title: Late stage spreading of stratified liquids: theory.
abstract: Spreading of a liquid crystal droplet on a solid surface resembles the collapse of a zigguratlike structure and ends up with only two molecular terraces. A model is proposed to describe the time evolution of this late stage structure. It differs from the previous de Gennes-Cazabat theory by several aspects: (1) it avoids previous approximations and gives exact solutions of the kinetic equations; (2) it covers strongly layered liquids such as smectic liquid crystals; (3) it introduces the two-dimensional Laplace pressure as an essential motor for spreading; (4) it takes into account the liquid∕gas transition in the surface layer that was consistently reported in experiments with 8CB.
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, UMR CNRS N 6087, Molecular Landscape and Biophotonics Group, Université du Maine, Avenue Olivier Messiaen, F-72 085 Le Mans Cedex 9, France. ausserre@univ-lemans.fr
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ausserré
authors.forename: J-L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Buraud