Department

Physics

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-10-2010

Abstract

We report a series of complex (dusty) plasma experiments, aimed at the study of the detailed time evolution of the recrystallization process followinga rapid quench of a two-dimensional dust liquid. The experiments were accompanied by large-scale (million-particle) molecular dynamicssimulations, assuming Yukawa-type interparticle interaction. Both experiment and simulation show a ∝t(α) (power-law) dependence of the linear crystallite domain size as measured by the bond-order correlation length, translational correlation length, dislocation (defect) density, and adirect size measurement algorithm. The results show two stages of order formation. On short time scales, individual particle motion dominates; this is afast process characterized by α=0.93±0.1. At longer time scales, small crystallites undergo collective rearrangement, merging into bigger ones, resulting in a smaller exponent α=0.38±0.06.

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

Publisher Statement

Copyright 2010 by The American Physical Society.

Hartmann, P., Douglass, A., Reyes, J. C., Matthews, L. S., Hyde, T. W., Kovács, A., & Donkó, Z. (2010). Crystallization dynamics of a single layer complex plasma. Physical Review Letters, 105(11), 115004.

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.115004

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