Enhanced colloidal transport in twisted magnetic patterns

• Published in: Communications physics 2022-03, Vol.5 (1), p.1-9, Article 48
• Main Authors: Stuhlmüller, Nico C. X., Fischer, Thomas M., de las Heras, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/923; 639/301/923/916; 639/766/1130; Bilayers; Colloids; Drift; Graphene; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Two dimensional materials; Unconventional superconductivity
• ISSN: 2399-3650; 2399-3650
• DOI: 10.1038/s42005-022-00824-3

Bilayers of two-dimensional materials twisted at specific angles can exhibit exceptional properties such as the occurrence of unconventional superconductivity in twisted graphene. We demonstrate here that novel phenomena in twisted materials emerges also in particle-based classical systems. We study the transport of magnetic colloidal particles driven by a drift force and located between two twisted periodic magnetic patterns with either hexagonal or square symmetry. The magnetic potential generated by patterns twisted at specific magic angles develops flat channels, which increase the mobility of the colloidal particles compared to that in single patterns. We characterize the effect of the temperature and that of the magnitude of the drift force on the colloidal mobility. The transport is more enhanced in square than in hexagonal twisted patterns. Our work extends twistronics to classical soft matter systems with potential applications to lab-on-a-chip devices. Twisted bilayer systems, where superconductivity can be realised in two layers of graphene twisted in orientation to each other at a ‘magic’ angle, has triggered a flurry of investigations that encompass an increasing range of different materials and complex setups. Here, the authors theoretically propose an analogous system of twisted magnetic patterns which result in the enhanced mobility of colloidal particles at specific twist angles.