Sandbrink M, Schmiedeberg M (2014)
Publication Status: Published
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2014
Publisher: AMER PHYSICAL SOC
Book Volume: 90
Journal Issue: 6
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.90.064108
We present an approach based on colloidal epitaxy to obtain three-dimensional colloidal quasicrystals, i.e., structures with long-range order but no periodicity. In contrast to other attempts to obtain soft-matter quasicrystals by design, no fine tuning of the colloid-colloid interactions is required. By using Monte Carlo simulations, we explore the development of multiple layers with the desired quasicrystalline symmetry when the colloidal particles sediment onto suitable quasicrystalline substrates. In addition, well-defined defect lines can be induced in the grown colloidal quasicrystal by constructing substrates with well-chosen defects that lead to induced defect lines. We present a study of the three-dimensional course of such dislocation lines by inducing and analyzing stable lines that bend, unstable ones that split up, or defect lines that merge with other defects. Dislocations are characterized by Burgers vectors that are composed of a phononic part as in a periodic crystal and an additional phasonic part that is unique to quasicrystals. As in a periodic crystal, the sum of all Burgers vectors is conserved along defect lines and at all forks. However, unlike in a periodic crystal, the course of a dislocation line in a quasicrystal depends on its position. Furthermore, although in a quasicrystal all Burgers vectors can always be written as sum of Burgers vectors with a smaller phononic part, we find dislocations that do not decompose into dislocations with smaller phononic Burgers vectors. For quasicrystals with eightfold and twelvefold rotational symmetry, we identify basis Burgers vectors that denote stable dislocations. Our results can be verified in experiments and are important for applications of colloidal quasicrystals, e.g., for the development of photonic quasicrystals.
APA:
Sandbrink, M., & Schmiedeberg, M. (2014). Course of dislocation lines in templated three-dimensional colloidal quasicrystals. Physical Review B, 90(6). https://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.064108
MLA:
Sandbrink, Matthias, and Michael Schmiedeberg. "Course of dislocation lines in templated three-dimensional colloidal quasicrystals." Physical Review B 90.6 (2014).
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