Statics and dynamics of wetting-dewetting transitions for particles with attractive interactions on periodic substrates

J. Drocco; C. Reichhardt; C. J. Olson Reichhardt; A. R. Bishop

doi:10.1117/12.931272

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10 October 2012 Statics and dynamics of wetting-dewetting transitions for particles with attractive interactions on periodic substrates

J. Drocco, C. Reichhardt, C. J. Olson Reichhardt, A. R. Bishop

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Proceedings Volume 8458, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation IX; 84581J (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.931272
Event: SPIE NanoScience + Engineering, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

There are many examples of particle assemblies where the particles have competing repulsive and attractive interactions. In solid state systems, it has recently been proposed that exotic vortex states in type-I and type-II superconducting hybrids and type-1.5 superconductors fall into this category. In soft matter systems, competing interactions can arise for charged colloids with short range attraction or with multiple length scale interactions. Systems with competing interactions have been shown to exhibit a wide variety of patterns including stripes, labyrinths, bubbles, and crystalline phases. Although there has been considerable work analyzing these phases for different relative interaction strengths, there is little work on understanding what happens when such systems are driven over a periodic substrate. Such substrates for collective assemblies of particles could be created lithographically or using optical trap arrays and would introduce a new length scale into the system. Here we examine how a system with competing interactions behaves when interacting with a square periodic substrate. We find a novel wetting-dewetting phenomena similar to that of liquids on surfaces. In the presence of a strong substrate, the pattern formation normally found for particles with competing interactions is lost and the particles completely cover the substrate homogeneously. Under an applied drive, such a wetted system undergoes a transition to a partially dewetted state with anisotropic transport and structural features.

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J. Drocco, C. Reichhardt, C. J. Olson Reichhardt, and A. R. Bishop "Statics and dynamics of wetting-dewetting transitions for particles with attractive interactions on periodic substrates", Proc. SPIE 8458, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation IX, 84581J (10 October 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.931272

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