Morphology of monolayer films on quasicrystalline surfaces from the phase field crystal model

Abstract

We present a computational study of the morphology of adsorbed monolayers on quasicrystalline surfaces with five- and seven-fold symmetry. The phase field crystal model is employed to first simulate the growth of the quasicrystal surfaces and then to elastically couple a two-dimensional film to the substrate. We find several distinct pseudomorphic phases that depend on the position of adsorption sites as well as the strength of the monolayer/substrate interaction, and quantify them by computing local order parameters. In qualitative agreement with recent experiments using colloids in quasiperiodic light fields, we find that the formation of quasicrystalline order is greatly inhibited on seven-fold surfaces.