Cooling the two-dimensional short spherocylinder liquid to the tetratic phase: Heterogeneous dynamics with one-way coupling between rotational and translational hopping.

Abstract

We numerically demonstrate the transition from the isotropic liquid to the tetratic phase with quasilong-range tetratic alignment order (i.e., with nearly parallel or perpendicular aligned rods), for the cold two-dimensional (2D) short spherocylinder system before crystallization and investigate the thermal assisted heterogeneous rotational and translational micromotions. Comparing with the 2D liquid of isotropic particles, spherocylinders introduce extra rotational degrees of freedom and destroy packing isotropy and the equivalence between rotational and translational motions. It is found that cooling leads to the stronger dynamical heterogeneity with more cooperative hopping and the stronger retardations of rotational hopping than translational hopping. Under topological constraints from nearly parallel and perpendicular rods of the tetratic phase, longitudinal and transverse translational hopping can occur without rotational hopping, but not the reverse. The empty space trailing a neighboring translational hopping patch is needed for triggering the patch rotational hopping with its translational motion into the empty space. It is the origin for the observed increasing separation of hopping time scales and the one-way coupling between rotational and translational hopping. Strips of longitudinally or transversely aligned rods can be ruptured and reconnected with neighboring strips through buckling, kink formation, and patch rotation, under the unbalanced torques or forces from their neighboring rods and thermal kicks.