Effect of direction of an external force on crystallization of colloidal particles in a V-shaped groove by sedimentation

We carried out Langevin dynamics simulations to study the effect of the direction of a uniform external force on the crystallization of colloidal particles in a V-shaped groove. When the inclination of the side walls of a groove was set to a suitable value and the external force bisected the angle, the face-centered-cubic (fcc) structure grew with a {100} growth interface. When the external force was inclined, the number of solidified particles decreased with increasing inclination, which is different from the growth in an inverted pyramidal container. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics