Related papers: Surface melting of nanoscopic epitaxial films
The influence of the external pressure and surface energy on the wetting transition at nanotextured interfaces is studied using molecular dynamics and continuum simulations. The surface roughness of the composite interface is introduced via…
We present an extensive but concise review of our present understanding, largely based on theory and simulation work from our group, on the equilibrium behavior of solid surfaces and nanosystems close to the bulk melting point. In the first…
We report the observation of a premelting transition at chemically sharp solid-liquid interfaces using molecular-dynamics simulations. The transition is observed in the solid-Al/liquid-Pb system and involves the formation of a liquid…
The melting of metallic nanoparticles is governed by surface pre-melting, a phenomenon traditionally modeled as the isotropic growth of a uniform liquid shell. Challenging this classical view, we report facet-dependent surface pre-melting…
In this work, we perform a systematic computer simulation study of ice premelting, and explore the thickness and structure of quasi-liquid layers formed at the interface of ice with substrates of different hydrophilicity. Our study shows…
We investigate the effects of strain on a crystal surface close to the bulk melting temperature T_m, where surface melting usually sets in. Strain lowers the bulk melting point, so that at a fixed temperature below but close to T_m the…
Despite their technological relevance, a full microscopic understanding of glasses is still lacking. This applies even more to their surfaces whose properties largely differ from that of the bulk material. Here, we experimentally…
The origin of ice slipperiness has been a matter of great controversy for more than a century, but an atomistic understanding of ice friction is still lacking. Here, we perform computer simulations of an atomically smooth substrate sliding…
We study the solid-on-solid interface model above a horizontal wall in three dimensional space, with an attractive interaction when the interface is in contact with the wall, at low temperatures. The system presents a sequence of layering…
We discuss the effect of an (ab)-surface on the melting transition of the pancake-vortex lattice in a layered superconductor within a density functional theory approach. Both discontinuous and continuous surface melting are predicted for…
The melting of ultrathin lubricant film by friction between atomically flat surfaces is studied. The additive noises of the elastic shear stress and strain, and the temperature are introduced for building a phase diagram with the domains of…
Water-repellent properties of superhydrophobic surfaces make them promising for anti-icing and deicing applications. Through experimental visualization of frozen sessile droplets undergoing melting on superhydrophobic surfaces, we identify…
Surfaces which do not exhibit surface melting below the melting point (nonmelting surfaces) have been recently observed to sustain a very large amount of overheating. We present a theory which identifies a maximum overheating temperature,…
The properties of the interface between solid and melt are key to solidification and melting, as the interfacial free energy introduces a kinetic barrier to phase transitions. This makes solidification happen below the melting temperature,…
Solid interfaces have intrinsic elasticity. However, in most experiments, this is obscured by bulk stresses. Through microscopic observations of the contact-line geometry of a partially wetting droplet on an anisotropically stretched…
A glass surface may still flow below the bulk glass transition temperature, where the underlying bulk is frozen. Assuming the existence at T=T* of a bulk thermodynamical glass transition, we show that the glass-vapor interface is generally…
The evolution in the surface morphology of epitaxial graphene films and 6H-SiC(0001) substrates is studied by electron channeling contrast imaging. Whereas film thickness is determined by growth temperature only, increasing growth times at…
We propose a physical model which explains the existence of finite thickness wetting layers in epitaxially strained films. The finite wetting layer is shown to be stable due to the variation of the non-linear elastic free energy with film…
Heat transfer via phase change is a major contributor to heat removal in numerous engineering applications. Thin films of liquid result in increased heat transfer due to a reduction of conduction resistance, in addition the pressure jump at…
Melting is typically viewed as a bulk first-order phase transition that proceeds once nucleation barriers are overcome. Here we demonstrate an interfacially arrested melting regime in molecularly thin crystalline films, where large liquid…