Structure of quasi-one-dimensional ribbon colloid suspensions.

We report the results of an experimental study of a colloid fluid confined to a quasi-one-dimensional (q1D) ribbon channel as a function of channel width and colloid density. Our findings confirm the principal predictions of previous theoretical studies of such systems. These are (1) that the density distribution of the liquid transverse to the ribbon channel exhibits stratification; (2) that even at the highest density the order along the strata, as measured by the longitudinal pair correlation function, is characteristic of a liquid; and (3) the q1D pair correlation functions in different strata exhibit anisotropic behavior resembling that found in a Monte Carlo simulation for the in-plane pair correlation function of a hard sphere fluid in a planar slit.