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Dielectrophoretic Assembly of Metallodielectric Janus Particles in AC Electric Fields

Micrometer particles suspended in liquids can be directed to form "colloidal crystals" (e.g. through sedimentation or drying) with standard hexagonal or square lattices. Critically however, non-standard crystal symmetries are required for expanding the range of photonic, optoelectronic and memory storage applications. Prior to this article, this was only achieved through patterning the deposition substrates.

Here, we assemble anisotropic particles (i.e. particles of differing properties on opposite halves) into crystals of non-standard symmetries by applying an electric field). Several articles have used this study to expand the range of symmetries (e.g. Soft Matter, 5, 2009, 1285; Soft Matter, 6, 2010, 1413).