| Description |
Arranging micron to nanometer sized particles of arbitrary shapes into neatly ordered arrays is of interest from both fundamental as well as technological viewpoints. The length and time scales of ordering in these systems are easily accessible in the laboratory making a detailed study of general aspects of ordering phenomena possible. At the same time, the technology developed in these experiments may be useful for eg. creating arrays of functionalized colloids for various applications and perhaps for crystallizing proteins. In this talk I shall begin with a review of ordering phenomena in colloids with special emphasis on laser assisted and template assisted ordering. I shall then consider in detail a few examples of systems where colloidal particles are ordered using either equilibrium or non-equilibrium confining fields, comparing experiments, numerical simulations and statistical mechanical theory.
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