Enhanced colloidal transport in twisted magnetic patterns

TL;DR

This study reveals that twisted magnetic patterns can significantly enhance colloidal particle transport, with potential applications in microfluidic devices, by creating flat channels that increase particle mobility.

Contribution

It demonstrates that twisted magnetic patterns induce flat channels that boost colloidal transport, extending twistronics concepts to classical soft matter systems.

Findings

Flat channels form at specific twist angles, increasing colloidal mobility.

Square twisted patterns enhance transport more than hexagonal ones.

Temperature and drift force influence colloidal mobility.

Abstract

Bilayers of two-dimensional materials twisted at specific angles can exhibit exceptional properties such as the occurrence of unconventional superconductivity in twisted graphene. We demonstrate here that novel phenomena in twisted materials emerges also in particle-based classical systems. We study the transport of magnetic colloidal particles driven by a drift force and located between two twisted periodic magnetic patterns with either hexagonal or square symmetry. The magnetic potential generated by patterns twisted at specific magic angles develops flat channels, which increase the mobility of the colloidal particles compared to that in single patterns. We characterize the effect of the temperature and that of the magnitude of the drift force on the colloidal mobility. The transport is more enhanced in square than in hexagonal twisted patterns. Our work extends twistronics to classical soft matter systems with potential applications to lab-on-a-chip devices.