Topological Defects in Size-Dispersed Solids
M. Reza Sadr-Lahijany, Purusattam Ray, Harry Eugene Stanley · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2000
We study the behavior of the topological defects in the inherent structures of a two-dimensional binary Lennard-Jones system as the size dispersity varies. We find that topological defects arising from the particle size dispersity are responsible for destabilizing the solid as follows: (i) for particle density $ρ\leq 0.9$, the solid melts through intermediate states of decreasing hexatic order arising from the proliferation of unbounded dislocations, (ii) for $ρ> 0.9$, the dislocations form grain boundaries, dividing the system into micro-crystallites and destroying the translational and orientational order.