Topological Defects in Coulomb Crystals

A state of disorder seems to be easily generated. However, during the process of crystallization, for example, a system will seek for perfect order, its configuration of minimal energy. If a phasetransition  evolves  too  fast for  information  exchange  between  different  sections  of  the  crystal, sub-ensembles find perfect crystalline order, while becoming incommensurate at their common boarders.