Devil's staircase-type faceting of a cubic lyotropic liquid crystal

Phys Rev Lett. 2000 Mar 13;84(11):2409-12. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.2409.

Abstract

The faceting of monocrystals of the lyotropic cubic liquid crystals in equilibrium with a humid atmosphere is observed. Experiments reveal the presence of more than 60 different types of facets on the surface of a spherical crystal of radius R = 1 mm. The devil's staircase type of faceting has been predicted theoretically when the interaction between steps on the crystal surface is repulsive.