Solid-solid transition of the size-polydisperse hard-sphere system

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the solid-solid phase transition in size-polydisperse hard-sphere systems, revealing conditions for coexistence, composition differences, and a critical point similar to fluid transitions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the stability and nature of solid-solid coexistence and the critical behavior in polydisperse hard-sphere systems.

Findings

Solid-solid coexistence is more stable at high polydispersity.

Coexisting solids differ in composition but share the same crystal structure.

The transition terminates at a critical point similar to fluid-fluid transitions.

Abstract

The solid-solid coexistence of a polydisperse hard sphere system is studied by using the Monte Carlo simulation. The results show that for large enough polydispersity the solid-solid coexistence state is more stable than the single-phase solid. The two coexisting solids have different composition distributions but the same crystal structure. Moreover, there is evidence that the solid-solid transition terminates in a critical point as in the case of the fluid-fluid transition.