Melting of Colloidal Crystal Films
Penn collection
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
Physics
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Contributor
Abstract
We study melting mechanisms in single and polycrystalline colloidal films composed of diametertunable microgel spheres with short-ranged repulsive interactions and confined between two glass walls. Thick films (>4 layers), thin-films (≤4 layers), and monolayers exhibit different melting behaviors. Thick films melt from grain boundaries in polycrystalline solid films and from film-wall interfaces in single-crystal films; a liquid-solid coexistence regime is observed in thick films but vanishes at a critical thickness of 4 layers. Thin solid films (2 to 4 layers) melt into the liquid phase in one step from both grain boundaries and from within crystalline domains. Monolayers melt in two steps with a middle hexatic phase.