Modeling Evaporation Driven Self-Assembly Systems for Magnetic Storage Arrays

Abstract

A modeling methodology based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been developed that is appropriate for the global regime of lithographically directed, evaporation driven self-assembly. The modeling technique has been experimentally verified through comparison with the well-known benchmark case of evaporation driven self-assembly associated with the evaporation of a colloidal, self-pinned droplet. The predicted evolution of the particle distribution during evaporation is compared to optical experimental measurements of the particle distribution within an evaporating droplet containing fluorescing nanoparticles.