Using a continuous chain length distribution, the effect of polydispersity on the structures
of vesicles self-assembled by amphiphilic polydisperse diblock copolymers in dilute solutions is investigated
by two-dimensional (2D) real-space self-consistent-field theory. It is discovered that larger polydispersity
favors the formation of smaller vesicles or quasi-vesicles. This polydispersity effect can be attributed to
the segregation of copolymers according to their chain lengths. Two types of chain segregations are
observed. First of all, the shorter chains tend to localize at the A/B interfaces while the longer chains
tend to stretch to the outer surfaces. Second, there is a separation of copolymers to the inner and outer
monolayers of the bilayers, leading to a longer average chain length in outer monolayer.
We predict theoretically that stable subwavelength plasmonic lattice solitons (PLSs) are formed in arrays of metallic nanowires embedded in a nonlinear medium. The tight confinement of the guiding modes of the metallic nanowires, combined with the strong nonlinearity induced by the enhanced field at the metal surface, provide the main physical mechanisms for balancing the wave diffraction and the formation of PLSs. As the conditions required for the formation of PLSs are satisfied in a variety of plasmonic systems, we expect these nonlinear modes to have important applications to subwavelength nanophotonics. In particular, we show that the subwavelength PLSs can be used to optically manipulate with nanometer accuracy the power flow in ultracompact photonic systems.
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