Complex nonequilibrium self-assembly enables the formation of materials with specific patterns and functions from the bottom up. How to directionally control the assembly to form the target configuration is a challenge. Here, we propose a dissipation bias principle for targeted assembly, which highlights that controlling the dissipation tendency can play an important role by modulating the frequency and intensity of local rearrangements. Following this principle, one can induce ordered target configurations from disordered structures and also achieve directional selection among multiple assembly pathways. We use the assembly of active colloids as a platform to show our results.
@article{arxiv.2601.20195,
title = {Steering Active-Colloid Assembly by Biasing Dissipation},
author = {Chaoqun Du and Zhiyu Cao and Zhonghuai Hou},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.20195},
year = {2026}
}