Issue 14, 2015

Destabilisation of the hexatic phase in systems of hard disks by quenched disorder due to pinning on a lattice

Abstract

We investigate the effect of quenched disorder on the melting mechanism of two-dimensional hard disks using large-scale event-driven molecular dynamics simulations. The two-stage melting scenario of a continuous solid–hexatic and a first-order hexatic–liquid transition for a 2D system of hard disks does not persist in the case of quenched disorder, which arises by pinning less than one percent of the particles on a triangular lattice. Based on the Halperin–Nelson–Young (HNY) renormalization group equation, we observe that a first-order solid–liquid transition preempts the Kosterlitz–Thouless-type solid–hexatic transition in a 2D system of hard disks with quenched disorder as the stiffness of the crystal is increased by the presence of pinned particles.

Graphical abstract: Destabilisation of the hexatic phase in systems of hard disks by quenched disorder due to pinning on a lattice

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Dec 2014
Accepted
11 Feb 2015
First published
13 Feb 2015

Soft Matter, 2015,11, 2852-2856

Author version available

Destabilisation of the hexatic phase in systems of hard disks by quenched disorder due to pinning on a lattice

W. Qi and M. Dijkstra, Soft Matter, 2015, 11, 2852 DOI: 10.1039/C4SM02876G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements