Short-Time Dynamic Signature of the Liquid–Crystal–Glass Transition in a Suspension of Charged Spherical Colloids

In this paper, the dynamic transition of the liquid–crystal–glass transition is investigated by dynamic light scattering, DLS. From the intensity autocorrelation function, g2(q, t), the short-time dynamic function, D(q), has been determined at different concentrations in both the crystal and glass regions. From D(q), the short-time self-diffusion, ds, was determined. ds speeds up in the crystal state but has very similar characteristics in the liquid and the glass region. The general model in which the colloidal crystallization transition in a spherical colloidal system is driven by an increase in local entropy is also verified by relating ds to the local excess entropy. Experimentally determined structure factors, S(q), are also discussed, and we show the similarity between the glass and the liquid. This investigation shows that the liquid–crystal transition can be identified in addition to the appearance of Bragg peaks with a short-time dynamic transition while no sharp transition in the short-time dyna...