Structure in confined colloid suspensions

The study of confined condensed matter is motivated by the observation that when the range of molecular interaction and the length scale associated with position correlation in a system are similar to the length scale of confinement, that system can support structures and have transport properties that differ from those found in the bulk. This Letter is a selective overview of information that has been obtained about the nature of phase transitions from studies of confined quasi-two-dimensional colloid suspensions, with attention paid to the roles of the colloid–colloid interaction and the extent of deviation from an idealized geometry of confinement, e.g. whether and/or how phase transitions in quasi-one-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional systems differ from those in a two-dimensional system or a three-dimensional system.