Phenomenological model for a novel melt-freeze phase of sliding bilayers

Abstract

Simulations show that sliding bilayers of colloidal particles can exhibit a new phase, the ``melt-freeze'' phase, where the layers stochastically alternate between solidlike and liquidlike states. We introduce a mean field phenomenological model with two order parameters to understand the interplay of two adjacent layers while the system is in this remarkable phase. Predictions from our numerical simulations of a system in the melt-freeze phase include the tendency of two adjacent layers to be in opposite states (solid and liquid) and the difference between the fluctuation of the order parameter in one layer while the other layer is in the same phase compared to the fluctuation while the other layer is in the opposite phase. We expect this behavior to be seen in future simulations and experiments.