Percolation and orientational ordering in systems of magnetic nanorods

Abstract

Based on Monte Carlo (MC) computer simulations we study the structure formation of a system of magnetic nanorods. Our model particles consist of fused spheres with permanent magnetic dipole moments, as inspired by recent experiments. The resulting system behaves significantly different from that of a system of hard (non-magnetic) rods or magnetic rods with a single longitudinal dipole. In particular, we observe for the magnetic nanorods a significant decrease of the percolation threshold (as compared to non-magnetic rods) at low densities, and a stabilization of the high-density nematic phase. Moreover, the percolation threshold is tunable by an external magnetic field.