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Nature 413, 694-695 (18 October 2001) | doi:10.1038/35099662
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PhD - Helmholtz International Graduate School for Infection Research
- Helmholtz-Zentrum fur Infektionsforschung
- Braunschweig Germany
Junior Research Groups (W1 / W2)
- Cluster of Excellence "Multimodal Computing and Interaction"
- Saarbruecken Germany
Crystallization: Diversity suppresses growth
David W. Oxtoby
Abstract
Colloids, which consist of small particles in suspension, can switch from a fluid to a crystalline state. But a careful simulation of this phase transition shows that some types of colloids cannot crystallize.
The shimmering iridescence of an opal gemstone arises from the diffraction of visible light by tiny particles. Such opalescence can occur because colloidal particles, which are hundreds to thousands of times larger than single atoms, can spontaneously arrange themselves into regular crystalline arrays — just like atomic or molecular crystals.
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