Cracks in magnetic nanocrystal films: do directional and isotropic crack patterns follow the same scaling law?

Ngo, Anh Tu; Richardi, Johannes; Pileni, Marie Paule · Nano Lett · 2008

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

In this letter, we show that the use of nanocrystals enables new insights into the scaling law of crack patterns. Directional and isotropic crack patterns made of gamma-Fe2O3 nanocrystals follow the same scaling law, with the film height varying by 3 orders of magnitude. A simple two-dimensional computer model for elastic fracture also leads to the same scaling behavior for directional and isotropic cracks, in good agreement with the experiments.