Self-assembly of colloidal bands driven by a periodic external field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how colloidal particles self-assemble into bands under periodic external fields, analyzing the effects of interaction strength and field parameters through simulations and theoretical modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a combined simulation and density-functional theory approach to understand band formation and dynamics in colloidal systems under external fields.

Findings

Band width depends on interaction strength and field parameters.

Switching dynamics and relaxation times are characterized.

Scaling relations are derived from a dynamic density-functional theory.

Abstract

We study the formation of bands of colloidal particles driven by periodic external fields. Using Brownian dynamics, we determine the dependence of the band width on the strength of the particle interactions and on the intensity and periodicity of the field. We also investigate the switching (field-on) dynamics and the relaxation times as a function of the system parameters. The observed scaling relations were analyzed using a simple dynamic density-functional theory of fluids.