ABSTRACT
We study the formation of bands of colloidal particles driven by periodic external fields. Using Brownian dynamics, we determine the dependence of the band width on the strength of the particle interactions and on the intensity and periodicity of the field. We also investigate the switching (field-on) dynamics and the relaxation times as a function of the system parameters. The observed scaling relations were analyzed using a simple dynamic density-functional theory of fluids.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge fruitful discussions with D. de las Heras and C. Dias, as well as financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under Contract Nos. EXCL/FIS-NAN/0083/2012, UID/FIS/00618/2013, and IF/00255/2013.
