Abstract
Colloidal particles interacting via a long-range repulsion can, in contrast to hard-sphere systems, exhibit crystalline ordering at low volume fraction. Here we experimentally investigate the structure and properties of such “colloidal Wigner crystals.” We find a body-centered-cubic crystalline phase at volume fractions of , which exhibits large fluctuations of individual particles from their average positions. We determine the three independent crystalline elastic constants and find that these crystals are very compliant and highly anisotropic.
- Received 8 October 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.91.032310
©2015 American Physical Society