Using computer simulations of an atomistic glass-forming liquid, we investigate the fluctuations of the overlap between a fluid configuration and a quenched reference system. We find that large fluctuations of the overlap develop as temperature decreases, consistent with the existence of the random critical point that is predicted by effective field theories. We discuss the scaling of fluctuati...

The structure and evolution of grain boundaries underlies the nature of polycrystalline materials. Here we describe an experimental apparatus and light reflection technique for measuring disorder at grain boundaries in optically clear material, in thermodynamic equilibrium. The approach is demonstrated on ice bicrystals. Crystallographic orientation is measured for each ice sample. The type and...

Resistively shunted junction dynamics is applied to the three-dimensional uniformly frustrated XY model with randomly perturbed couplings, as a model for driven steady states in a type-II superconductor with quenched point pinning. For a disorder strength p strong enough to produce a vortex glass in equilibrium, we map the phase diagram as a function of temperature T and uniform driving current...

Colloidal nanocrystals are a technologically important class of nanostructures whose phase change properties have been largely unexplored. Here we report on the melting behavior of In, Sn, and Bi nanocrystals dispersed in a polymer matrix. This polymer matrix prevents the nanocrystals from coalescing with one another and enables previously unaccessed observations on the melting behavior of coll...

Various melting-related phenomena (like surface melting, size dependence of melting temperature, melting of few nm-size particles, and overheating at very fast heating rate) are of great fundamental and applied interest, although the corresponding theory is still lacking. Here we develop an advanced phase-field theory of melting coupled to mechanics, which resolves numerous existing contradicti...

In the present study, molecular dynamics simulations have been utilized to provide fundamental understanding of melting behavior of pure Pd and Pt nanoparticles with the size of 10 nm in diameter, both free and graphene-supported during continuous heating. The embedded atom method is employed to model the metal-metal interactions, whereas a Lennard-Jones potential is applied to describe the met...

The melting of a 64 ion microcrystal of KCI was studied by means of a molecular dynamics computer simulation. We used a central pair interaction with an inverse power law repulsion. The thermodynamics, kinetic and structural properties such as melting temperature, latent heat, mean square displacement, diffusion constant, radial distribution function and bond angle distribution are calculated. ...

Ion mobility and mass spectrometry techniques are coupled with a temperature-controlled electrospray ionization source to follow the structural transitions of ubiquitin in aqueous solution (pH = 3) at elevated solution temperatures (T = 26-96 °C). Changes in the charge state distribution are consistent with a two-state, cooperative unfolding transition having a melting temperature of Tm = 71 ± ...

In order to obtain a lightweight material having an excellent high-temperature strength, Mg alloy composites reinforced with short alumina fibers and in situ Mg2Si particles were fabricated. The composites were fabricated by pressureless infiltration of the Mg alloy melt into the preform consisting of the fibers and attached Si particles. The volume fraction of Si particles in the preform, the ...

The melting behavior of ZnTe nanowires has been investigated using a transmission electron microscope in both bright field and high-angle annular dark field modes. The ZnTe nanowires, 30−160 nm in diameter, were heated using a controllable heating system, and their melting temperature was studied. The results showed a significant reduction of the melting temperature of about 450 °C, depending o...