Orientational order in deposits of magnetic particles

Abstract

We present preliminary results for the orientational order in deposits of dipolar particles, on one-dimensional substrates. The deposits are generated using a model where the incoming dipolar particle interacts with the other particles in the deposit via a dipole-dipole potential. The interdipolar vectors are restricted to lie on a square lattice although the dipole moments are free to rotate in three dimensions. The path of the incoming particle is generated through a Monte Carlo scheme controlled by an effective temperature T∗, the case of pure diffusion-limited deposition corresponding to T∗ → ∞. We calculate the ferromagnetic and nematic order parameters and the dipolar orientational probability density of the deposits, at various stages of growth and two effective temperatures. The dipolar angular correlations along the rows and columns of the lattice are also investigated. We find that the orientational order of the deposits depends strongly on the lattice structure, the stage of growth and the effective temperature.