Berlin 2008 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 20: POSTERS Driven Soft Matter

CPP 20.25: Poster

Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 16:00–18:30, Poster A

CRYSTAL SUPERSTRUCTURES OF COLLOIDAL CRYSTALS IN CONFINEMENT — Ana Barreira Fontecha, •Hans Joachim Schöpe, and Thomas Palberg — Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Institut für Physik, Staudinger Weg 7, 55099 Mainz, Deutschland

Colloidal model systems have been used over three decades investigating the structural and dynamic properties of liquids, crystals and glasses as well as crystallization and the glass transition. Crystal superstructures have been observed in binary systems of repulsive spheres as well as oppositly charged sphere systems showing structures well known from atomic solids. We study the structural transition of colloidal crystals confined to low angle wedge geometry. Restricting the available space leads to an adaptation of the crystalline bulk structures to the symmetry of the confinement and a rich variety of strutures is found as a function of colloid packing fraction and confinement dimension. In addition to the known sequence of crystalline structures, crystal superstructures with dodecagonal symmetry are observed in one component colloidal model system under confinemen having no atomic counterpart.

PRL, submitted