Self-Assembly, Pattern Formation and Growth Phenomena in Nano-Systems

Dedication. Contributing Authors. Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgements. General aspects of pattern formation. 1. Introduction. 2. Basic models for domain coarsening and pattern formation. 3. Pattern selection. 4. Modulated patterns. 5. Beyond the Swift-Hohenberg model. 6. Wavy patterns. 7. Conclusions. 8. Acknowledgement. References.- Convective patterns in liquid crystals driven by electric field. 1. Physical properties of nematics. 2. Electroconvection. References.- Dynamical phenomena in nematic liquid crystals induced by light. 1. Simple setups – complicated phenomena. 2. Theoretical description. 3. Obliquely incident, linearly polarized light. 4. Perpendicularly incident, circularly polarized light. 5. Perpendicularly incident, elliptically polarized light. 6. Finite beam-size effects and transversal pattern formation. Acknowledgements. References.- Self-Assembly of quantum dots from thin solid films. 1. Introduction. 2. Mechanisms of morphological evolution of epitaxial films. 3. Elastic effects and wetting interactions. 4. Surface-energy anisotropy and wetting interactions. 5. Conclusions. References.- Macroscopic and mesophysics together: the moving contact line problem revisited. References.- Nanoscale effects in mesoscopic films. 1. Hydrodynamic equations. 2. Thermodynamic equations. 3. Fluid-substrate Interactions. 4. Dynamic contact line. 5. Mobility relations. References.- Dynamics of thermal polymerization waves. 1. Introduction. 2. Mathematical model. 3. Gasless combustion. 4. Analysis of base FP model. 5. Other thermal FP studies. 6. Conclusion. References.- Self-organization of microtubules and motors. 1. Maxwell model and orientational instability. 2. Spatial localization. 3. Aster and vortex solutions. 4. Conclusion. Acknowledgements. References.- Physics of DNA. 1. Introduction. 2. Major structures of DNA. 3. DNA functioning. 4. Global DNA conformation. 5. The DNA stability. 6. Conclusion. References. Topic index.