstanding unresolved question in condensed matter physics. Building on the recent research in two-dimensional (2D) colloidal crystals, we present an experimental study into the nature of the glass transition. The experiments performed in this work were that of 2D colloidal crystals with anisotropic quenched impurities. Our experiments are that of 2D colloidal crystals that have anisotropic impurities in the form of rods that introduce grain boundaries into the system. The colloidal crystal contains monodispersed charged polystyrene microspheres that is confined to a surface that is roughened with anisotropic impurities of chosen disorder density and strength. The resulting crystal is sheared, and the strength of the quenched disorder introduced by the rods is varied on the order of fractions of a micron. The effects of quenched anisotropic defects on the elasticity of the crystal are studied, as well as how varying the density of the quenched disorder impacts the quasi long-range order of the crystalline structure.
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Publication: The microscopic mechanisms by which materials change from liquids to solids without the usual crystallization process remains unknown. Whether window glass is a slowly aging liquid, or a true solid remains a longstanding unresolved question in condensed matter physics. Building on the recent research in two-dimensional (2D) colloidal crystals, we present an experimental study into the nature of the glass transition. In this study, the disorder present in the glassy system is controlled, and thus, the effects of anisotropic quenched disorder on the glass transition are studied.
