Ratchet cellular automata for colloids in dynamic traps

Center for Nonlinear Studies and Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA

Received: 13 February 2006
Accepted: 13 April 2006

Abstract

We numerically investigate the transport of kinks in a ratchet cellular automata geometry for colloids interacting with dynamical traps. We find that thermal effects can enhance the transport efficiency in agreement with recent experiments. At high temperatures we observe the creation and annihilation of thermally induced kinks that degrade the signal transmission. We consider both the deterministic and stochastic cases and show how the trap geometry can be adjusted to switch between these two cases. The operation of the dynamical trap geometry can be achieved with the adjustment of fewer parameters than ratchet cellular automata constructed using static traps.