Crystalline multilayers of the confined Yukawa system

TL;DR

This paper explores the complex phase behavior of confined Yukawa particles at zero temperature, revealing multiple stable multilayer structures that can be experimentally observed in colloidal and plasma systems.

Contribution

It provides a detailed phase diagram of Yukawa particles confined between hard walls beyond bilayer configurations, identifying new stable multilayer structures.

Findings

Identification of stable multilayer phases including prism, hcp-derived, and waffle-like structures.

Discovery of phase transitions driven by screening parameter tuning.

Potential for experimental verification in colloidal and plasma systems.

Abstract

The phase diagram of Yukawa particles confined between two parallel hard walls is calculated at zero-temperature beyond the bilayer regime by lattice-sum-minimization. Tuning the screening, a rich phase behavior is found in the regime bounded by stable two-triangular layers and 3-square layers. In this regime, alternating prism phases with square and triangular basis, structures derived from a hcp bulk lattice, and a structure with two outer layers and two inner staggered rectangular layers, reminiscent of a Belgian waffle iron, are stable. These structures are verifiable in experiments on charged colloidal suspensions and dusty plasma sheets.