Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: We use confocal microscopy to directly visualize the dynamics of ageing colloidal glasses. We prepare a colloidal suspension at high density, a simple model system that shares many properties with other glasses, and initiate experiments by stirring the sample. We follow the motion of several thousand colloidal particles after the stirring and observe that their motion significantly slows as the sample ages. The ageing is both spatially and temporally heterogeneous. Furthermore, while the characteristic relaxation timescale grows with the age of the sample, nontrivial particle motions continue to occur on all timescales.
Authors: Rachel E Courtland, Eric R Weeks
Institution: Emory University
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2166042211