Shape fluctuations of crystal bars
In: Physical Review B : Condensed matter and materials physics, Jg. 41 (1990), Heft 4, S. 2434 - 2444
Titel:
Shape fluctuations of crystal bars
Autor*in:
Wolf, DietrichUDE
- GND
- 1273280393
- LSF ID
- 1114
- Sonstiges
- der Hochschule zugeordnete*r Autor*in
Erscheinungsjahr:
1990
Abstract:
In the standard theory of the equilibrium shape of a crystal {Wulff construction), thermal fluctuations are neglected. In the present work their effect is investigated in the simple case of a bar with four symmetric facets. The edges of the facets are found to undergo fluctuations with a correlation length proportional to the width 2R of the facets, which is itself proportional to the diameter of the bar. The amplitude of these fluctuations decays exponentially beyond a range proportional to R ' '. It is therefore legitimate to neglect them for large crystals. The stability of the bar is also considered: The decay into crystallites is very slow with a characteristic time increasing exponentially with R.