From Crystals to Disordered Crystals: A Hidden Order-Disorder Transition

To distinguish between order and disorder is of fundamental importance to understanding solids. It becomes more significant with recent observations that solids with high structural order can behave like disordered solids, while properties of disordered solids can approach crystals under certain circumstance. It is then imperative to understand when and how disorder takes effect to deviate the properties of a solid from crystals and what the correct factors are to control the behaviours of solids. Here we answer these questions by reporting the finding of a hidden order-disorder transition from crystals to disordered crystals for static packings of frictionless spheres. While the geometric indicators are mostly blind to the transition, disordered crystals already exhibit properties apart from crystals. The transition approaches the close packing of hard spheres, giving rise to the singularity of the close packing point. We evidence that both the transition and properties of disordered crystals are jointly determined by the structural order and density. Near the transition, the elastic moduli and coordination number of disordered crystals show particular pressure dependence distinct from known behaviours of both crystals and jammed solids. The discovery of the transition therefore reveals some unknown aspects of solids.