Crystallization in Glassy Suspensions of Hard Ellipsoids

Abstract

We have carried out computer simulations of overcompressed suspensions of hard monodisperse ellipsoids and observed their crystallization dynamics. The system was compressed very rapidly in order to reach the regime of slow, glass-like dynamics. We find that, although particle dynamics become sub-diffusive and the intermediate scattering function clearly develops a shoulder, crystallization proceeds via the usual scenario: nucleation and growth for small supersaturations, spinodal decomposition for large supersaturations. In particular, we compared the mobility of the particles in the regions where crystallization set in with the mobility in the rest of the system. We did not find any signature in the dynamics of the melt that pointed towards the imminent crystallization events.

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Mixtures of anisotropic and spherical colloids: Phase behavior, confinement, percolation phenomena and kinetics
• The role of local bond-order at crystallization in a simple supercooled liquid