Related papers: Entropic Stabilization of Tunable Planar Modulated…
We use inverse methods of statistical mechanics to explore trade-offs associated with designing interactions to stabilize self-assembled structures against changes in density or temperature. Specifically, we find isotropic,convex-repulsive…
Mott transitions in real materials are first order and almost always associated with lattice distortions, both features promoting the emergence of nanotextured phases. This nanoscale self-organization creates spatially inhomogeneous…
We discuss the phenomenon of spontaneous self-compactification in a model colloidal system, proposed in a recent work on DNA-mediated self-assembly. We focus on the effect of thermal fluctuations on the stability of membrane-like…
The controlled self-assembly of thiol stabilized gold nanocrystals in a mediating solvent and confined within mesoporous alumina was probed in situ with small angle x-ray scattering. The evolution of the self-assembly process was controlled…
Elastic properties and internal states of isotropic sphere packings are studied by numerical simulations. Several numerical protocols to assemble dense configurations are compared. One, which imitates experiments with lubricated contacts,…
By means of extensive replica-exchange simulations of generic coarse-grained models for helical polymers, we systematically investigate the structural transitions into all possible helical phases for flexible and semiflexible elastic…
Periodic assemblies of nanoparticles are central to surface patterning, with applications in biosensing, energy conversion, and nanofabrication. Evaporation of colloidal droplets on substrates provides a simple yet effective route to…
We use Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the thermodynamical behaviour of aggregates consisting of few superparamagnetic particles in a colloidal suspension. The potential energy surface of this classical two-level system with a stable…
Naturally occuring or man-made systems displaying periodic spatial modulations of their properties on a nanoscale constitute superlattices. Such modulated structures are important both as prototypes of simple nanotechnological devices and…
Active particles locally transduce energy into motion, leading to unusual and emergent behaviors. However, current synthetic particles lack sensing and adaptation mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate a novel regulation pathway, through the…
Experiments show that isochoric (constant-volume) conditions enhance supercooling stability relative to isobaric (constant-pressure) conditions. Here, combining Helmholtz equilibrium thermodynamics with a first-order perturbation…
Self-assembly processes provide the means to achieve scalable and versatile metamaterials by "bottom-up" fabrication. Despite their enormous potential, especially as a platform for energy materials, self-assembled metamaterials are often…
We investigate the statistical equilibrium properties of a system of classical particles interacting via Newtonian gravity, enclosed in a three-dimensional spherical volume. Within a mean-field approximation, we derive an equation for the…
We study the relaxation dynamics of an isolated zero temperature quasi-two-dimensional superfluid Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) that is imprinted with a spatially random distribution of quantum vortices. Following a period of vortex…
During the last 3 years, our group has investigated extensively the complexation mechanism between neutral-polyelectrolyte block copolymers with oppositely charged species. These species are surfactant micelles, multivalent counterions and…
The deliberate control over the spatial arrangement of nanostructures is the desired goal for many applications as e.g. in data storage, plasmonics or sensor arrays. Here we present a novel method to assist the self-assembly process of…
Lateral microsegregation in a monolayer of a binary mixture of particles or macromolecules is studied by MD simulations in a generic model with the interacting potentials inspired by effective interactions in biological or soft-matter…
The strain states of the components of pseudomorphic superlattices can be accurately modeled analytically through the application of linear elasticity. In this particular case of GaN/AlN 'free-standing' superlattices, the predictions…
A multiple-image method is developed to accurately calculate the electrostatic interaction between neutral dielectric particles and a uniformly charged dielectric substrate. The difference in dielectric constants between the particle and…
Staircase formation and layering is studied in simplified, potential vorticity conserving models of plasmas and geophysical fluids, by investigating turbulent self-organisation and nonlinear saturation with different mechanisms of free…