Formation of double glass in binary mixtures of anisotropic particles

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation of double glass states in binary mixtures of anisotropic and isotropic particles, revealing how particle interactions and composition influence glass transition behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces a model for double glass formation in two-dimensional mixtures of elliptic and circular particles with orientation-dependent interactions.

Findings

Double glass states exhibit disordered positions and orientations with mesoscopic order.

Rotational and translational dynamics slow down near the glass transition.

Elliptic particle turnover motions are more frequent than structural relaxations.

Abstract

We study glass transitions in mixtures of elliptic and circular particles in two dimensions using an orientation-dependent Lennard-Jones potential. Changing anisotropic parameters of the potential, the size ratio, and the concentration, we realize double glass, where both the particle positions and orientations are disordered but still hold mesoscopic order. The ellipses are anchored around the circular impurities in the homeotropic or planar directions. We examine slowing-down of rotational and translational time-correlation functions. Turnover motions of the ellipses are activated more frequently than the configuration changes, where the latter cause the structural relaxation.