Crystallization dynamics of a single layer complex plasma.
We report a series of complex (dusty) plasma experiments, aimed at the study of the detailed time evolution of the recrystallization process following a rapid quench of a two-dimensional dust liquid. The experiments were accompanied by large-scale (million-particle) molecular dynamics simulations, 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 a direct size measurement algorithm. The results show two stages of order formation. On short time scales, individual particle motion dominates; this is a fast 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.
Hartmann
Peter
P
Research Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest, Hungary.
Douglass
Angela
A
Reyes
Jorge C
JC
Matthews
Lorin S
LS
Hyde
Truell W
TW
Kovács
Anikó
A
Donkó
Zoltán
Z