Grain Boundary Scars and Spherical Crystallography

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 299; no. 5613; pp. 1716 - 1718
• Main Authors: Bausch, A. R., Bowick, M. J., Cacciuto, A., Dinsmore, A. D., Hsu, M. F., Nelson, D. R., Nikolaides, M. G., Travesset, A., Weitz, D. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 14.03.2003; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Algorithms; Coding; Computer Simulation; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Crystal lattices; Crystallography; Crystals; Defects and impurities in crystals; microstructure; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Geometry; Grain and twin boundaries; Grain boundaries; Ground state; Particle interactions; Physics; Radius of a sphere; Research Methodology; Scars; Scientific Concepts; Sphere; Spheres; Spheres (Geometry); Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Surfaces (Mathematics); Tests, problems and exercises; Triangulation; Water; Grain boundaries; Self-assembly; Optical microscopy; Spherical crystals; Two dimensional structure; Models; Spherical particle; Experimental study; High angle grain boundary; Structural analysis
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1081160

We describe experimental investigations of the structure of two-dimensional spherical crystals. The crystals, formed by beads self-assembled on water droplets in oil, serve as model systems for exploring very general theories about the minimum-energy configurations of particles with arbitrary repulsive interactions on curved surfaces. Above a critical system size we find that crystals develop distinctive high-angle grain boundaries, or scars, not found in planar crystals. The number of excess defects in a scar is shown to grow linearly with the dimensionless system size. The observed slope is expected to be universal, independent of the microscopic potential.