title: Glassy dynamics in a confined monatomic fluid.
abstract: Molecular dynamic simulations of a strongly inhomogeneous system reveals that a single-component soft-sphere fluid can behave as a fragile glass former due to confinement. The self-intermediate scattering function, F(s)(k,t), of a Lennard-Jones fluid confined in slit-shaped pores, which can accommodate two to four fluid layers, exhibits a two-step relaxation at moderate temperatures. The mean-squared displacement data are found to follow time-temperature superposition and both the self-diffusivity and late α relaxation times exhibit power-law divergences as the fluid is cooled. The system possesses a crossover temperature and follows the scalings of mode coupling theory for the glass transition. The temperature dependence of the self-diffusivity can be expressed using the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann equation, and estimates of the fragility index of the system indicates a fragile glass former. At lower temperatures, signatures of additional relaxation processes are observed in the various dynamical quantities with a three-step relaxation observed in the F(s)(k,t).
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Ayappa
mesh_terms: D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D044367:Phase Transition; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*; D012996:Solutions / Q000737:chemistry*; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions