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Updated: May 11, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Anisotropic shear melting and recrystallization of a two-dimensional complex plasma
V Nosenko1, A V Ivlev, G E Morfill
1Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, D-85741 Garching, Germany. nosenko@mpe.mpg.de
Abstract:
A two-dimensional plasma crystal was melted by suddenly applying localized shear stress. A stripe of particles in the crystal was pushed by the radiation pressure force of a laser beam. We found that the response of the plasma crystal to stress and the eventual shear melting depended strongly on the crystal's angular orientation relative to the laser beam. Shear stress and strain rate were measured, from which the spatially resolved shear viscosity was calculated. The latter was shown to have minima in the regions with highest strain rate, thus demonstrating shear thinning. Shear-induced reordering was observed in the steady-state flow, where particles formed strings aligned in the flow direction.
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