DLA Simulation with Rod-Shaped Particles

Brownian motion plays a major role in the natural sciences, especially in chemistry and biology. It is therefore not surprising that the botanist Robert Brown discovered this phenomenon. More recently, it has contributed significantly to understanding and manipulating nanoparticles.

In Diffusion-Limited Aggregation (DLA), it is assumed that small particles in a carrier medium undergo Brownian motion. Within this medium, a seed exists with a certain adhesion or interaction radius, causing particles to be attracted toward the seed. Depending on the specific DLA system, the underlying forces (e.g., van der Waals forces) may differ in nature.

Particles that have already bonded form a larger structure capable of capturing additional particles. From the random motion and simple rules emerges a dendritic, tree-like DLA Fractal. Typically, such planar structures exhibit a fractal dimension of D_f ≈ 1.70.