Photonically propelled nano- and microparticles: From single-particle motion to collective dynamics

Abstract

Among the existing realizations of microscopic motile devices, photonically propelled nano- and microparticles are particularly advantageous. Their features pave the way for applying them in large numbers, e.g., as constituents of novel active materials with exceptional properties. However, the recently proposed photonically propelled particles have so far been studied only partially on the single-particle level so that their interesting collective dynamics remains unexplored. This talk will address this issue by presenting methods that allow to proceed from the single-particle motion of motile particles to their collective dynamics. It will focus on analytical modeling and computer simulations as well as their application to photonically propelled nano- and microparticles. Furthermore, it will present results, including unexpected pattern formation and transport effects, obtained by these methods for system sizes and particle numbers that are not yet accessible by experiments.