Surface freezing on patterned substrates
We show that the structure of a substrate pattern drastically influences the nature of surface freezing. By using phenomenological theory and computer simulations of a hard sphere fluid next to a substrate formed by a periodic array of fixed spheres, we find that a pattern which is commensurate with the bulk crystal induces complete surface freezing through a cascade of layering transitions. A rhombic pattern, on the other hand, either generates a crystalline sheet which is unstable as a bulk phase or prohibits surface freezing completely.
Heni
M
Institut fur Theoretische Physik II, Heinrich-Heine-Universitat Dusseldorf, Universitatsstrasse 1, 40225 Dusseldorf, Germany.
Lowen
H