Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 108301 (2004) [4 pages]Local Melting and Drag for a Particle Driven through a Colloidal CrystalReceived 2 October 2003; published 11 March 2004 We numerically investigate a colloidal particle driven through a colloidal crystal as a function of temperature. When the charge of the driven particle is larger or comparable to that of the colloids comprising the crystal, a local melting can occur, characterized by defect generation in the lattice surrounding the driven particle. The generation of the defects is accompanied by an increase in the drag force on the driven particle, as well as large noise fluctuations. We discuss the similarities of these results to the peak effect phenomena observed for vortices in superconductors. © 2004 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.108301
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.108301
PACS:
82.70.Dd, 74.25.Qt
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