Controlling the Shape of Small Clusters with and without Macroscopic Fields.
Phys Rev Lett
; 128(25): 256102, 2022 Jun 24.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35802436
Despite major advances in the understanding of the formation and dynamics of nanoclusters in the past decades, theoretical bases for the control of their shape are still lacking. We investigate strategies for driving fluctuating few-particle clusters to an arbitrary target shape in minimum time with or without an external field. This question is recast into a first passage problem, solved numerically, and discussed within a high temperature expansion. Without field, large-enough low-energy target shapes exhibit an optimal temperature at which they are reached in minimum time. We then compute the optimal way to set an external field to minimize the time to reach the target, leading to a gain of time that grows when increasing cluster size or decreasing temperature. This gain can shift the optimal temperature or even create one. Our results could apply to clusters of atoms at equilibrium, and colloidal or nanoparticle clusters under thermo- or electrophoresis.
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1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Phys Rev Lett
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Francia
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos