KINETICS OF PHASE-SEPARATION IN 2-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS WITH COMPETING INTERACTIONS

The kinetics of supercrystal formation in quenched systems with a scalar order parameter and competing interactions is studied. Systems with nonconserved order parameter (a uniaxial ferromagnetic film) and with conserved order parameter (a binary mixture of amphiphilic molecules at the water-air interface) are considered. The competition between the long-range repulsive interaction of the dipolar type and the short-range attractive interaction due to surface tension leads to the formation of periodically modulated domains. The phase-separation dynamics is simulated using the appropriate Langevin equation. The initial-stage results related to the phase separation and cluster shape transitions are described.