Internal-stress-induced solid-solid transition involving orientational domains of anisotropic particles.

Abstract

Colloidal particles with anisotropic interaction, such as Janus particles, are important model systems for anisotropic atoms and molecules. Janus particles in a single crystal can rotate collectively and form polycrystalline orientational domains as the temperature increases, while the lattice structure in the translational degree of freedom is preserved. Such an unusual solid-solid transition preserves the long-range translational order but loses the orientational order, and its mechanism is unclear. We find that the transition is induced by internal strains and the orientation-position coupling plays an essential role in the transition. We explain the mechanism using the anisotropic elasticity theory and derive the transition condition and the directions of the domain boundaries by analyzing the strain energy and the stress. The results of the molecular dynamics simulation are consistent with the theoretical analysis. Such a transition mechanism can exist in other anisotropic particle systems.