Anisotropic spinodal decomposition of a polar dielectric in a strong electric field: Molecular dynamics simulation

The evolution of a one-component, initially single-phase, dielectric medium that represents a two-dimensional system of dipole molecules has been studied by the molecular dynamics method after the application of a uniform electric field. It is shown that the initially homogeneous medium under the action of the applied field can separate into two phases, liquid and gaseous. In the two-dimensional model system, these phases appear as bands extended along the field direction.