Phase diagram of a system of hard spherocylinders by computer simulation

Abstract

We report a computer-simulation study of the phase diagram of a system of hard spherocylinders with aspect ratio L/D between 0 and 5. For L/D≤3 only isotropic liquid and crystalline solid phases can occur. For L/D=3 a mechanically stable smectic phase occurs, but it is thermodynamically unstable. For larger L/D values, stable smectic and nematic phases are present.