Melting of colloidal molecular crystals on triangular lattices

The phase behavior of a two-dimensional colloidal system subject to a commensurate triangular potential is investigated. We consider the integer number of colloids in each potential minimum as rigid composite objects with effective discrete degrees of freedom. It is shown that there is a rich variet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2005-08, Vol.95 (8), p.088302-088302, Article 088302
Main Authors: SARLAH, A, FRANOSCH, T, FREY, E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Equations of state, phase equilibria, and phase transitions
Exact sciences and technology
Physics
Specific phase transitions
Structural transitions in nanoscale materials
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Summary:The phase behavior of a two-dimensional colloidal system subject to a commensurate triangular potential is investigated. We consider the integer number of colloids in each potential minimum as rigid composite objects with effective discrete degrees of freedom. It is shown that there is a rich variety of phases including "herringbone" and "Japanese 6 in 1" phases. The ensuing phase diagram and phase transitions are analyzed analytically within variational mean-field theory and supplemented by Monte Carlo simulations. Consequences for experiments are discussed.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.088302