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The crystallography of correlated disorder

Nature volume 521, pages 303–309 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Classical crystallography can determine structures as complicated as multi-component ribosomal assemblies with atomic resolution, but is inadequate for disordered systems—even those as simple as water ice—that occupy the complex middle ground between liquid-like randomness and crystalline periodic order. Correlated disorder nevertheless has clear crystallographic signatures that map to the type of disorder, irrespective of the underlying physical or chemical interactions and material involved. This mapping hints at a common language for disordered states that will help us to understand, control and exploit the disorder responsible for many interesting physical properties.

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Figure 1: Correlated disorder in the Ising triangular lattice.
Figure 2: Ice-like states on the pyrochlore lattice.
Figure 3: Local symmetry mismatch.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for discussions with J. A. M. Paddison, M. J. Cliffe and A. B. Cairns. A.L.G. acknowledges financial support from the ERC (grant number 279705).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, UK

    David A. Keen

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR, UK

    Andrew L. Goodwin

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D.A.K. and A.L.G. contributed equally to this work.

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Correspondence to David A. Keen or Andrew L. Goodwin.

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Keen, D., Goodwin, A. The crystallography of correlated disorder. Nature 521, 303–309 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14453

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