Shapes and Spatial Organization of Self-Avoiding Semiflexible Ring Polymers on Solid Substrates

Using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, the conformational behavior and spatial organization of self-avoiding semiflexible ring polymers, that are fully adsorbed on solid substrates, are investigated as a function of their rigidity and surface density. Single polymer conformations and their spatial arrangements depend strongly on the ratio, ζ=l_p/L (l_p is the persistence length and L is the polymer contour length) and the polymers surface density, σ. Regadless of σ, the anisotropy of the polymers dependes non monotonically on the polymer rigidity, in agreement with earlier theories and expriments. For ζ >1 and σ around the overlap density, σ ^*, the polymers self-assemble into a triangular lattice. For σ > σ ^* and ζ >1, the polymers elongation leads to their self-assembly into structure with local nematic or smectic order.