Related papers: Field-controlled columnar and planar patterning of…
In colloidal suspensions, self-organization processes can be easily fueled by external fields. One particularly interesting class of phenomena occurs in monolayers of dipolar particles that are driven by rotating external fields. Here we…
We present Monte Carlo simulations of colloidal particles pulled into grafted polymer layers by external fields. The insertion free energy of a single colloid into the polymer layer is qualitatively different for surfaces with an ordered…
Two-dimensional colloidal suspensions exposed to periodic external fields exhibit a variety of molecular crystalline phases. There two or more colloids assemble at lattice sites of potential minima to build new structural entities, referred…
We study the behavior of negatively charged colloids with two positively charged polar caps close to a planar patterned surface. The competition between the different anisotropic components of the particle-particle interaction patterns is…
Cholesteric Liquid Crystals (CLCs), subject to externally applied magnetic fields and confined between two parallel planar surfaces with strong homeotropic anchoring conditions, are found to undergo transitions to different types of…
Control of physical behaviors of nematic colloids and colloidal crystals has been demonstrated by tuning particle shape, topology, chirality and surface charging. However, the capability of altering physical behaviors of such soft matter…
Colloidal particles disturb the alignment of rod-like molecules of liquid crystals, giving rise to long-range interactions that minimize the free energy of distorted regions. Particle shape and topology are known to guide this self-assembly…
We create a one-dimensional photonic crystal with strong polarization dependence and tunable by an applied electric field. We accomplish this in a planar microcavity by embedding a cholesteric liquid crystal (LC), which spontaneously forms…
Cholesteric liquid crystals with helicoidal molecular architecture are known for their ability to selectively reflect light with the wavelength that is determined by the periodicity of molecular orientations. Here we demonstrate that by…
Understanding and controlling the director field configuration, shape, and orientation in nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals is of fundamental importance in several branches of science. Liquid crystalline droplets, also known as…
Suspended microparticles subjected to AC electrical fields collectively organize into band patterns perpendicular to the field direction. The bands further develop into zigzag shaped patterns, in which the particles are observed to…
Progress in the research area of colloidal dispersions in external fields within the last years is reviewed. Colloidal dispersions play a pivotal role as model systems for phase transitions in classical statistical mechanics. In recent…
Colloidal particles in liquid crystals tend to induce topological defects and distortions of the molecular alignment within the surrounding anisotropic host medium, which results in elasticity-mediated interactions not accessible to their…
We briefly review recent theoretical and simulation studies of charged colloidal dispersions in alternating electric fields (AC fields). The response of single colloid to an external field can be characterized by a complex polarizability,…
We study the self-assembly of branching-chain networks and crystals in a binary colloidal system with tunable interactions. The particle positions are extracted from microscope images and order parameters are extracted by image processing…
Colloidal particles can self-assemble into various ordered structures in fluid flows that have potential applications in biomedicine, materials synthesis and encryption. These dynamic processes are also of fundamental interest for probing…
The complex physics of self-assembly in colloidal crystals on deformable interfaces and surfaces poses interesting possibilities for the designability and synthesis of next-generation metamaterials. The goal of this article is to…
We perform Monte Carlo simulations of a simplified two-dimensional model for colloidal hard spheres in an external uniaxial AC electric field. Experimentally, the external field induces dipole moments in the colloidal particles, which in…
We study size- and charge-asymmetric oppositely charged colloids driven by an external electric field. The large particles are connected by harmonic springs, forming a hexagonal-lattice network while the small particles are free of bonds…
Transport of fluids and particles at the microscale is an important theme both in fundamental and applied science. One of the most successful approaches is to use an electric field, which requires the system to carry or induce electric…