Recent studies of melting in hard disks have confirmed the existence of a hexatic phase occurring in a narrow window of density which is separated from the isotropic liquid phase by a first-order transition, and from the solid phase by a continuous transition. However, little is known concerning the melting scenario in mixtures of hard disks. Here we employ tailored Monte Carlo simulations to elucidate the phase behavior of a system of large (l) and small (s) disks with diameter ratio σl/σs=1.4. We find that as small disks are introduced to a system of large ones, the stability window of the hexatic phase shrinks progressively until the line of continuous transitions terminates at an end point beyond which melting becomes a first-order liquid-solid transition. This occurs at surprisingly low concentrations of the small disks, c≤1%, emphasizing the fragility of the hexatic phase. We speculate that the change to the melting scenario is a consequence of strong fractionation effects, the nature of which we elucidate.
Disappearance of the hexatic phase in a binary mixture of hard disks / Russo, J.; Wilding, N. B.. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. - ISSN 0031-9007. - 119:11(2017), p. 115702. [10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.115702]
Disappearance of the hexatic phase in a binary mixture of hard disks
Russo J.;
2017
Abstract
Recent studies of melting in hard disks have confirmed the existence of a hexatic phase occurring in a narrow window of density which is separated from the isotropic liquid phase by a first-order transition, and from the solid phase by a continuous transition. However, little is known concerning the melting scenario in mixtures of hard disks. Here we employ tailored Monte Carlo simulations to elucidate the phase behavior of a system of large (l) and small (s) disks with diameter ratio σl/σs=1.4. We find that as small disks are introduced to a system of large ones, the stability window of the hexatic phase shrinks progressively until the line of continuous transitions terminates at an end point beyond which melting becomes a first-order liquid-solid transition. This occurs at surprisingly low concentrations of the small disks, c≤1%, emphasizing the fragility of the hexatic phase. We speculate that the change to the melting scenario is a consequence of strong fractionation effects, the nature of which we elucidate.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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