Observation of surface layering in a nonmetallic liquid
Soft Condensed Matter
2007-05-23 v2
Abstract
Oscillatory density profiles (layers) have previously been observed at the free surfaces of liquid metals, but not in other isotropic liquids. We have used x-ray reflectivity to study a molecular liquid, tetrakis(2-ethylhexoxy)silane. When cooled to T/Tc~0.25 (well above the freezing point for this liquid), density oscillations appear at the surface. Lateral order within the layers is liquid-like. Our results confirm theoretical predictions that a surface-layered state will appear even in dielectric liquids at sufficiently low temperatures, if not preempted by freezing.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0510712,
title = {Observation of surface layering in a nonmetallic liquid},
author = {Haiding Mo and Guennadi Evmenenko and Sumit Kewalramani and Kyungil Kim and Steven N. Ehrlich and Pulak Dutta},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0510712},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. 15 pages 4 figures