Fluid phase separation inside a static periodic field: An effectively two-dimensional critical phenomenon

Phase diagrams and crystal-fluid surface tensions in additive and nonadditive two-dimensional binary hard-disk mixtures

Using density functionals from fundamental measure theory, phase diagrams and crystal-fluid surface tensions in additive and nonadditive (Asakura-Oosawa model) two-dimensional binary hard-disk mixtures are determined for the whole range of size ratios q=smalldiameter/largediameter, assuming random disorder (lattice points or interstitial occupied by large or small disks at random) in the crystal phase. The fluid-crystal transitions are first order due to the assumption of a periodic unit cell in the density-functional calculations. Qualitatively, the shape of the phase diagrams is similar to the case of three-dimensional hard-sphere mixtures. For the nonadditive case, a broadening of the fluid-crystal coexistence region is found for small q, whereas for large q a vapor-fluid transition intervenes. In the additive case, we find a sequence of spindle-type, azeotropic, and eutectic phase diagrams upon lowering q from 1 to 0.6. The transition from azeotropic to eutectic is different from the three-dimensional case. Surface tensions in general become smaller (up to a factor 2) upon addition of a second species and they are rather small. The minimization of the functionals proceeds without restrictions and optimized graphics card routines are used.

Optical trapping of interfaces at ultra-low interfacial tension

We achieve active control of interfacial phenomena by optically trapping the interface using the gradient forces of a strongly focussed laser beam parallel to the interface. We illustrate our technique in a phase separated colloid-polymer mixture by distorting the interface in a very controlled way. The static structure of the manipulated interface as well as its dynamic relaxation behaviour are analysed. Both the statics and dynamics can be related to the capillary wave height-height correlation functions using the fluctuation dissipation theorem up to surprisingly large deformations of the interface. To underline the novelty and potential of our approach we also show multiple interface distortions and the controlled snap-off of liquid droplets.

Pattern formation in liquid-vapor systems under periodic potential and shear

In this paper the phase behavior and pattern formation in a sheared nonideal fluid under a periodic potential is studied. An isothermal two-dimensional formulation of a lattice Boltzmann scheme for a liquid-vapor system with the van der Waals equation of state is presented and validated. Shear is applied by moving walls and the periodic potential varies along the flow direction. A region of the parameter space, where in the absence of flow a striped phase with oscillating density is stable, will be considered. At low shear rates the periodic patterns are preserved and slightly distorted by the flow. At high shear rates the striped phase loses its stability and traveling waves on the interface between the liquid and vapor regions are observed. These waves spread over the whole system with wavelength only depending on the length of the system. Velocity field patterns, characterized by a single vortex, will also be shown.

Phase separation in fluids exposed to spatially periodic external fields

When a fluid is confined within a spatially periodic external field, the liquid-vapor transition is replaced by a different transition called laser-induced condensation (LIC) [Götze et al., Mol. Phys. 101, 1651 (2003)]. In d=3 dimensions, the periodic field induces an additional phase, characterized by large density modulations along the field direction. At the triple point, all three phases (modulated, vapor, and liquid) coexist. At temperatures slightly above the triple point and for low (high) values of the chemical potential, two-phase coexistence between the modulated phase and the vapor (liquid) is observed; by increasing the temperature further, both coexistence regions terminate in critical points. In this paper, we reconsider LIC using the Ising model to resolve a number of open issues. To be specific, we (1) determine the universality class of the LIC critical points and elucidate the nature of the correlations along the field direction, (2) present a mean-field analysis to show how the LIC phase diagram changes as a function of the field wavelength and amplitude, (3) develop a simulation method by which the extremely low tension of the interface between modulated and vapor or liquid phase can be measured, (4) present a finite-size scaling analysis to accurately extract the LIC triple point from finite-size simulation data, and (5) consider the fate of LIC in d=2 dimensions.