Curvature-Controlled Topological Defects
Effectively, two-dimensional (2D) closed films exhibiting in-plane orientational ordering (ordered shells) might be instrumental for the realization of scaled crystals. In them, ordered shells are expected to play the role of atoms. Furthermore, topological defects (TDs) within them would determine...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-05-01
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| Series: | Crystals |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/7/6/153 |
| _version_ | 1828116222637506560 |
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| author | Luka Mesarec Pavlo Kurioz Aleš Iglič Wojciech Góźdź Samo Kralj |
| author_facet | Luka Mesarec Pavlo Kurioz Aleš Iglič Wojciech Góźdź Samo Kralj |
| author_sort | Luka Mesarec |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Effectively, two-dimensional (2D) closed films exhibiting in-plane orientational ordering (ordered shells) might be instrumental for the realization of scaled crystals. In them, ordered shells are expected to play the role of atoms. Furthermore, topological defects (TDs) within them would determine their valence. Namely, bonding among shells within an isotropic liquid matrix could be established via appropriate nano-binders (i.e., linkers) which tend to be attached to the cores of TDs exploiting the defect core replacement mechanism. Consequently, by varying configurations of TDs one could nucleate growth of scaled crystals displaying different symmetries. For this purpose, it is of interest to develop a simple and robust mechanism via which one could control the position and number of TDs in such atoms. In this paper, we use a minimal mesoscopic model, where variational parameters are the 2D curvature tensor and the 2D orientational tensor order parameter. We demonstrate numerically the efficiency of the effective topological defect cancellation mechanism to predict positional assembling of TDs in ordered films characterized by spatially nonhomogeneous Gaussian curvature. Furthermore, we show how one could efficiently switch among qualitatively different structures by using a relative volume v of ordered shells, which represents a relatively simple naturally accessible control parameter. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:53:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0fc0bbd6a1a64ef793e2a2a9ddb9e2e6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4352 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:53:33Z |
| publishDate | 2017-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Crystals |
| spelling | doaj.art-0fc0bbd6a1a64ef793e2a2a9ddb9e2e62022-12-22T04:23:08ZengMDPI AGCrystals2073-43522017-05-017615310.3390/cryst7060153cryst7060153Curvature-Controlled Topological DefectsLuka Mesarec0Pavlo Kurioz1Aleš Iglič2Wojciech Góźdź3Samo Kralj4Laboratory of Biophysics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška 25, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaJožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaLaboratory of Biophysics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška 25, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaInstitute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kasprzaka 44/52, 01-224 Warsaw, PolandCondensed Matter Physics Department, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, SloveniaEffectively, two-dimensional (2D) closed films exhibiting in-plane orientational ordering (ordered shells) might be instrumental for the realization of scaled crystals. In them, ordered shells are expected to play the role of atoms. Furthermore, topological defects (TDs) within them would determine their valence. Namely, bonding among shells within an isotropic liquid matrix could be established via appropriate nano-binders (i.e., linkers) which tend to be attached to the cores of TDs exploiting the defect core replacement mechanism. Consequently, by varying configurations of TDs one could nucleate growth of scaled crystals displaying different symmetries. For this purpose, it is of interest to develop a simple and robust mechanism via which one could control the position and number of TDs in such atoms. In this paper, we use a minimal mesoscopic model, where variational parameters are the 2D curvature tensor and the 2D orientational tensor order parameter. We demonstrate numerically the efficiency of the effective topological defect cancellation mechanism to predict positional assembling of TDs in ordered films characterized by spatially nonhomogeneous Gaussian curvature. Furthermore, we show how one could efficiently switch among qualitatively different structures by using a relative volume v of ordered shells, which represents a relatively simple naturally accessible control parameter.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/7/6/153topological defectsGaussian curvatureself-assemblingcrystal growth nucleation |
| spellingShingle | Luka Mesarec Pavlo Kurioz Aleš Iglič Wojciech Góźdź Samo Kralj Curvature-Controlled Topological Defects Crystals topological defects Gaussian curvature self-assembling crystal growth nucleation |
| title | Curvature-Controlled Topological Defects |
| title_full | Curvature-Controlled Topological Defects |
| title_fullStr | Curvature-Controlled Topological Defects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Curvature-Controlled Topological Defects |
| title_short | Curvature-Controlled Topological Defects |
| title_sort | curvature controlled topological defects |
| topic | topological defects Gaussian curvature self-assembling crystal growth nucleation |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/7/6/153 |
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