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Realizing Colloidal Artificial Ice on Arrays of Optical Traps

A. Libal·C. Reichhardt·C. J. Olson Reichhardt
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Abstract

We demonstrate how a colloidal version of artificial ice can be realized on optical trap lattices. Using numerical simulations, we show that this system obeys the ice rules and that for strong colloid-colloid interactions, an ordered ground state appears. We show that the ice rule ordering can occur for systems with as few as twenty-four traps and that the ordering transition can be observed at constant temperature by varying the barrier strength of the traps.

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A. Libal, C. Reichhardt, C. J. Olson Reichhardt. 2006-10-30. Realizing Colloidal Artificial Ice on Arrays of Optical Traps. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.97.228302

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