Nonequilibrium condensation and coarsening of field-driven dipolar colloids

In colloidal suspensions, self-organization processes can be easily fueled by external fields. Here we consider monolayers of particles with permanent dipole moments that are driven by rotating external fields. In recent experiments, it has been shown that the particles in such systems self-organize into two-dimensional clusters. Here we report results from a computer simulation study of these pattern forming systems. Specifically, we employ Langevin dynamics simulations, Brownian dynamics simulations that include hydrodynamic interactions, and Wang-Landau Monte Carlo simulations of soft spheres interacting via dipolar potentials. We investigate at which field strengths and frequencies clusters form and explore the influence of hydrodynamic interactions. We also examine the phase behavior of the equilibrium system resulting from a time average of the colloidal interactions in the rotating field. In this way we demonstrate that the clustering described in the driven system arises from a first-order phase transition between a vapor and a condensed phase.