Monolayers of hard rods on planar substrates: II. Growth

Abstract

Growth of hard--rod monolayers via deposition is studied in a lattice model using rods with discrete orientations and in a continuum model with hard spherocylinders. The lattice model is treated with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and dynamic density functional theory while the continuum model is studied by dynamic Monte Carlo simulations equivalent to diffusive dynamics. The evolution of nematic order (excess of upright particles, "standing--up" transition) is an entropic effect and is mainly governed by the equilibrium solution, {rendering a continuous transition} (paper I, J. Chem. Phys. 145, 074902 (2016)). Strong non--equilibrium effects (e.g. a noticeable dependence on the ratio of rates for translational and rotational moves) are found for attractive substrate potentials favoring lying rods. Results from the lattice and the continuum models agree qualitatively if the relevant characteristic times for diffusion, relaxation of nematic order and deposition are matched properly. Applicability of these monolayer results to multilayer growth is discussed for a continuum--model realization in three dimensions where spherocylinders are deposited continuously onto a substrate via diffusion.

22 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (9)

• Dynamical density functional theory for interacting Brownian particles: stochastic or deterministic?
• A density functional theory for general hard-core lattice gases
• Monolayers of hard rods on planar substrates: I. Equilibrium
• Effect of shape biaxiality on the phase behavior of colloidal liquid-crystal monolayers
• A scale-bridging modeling approach for anisotropic organic molecules at patterned semiconductor surfaces
• Phase behavior of liquid-crystal monolayers of rod-like and plate-like particles
• Effect of orientational restriction on monolayers of hard ellipsoids
• Non-equilibrium surface growth in a hybrid inorganic-organic system
• Biaxial nematic phase stability and demixing behaviour in monolayers of rod-plate mixtures

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Classical dynamical density functional theory: from fundamentals to applications
• Power functional theory for many-body dynamics
• Lattice gas study of thin film growth scenarios and transitions between them: Role of substrate
• Impact of anisotropic interactions on non-equilibrium cluster growth at surfaces
• Modeling of nonequilibrium surface growth by a limited mobility model with distributed diffusion length
• Dynamical properties of heterogeneous nucleation of parallel hard squares
• Elastic response of colloidal smectics: insights from microscopic theory
• Phase diagrams for sticky rods in bulk and in a monolayer from a lattice free-energy functional for anisotropic particles with depletion attractions
• Dynamical field theories for biaxial liquid crystals
• Interplay of orientational order and roughness in simulated thin film growth of anisotropically interacting particles