Dynamics and melting of a thin confined film.
Molecular dynamics is used to investigate the melting of a thin lubricant film confined between two crystalline surfaces. The dynamics of the film is significantly affected by the substrate, both in the solid and in the molten phases. The solid phase, able to sustain shear stress, shows, however, large diffusional motions of the atoms. The melting temperature depends strongly on the confinement. A phenomenological microscopic theory, based on the Lindemann criterion, is proposed to explain this effect.
Braun
O M
OM
Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 03650 Kiev, Ukraine.
Peyrard
M
M