Simulation study of anisotropic random sequential adsorption of extended objects on a triangular lattice

Abstract

The properties of the anisotropic random sequential adsorption (RSA) of objects of various shapes on a two-dimensional triangular lattice are studied numerically by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The depositing objects are formed by self-avoiding lattice steps, whereby the first step determines the orientation of the object. Anisotropy is introduced by positing unequal probabilities for orientation of depositing objects along different directions of the lattice. This probability is equal p or (1-p)/2, depending on whether the randomly chosen orientation is horizontal or not, respectively. Approach of the coverage θ(t) to the jamming limit θ(jam) is found to be exponential θ(jam)-θ(t)is proportional to exp(-t/σ), for all probabilities p. It was shown that the relaxation time σ increases with the degree of anisotropy in the case of elongated and asymmetrical shapes. However, for rounded and symmetrical shapes, values of σ and θ(jam) are not affected by the presence of anisotropy. We finally analyze the properties of the anisotropic RSA of polydisperse mixtures of k-mers. Strong dependencies of the parameter σ and the jamming coverage θ(jam) on the degree of anisotropy are obtained. It is found that anisotropic constraints lead to the increased contribution of the longer k-mers in the total coverage fraction of the mixture.