title: Can a stable glass be superheated? Modelling the kinetic stability of coated glassy films.
abstract: The fabrication of ultra-stable glass films by vapour deposition and their subsequent front-like response to annealing are both manifestations of the enhancement of dynamics at the amorphous surface. We use the facilitated kinetic Ising model to model the behaviour of ultra-stable amorphous films when a coating is applied that suppresses the dynamics at the film surface. The consequences of this manipulation of the film include glass films that can be heated to temperatures in excess of the glass transition without transforming into the liquid, the possibility of direct visualization of the spatial distribution of intrinsic dynamic heterogeneities, and the possibility of using surface treatment to engineer relaxation of these glass films.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Douglass
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Harrowell