Free Energy Landscape of Colloidal Clusters at Small N

ORAL

Abstract

We confine small number of micron-sized colloidal particles within micro-wells, and we directly measure the structures and free energies of colloidal clusters, in which the particles act as hard spheres with short-range attractions. We find that highly symmetric clusters are strongly suppressed by rotational entropy and the most stable clusters have anharmonic vibrational modes or extra bonds. The experimental results can be explained well by the classical statistical mechanics and sphere packing theories.

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Authors

  • Guangnan Meng

    • Harvard University, Physics \& SEAS

  • Natalie Arkus

    • Harvard University, SEAS

  • Michael Brenner

    • Harvard University, SEAS

  • Vinothan Manoharan

    • Dept. of Physics and SEAS, Harvard University
    • Harvard SEAS
    • Harvard University
    • Harvard Physics and SEAS
    • Harvard University, Physics \& SEAS