title: Phase separation dynamics in a two-dimensional magnetic mixture.
abstract: Based on classical density functional theory (DFT), we investigate the demixing phase transition of a two-dimensional, binary Heisenberg fluid mixture. The particles in the mixture are modeled as Gaussian soft spheres, where one component is characterized by an additional classical spin-spin interaction of Heisenberg type. Within the DFT we treat the particle interactions using a mean-field approximation. For certain magnetic coupling strengths, we calculate phase diagrams in the density-concentration plane. For sufficiently large coupling strengths and densities, we find a demixing phase transition driven by the ferromagnetic interactions of the magnetic species. We also provide a microscopic description (i.e., density profiles) of the resulting non-magnetic/magnetic fluid-fluid interface. Finally, we investigate the phase separation using dynamical density functional theory, considering both nucleation processes and spinodal demixing.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Theoretical Physics, Secr. EW 7-1, Technical University Berlin, Hardenbergstr. 36, D-10623 Berlin, Germany. lichtner@mailbox.tu-berlin.de
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lichtner
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Archer
authors.forename: S H L
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Klapp