Random sequential adsorption of lattice animals on a three-dimensional cubic lattice

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Materials Science
• Computational Science

Background:

• Random sequential adsorption (RSA) is a fundamental process in materials science.
• Understanding jamming density and temporal coverage evolution is crucial for predicting material properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of geometrical shape properties on jamming density (θJ) and coverage fraction evolution (θ(t)) in 3D RSA.
• To analyze lattice animals of various sizes and shapes on a cubic lattice.

Main Methods:

• Numerical study using Monte Carlo simulations.
• Analysis of lattice animals (objects made of nearest-neighbor sites) of sizes n=1-5 and larger.
• Examination of coverage fraction temporal evolution and jamming density.

Main Results:

• Coverage approaches jamming limit exponentially: θJ - θ(t) ~ exp(-t/σ).
• Relaxation time (σ) increases with the number of possible orientations (m) of lattice animals.
• No correlation found between object orientation (m) and jamming density (θJ).

Conclusions:

• Object shape significantly influences jamming density more than size for large objects.
• Relaxation time in RSA is directly related to the number of orientations an object can adopt.