Steps and facets at the surface of soft crystals

Details Steps and facets at the surface of soft crystals Steps and facets at the surface of soft crystals

2001-10-30

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0110618v1

Eur. Phys. J. B 24, 287 (2001)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

8 Pages, 1 Figure. To appear on Eur. Phys. Journal. B

Scientific paper

10.1007/s10051-001-8688-z

We consider the shape of crystals which are soft in the sense that their elastic modulus $\mu$ is small compared to their surface tension $\gamma$, more precisely $ \mu a < \gamma$ where $a$ is the lattice spacing. We show that their surface steps penetrate inside the crystal as edge dislocations. As a consequence, these steps are broad with a small energy which we calculate. We also calculate the elastic interaction between steps a distance $d$ apart, which is a $1/d^2$ repulsion. We finally calculate the roughening temperatures of successive facets in order to compare with the remarkable shapes of lyotropic crystals recently observed by P. Pieranski et al. Good agreement is found.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Steps and facets at the surface of soft crystals does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Steps and facets at the surface of soft crystals, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Steps and facets at the surface of soft crystals will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-13179