DOI: 10.1209/epl/i2002-00399-6


Europhys. Lett., 58 (5) , pp. 653-659 (2002)

Coarsening dynamics of a quasi-one-dimensional driven lattice gas

J. T. Mettetal, B. Schmittmann and R. K. P. Zia

Center for Stochastic Processes in Science and Engineering, Physics Department Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - Blacksburg, VA 24061-0435, USA

(Received 7 January 2002; accepted in final form 14 March 2002)

Abstract
We study domain growth properties of two species of particles executing biased diffusion on a half-filled square lattice, consisting of just two lanes. Driven in opposite directions by an external "electric" field, the particles form clusters due to steric hindrance. While strictly one-dimensional systems remain disordered, clusters in our "quasi-1D" case grow until only a single macroscopic cluster survives. In the coarsening regime, the average cluster size increases significantly faster than in purely diffusion-controlled systems, with an effective exponent of at least 0.6. Remarkably, however, the cluster size distribution displays dynamic scaling, following a form consistent with a diffusion-limited growth mechanism.

PACS
05.40.Fb - Random walks and Levy flights.
64.60.Cn - Order-disorder transformations; statistical mechanics of model systems.
68.43.Jk - Diffusion of adsorbates; kinetics of coarsening and aggregation.


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