Frustration-induced magic number clusters of colloidal magnetic particles

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2008 Mar;77(3 Pt 1):031407. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.77.031407. Epub 2008 Mar 21.

Abstract

We report the formation of stable two-dimensional clusters consisting of long-range-interacting colloidal particles with predefined magnetic moments. The symmetry and arrangement of the particles within the cluster are imposed by the magnetic frustration. By satisfying the criteria of stability, a series of magic number clusters is formed. The magic clusters are close packed and have compensating magnetic moments and chirality. Thus, the system can be regarded as a classical mesoscopic model for spin arrangements in two-dimensional triangular antiferromagnets, although the exact nature of the interactions between the macroscopic magnetic moments is different.