Related papers: Controlled Optofluidic Crystallization of Colloids…
We discuss the growth process of a crystalline phase out of a metastable over-compressed liquid that is brought into contact with a crystalline substrate. The process is modeled by means of molecular dynamics. The particles interact via the…
For sedimenting colloidal hard spheres, the propagation and broadening of the crystal-fluid interface is studied by Brownian dynamics computer simulations of an initially homogeneous sample. Two different types of interface broadenings are…
A model for the formation of cavitation nuclei in liquids has recently been presented with basis in interfacial liquid tension at non-planar solid surfaces of concave form. In the present paper investigations of water-solid interfaces by…
We present a confocal-microscopy study of demixing and remixing in binary liquids containing colloidal particles. First, particle-stabilized emulsions have been fabricated by nucleation and growth of droplets upon cooling from the…
We propose and analyze a scheme to interface individual neutral atoms with nanoscale solid-state systems. The interface is enabled by optically trapping the atom via the strong near-field generated by a sharp metallic nanotip. We show that…
The effects of contact-line pinning are well-known in macroscopic systems, but are only just beginning to be explored at the microscale in colloidal suspensions. We use digital holography to capture the fast three-dimensional dynamics of…
Micrometre sized colloidal particles can be viewed as large atoms with tailorable size, shape and interactions. These building blocks can assemble into extremely rich structures and phases, in which the thermal motions of particles can be…
Using video-microscopy imaging we demonstrate the existence of a short-ranged equilibrium attraction between heavy silica colloids diffusing on soft surfaces of cross-linked polymer gels. The inter-colloid potential can be tuned by changing…
When captured by a flat nematic-isotropic interface, colloidal particles can be dragged by it. As a result spatially periodic structures may appear, with the period depending on a particle mass, size, and interface…
Recent theories predict that when a supercooled liquid approaches the glass transition, particle clusters with a special "amorphous order" nucleate within the liquid, which lead to static correlations dictating the dramatic slowdown of…
Using controlled spinodal decomposition, we have created a fluid-bicontinuous structure stabilized by colloidal particles. We present confocal microscopy studies of these structures and their variation with kinetic pathway. Our studies…
We develop a novel approach to ultrafast optical modulation of quantum-mechanical phenomena at the interface of plasmonic metals. Focusing on efficient and versatile nanoparticle-on-mirror plasmonic nanocavities, we discuss indirect control…
With the aim to parallelize and monitor biological or biochemical phenomena, trapping and immobilization of objects such as particles, droplets or cells in microfluidic devices has been an intense area of research and engineering so far.…
Accumulation of particles while flowing past constrictions is a ubiquitous phenomenon observed in diverse systems. Some of the common examples are jamming of salt crystals near the orifice of salt shakers, clogging of filter systems,…
We use video microscopy to study a two-dimensional (2D) model fluid of charged colloidal particles suspended in water and compute the pressure from the measured particle configurations. Direct experimental control over the particle density…
All-optical controlled injection and acceleration of electrons in a laser wakefield has recently been achieved (Faure et al, Nature v. 444 p. 737, 2006). Injection was made using a second counterpropagating laser pulse with the same…
We calculate the ion and composition distributions around colloid particles in an aqueous mixture, accounting for preferential adsorption, electrostatic interaction, selective solvation among ions and polar molecules, and…
Rational control over the periodic arrangement of particles by means of external stimuli is a technologically important aspect of colloidal science with important physical underpinnings. Here, a robust structural control of particle…
We consider the surface pressure of a colloid-laden liquid interface. As micron-sized particles of suitable wettability can be irreversibly bound to the liquid interface on experimental timescales, we use the canonical ensemble to derive an…
Ultrasoft colloids typically do not spontaneously crystallize, but rather vitrify, at high concentrations. Combining in-situ rheo-SANS experiments and numerical simulations we show that shear facilitates crystallization of colloidal star…