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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Melting of crystals in two dimensions
Urs Gasser1, Christoph Eisenmann, Georg Maret
1Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, ETH Zurich & Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland. urs.gasser@psi.ch
Abstract:
While the melting of crystals is in general not understood in detail on a microscopic scale, there is a microscopic theory for a class of two-dimensional crystals, which is based on the formation and unbinding of topological defects. Herein, we review experimental work on a colloidal two-dimensional model system with tunable interactions that has given the first conclusive evidence for the validity of this theory on a microscopic level. Furthermore, we show how the mechanism of melting depends on the particle interaction and that a strong anisotropy of the interaction leads to a changed melting scenario.
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