The introduction of a Au(III) ion into a mesogenic core, [M(Bdt)(Cnbpy)](+) (Bdt = 1,2-benzenedithiolato and Cnbpy = 4,4'-di-alkyl-2,2'-bipyridine (n = 13 (4,4'-di-tridecyl-2,2'-bipyridine (C13bpy)) and 8,10 (4,4'-di-(3-octyltridecyl)-2,2'-bipyridine (C8,10bpy)))), leads to the formation of ionic molecular assemblies in crystalline and mesophases. Successive syntheses of precursor complexes, [A...

The amorphous, liquid and crystalline phases of the phase change material Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) (GST) have been studied by means of density functional/molecular dynamics simulations. The large sample (460 atoms and 52 vacancies in the unit cell) and long simulations (hundreds of picoseconds) provide much new information. Here we extend our original analysis (2007 Phys. Rev. B 76 235201) in important ...

Amorphous and crystalline powder of PLT phase was synthesized by using the Pechini method. Infrared (FTIR) analysis of the polymeric resin shows intense bands of organic materials from 250 to 1620 cm−1. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectra of calcined powder at different temperatures show amorphous phase at 450 ◦C/3 h, semi-crystalline phase at 550 ◦C/3 h and a crystalline phase at 800 ◦C/...

Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of nanoindentation on a (100) oriented silicon surface were performed to investigate the mechanical behavior and phase transformation of single crystalline silicon. The direct crystalline-to-amorphous transformation is observed during the nanoindentation with a spherical indenter as long as the applied indentation strain or load is large enough. This a...

In recent years, a field of research that is growing steadily is the photoinduced phenomenon in which the incident light itself brings about molecular ordering/ disordering of the liquid crystalline system. This particular aspect of photonics, in which light can be controlled by light as a stimulus, is being proposed as the future technology for high-speed information processing and photochromi...

Structural defects and their dynamics play an important role in controlling the behavior of phase-change materials (PCM) used in low-power nonvolatile memory devices. However, not much is known about the influence of disorder on the electronic properties of crystalline PCM prior to a structural phase-change. Here, we show that the application of voltage pulses to single-crystalline GeTe nanowir...

Using Monte Carlo simulations and free energy calculations, we study the phase behavior of hard asymmetric dumbbell particles with a constituent sphere diameter ratio of 0.5. We find a rich phase behavior with isotropic fluid, rotator, and periodic NaCl-based and both periodic and aperiodic CrB-based crystalline phases. The rotator phases found to be stable in this study are similar to those fo...

In situ studies have been performed on thin films in the Al rich region of the Al–Cu–Fe–Cr quasicrystalline phase field. Thin films were grown by magnetron sputtering on atomically flat MgO (0 0 1) and Al O (0 0 0 1) and subsequently studied by 2 3 transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. High resolution electron microscopy shows that thin films (-30 nm) grown at r...

The formation of intricately shaped crystalline minerals by organisms is orchestrated by specialized biomacromolecules. The macromolecules associated with coccoliths, nanometer-sized calcite crystal arrays produced by marine microalgae, can form a distinct calcium-rich phase via macromolecular recognition. Here, we show that this calcium-rich phase can be mineralized into a thin film of single-...