Enslaved Phase-Separation Fronts in One-Dimensional Binary Mixtures

TL;DR

This paper investigates enslaved phase-separation fronts in one-dimensional binary mixtures, providing analytical and numerical solutions to understand how these fronts influence domain sizes and morphologies.

Contribution

It offers the first analytical solution for domain sizes in enslaved phase-separation fronts and explores their behavior under various system parameters.

Findings

Analytical solution for no-deposition case

Numerical solutions for general cases

Large domains achievable via enslaved fronts

Abstract

Phase-separation fronts leave in their wakes morphologies that are substantially different from the morphologies formed in homogeneous phase-separation. In this paper we focus on fronts in binary mixtures that are enslaved phase-separation fronts, i.e. fronts that follow in the wake of a control-parameter front. In the one-dimensional case, which is the focus of this paper, the formed morphology is deceptively simple: alternating domains of a regular size. However, determining the size of these domains as a function of the front speed and other system parameters is a non-trivial problem. We present an analytical solution for the case where no material is deposited ahead of the front and numerical solutions and scaling arguments for more general cases. Through these enslaved phase-separation fronts large domains can be formed that are practically unattainable in homogeneous one-dimensional phase-separation.