Topological Defects in Size-Dispersed Solids

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We study the behavior of the topological defects in the inherent structures of a two-dimensional binary Lennard-Jones system as the size dispersity varies. We find that topological defects arising from the particle size dispersity are responsible for destabilizing the solid as follows: (i) for particle density ρ≤ 0.9, the solid melts through intermediate states of decreasing hexatic order arising from the proliferation of unbounded dislocations, (ii) for ρ> 0.9, the dislocations form grain boundaries, dividing the system into micro-crystallites and destroying the translational and orientational order.