Two-phase crystallisation in a carpet of inertial spinners

We study the dynamics of torque driven spherical spinners settled on a surface, and demonstrate that hydrodynamic interactions at finite Reynolds numbers can lead to a concentration dependent and non-uniform crystallisation. At semi-dilute concentrations, we observe a rapid formation of a uniform hexagonal structure in the spinner monolayer. We attribute this to repulsive hydrodynamic interactions created by the secondary flow of the spinning particles. Increasing the surface coverage leads to a state with two co-existing spinner densities. The uniform hexagonal structure deviates into a high density crystalline structure surrounded by a continuous lower density hexatically ordered state. We show that this phase separation occurs due to a non-monotonic hydrodynamic repulsion, arising from a concentration dependent spinning frequency.

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