Surface and smectic layering transitions in binary mixtures of parallel hard rods

The surface phase behavior of binary mixtures of colloidal hard rods in contact with a solid substrate (hard wall) is studied, with special emphasis on the region of the phase diagram that includes the smectic A phase. The colloidal rods are modeled as hard cylinders of the same diameter and different lengths, in the approximation of perfect alignment. A fundamental-measure density functional is used to obtain equilibrium density profiles and thermodynamic properties such as surface tensions and adsorption coefficients. The bulk phase diagram exhibits nematic-smectic and smectic-smectic demixing, with smectic phases having different compositions; in some cases they are microfractionated. The calculated surface phase diagram of the wall-nematic interface shows a very rich phase behavior, including layering transitions and complete wetting at high pressures, whereby an infinitely thick smectic film grows at the wall via an infinite sequence of stepwise first-order layering transitions. For lower pressures complete wetting also obtains, but here the smectic film grows in a continuous fashion. Finally, at very low pressures, the wall-nematic interface exhibits critical adsorption by the smectic phase, due to the second-order character of the bulk nematic-smectic transition.

Comparison between experiment and theory in the temperature variation of film tension above the bulk isotropic transition in free-standing liquid-crystal films

Using differential scanning calorimetry, the transition enthalpies and temperatures for the bulk smectic-isotropic phase transition have been measured for a series of liquid-crystal compounds. For five compounds, those values were used as parameters in a microscopic mean-field model to predict the temperature dependence of the difference in free-energy density between a sample of material in a free-standing smectic film and that in the bulk. The model predicts a weak temperature dependence below the bulk clearing point and a pronounced monotonic increase with temperature above the transition temperature. The compounds used in this study were chosen specifically because they were also the subject of a previous independent experimental study [M. Veum, Phys. Rev. E 74, 011703 (2006)] that demonstrated a sudden monotonic increase in the free-standing film tension with temperature, which is qualitatively consistent with the predictions of the above-mentioned mean-field model. This study presents a direct and quantitative comparison between the predictions of the mean-field model and the results from previous tension experiments.

Inclusions in free standing smectic liquid crystal films

Colloidal inclusions in thin free standing liquid crystal films are ideal model systems for 2D anisotropic dispersions. Different types of self-organization in chain and lattice structures have been observed. The orientational elasticity of the anisotropic matrix and capillary forces are the dominating interaction mechanisms between solid or liquid inclusions, the director field, and dislocations of the films. We give an overview of the progress in this field, focussing on different inclusion types and their interactions in thermotropic smectic films.

Capillary ordering and layering transitions in two-dimensional hard-rod fluids

We calculate the surface phase diagram of a two-dimensional hard-rod fluid confined between two hard lines. In the first stage we study a semi-infinite system consisting of an isotropic fluid in contact with a single hard line. We have found complete wetting by the columnar phase at the wall-isotropic fluid interface. When the fluid is confined between two hard walls, capillary columnar ordering occurs via a first-order phase transition. For higher chemical potentials the system exhibits layering transitions even for very narrow slits (near the one-dimensional limit). The theoretical model used was a density-functional theory based on the fundamental-measure functional applied to a fluid of hard rectangles in the restricted-orientation approximation (Zwanzig model). The results presented here can be checked experimentally in two-dimensional granular media made of rods, where vertical motions induced by an external source and excluded volume interactions between the grains allow the system to explore those stationary states which entropically maximize packing configurations. We claim that some of the surface phenomena found here can be present in two-dimensional granular-media fluids.

Temperature variation of film tension above the bulk smectic-A-isotropic transition in freestanding liquid-crystal films

We have measured the temperature variation of film tension above the bulk smectic-A-isotropic transition in freestanding films of two liquid-crystal compounds. Above the transition, the tension increases sharply with temperature, and the slope is proportional to the film's thickness regardless of whether or not the compound exhibits regular layer-by-layer thinning. The data can be interpreted in the context of theoretical models for layer thinning.

First-order Landau-de Gennes model for layer thinning in presmectic free-standing films

A Landau theory for surface enhanced ordering in free-standing smectic-A films is described, based on a generalization of de Gennes's "presmectic" model to systems which undergo a first-order smectic-isotropic transition in bulk. As found in related work on phase transitions in thin films, the system exhibits three phases, an isotropic liquid, a bulk-like ordered (smectic-A) phase, and a surface-ordered ("quasismectic") phase. Over much of its range, the temperature-thickness boundary between the bulk-ordered and surface-ordered phases is effectively characterized by a power-law relation similar to those observed for layer-thinning transitions in overheated free-standing smectic-A films.

Surface structure of liquid Li and Na: an ab initio molecular dynamics study

Molecular dynamics simulations of the liquid-vapor interfaces of liquid metals have been performed using first principles methods. Results are presented for liquid lithium and sodium near their respective triple points, for samples of 2000 particles in a slab geometry. The atomic density profiles show a pronounced stratification extending several atomic diameters into the bulk, which is similar to that already experimentally observed in liquid K, Ga, In, and Hg.

Dislocation loops in overheated free-standing smectic films

Static and dynamic phenomena in overheated free-standing smectic-A films are studied theoretically. The work is based on a generalization, introduced recently by the authors, of de Gennes' theory for a confined presmectic liquid. In this approach, smectic ordering in an overheated film is caused by an intrinsic surface contribution to the film free energy and vanishes at some temperature depending on the number of layers. Here the theory is further generalized to study the dynamics of films with planar inhomogeneities. A static application is to determine the profile of the film meniscus and the meniscus contact angle, the results being compared with those of a recent study employing de Gennes' original theory. The dynamical generalization of the theory is based on a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau approach. This is used to compare two modes for layer-thinning transitions in overheated free-standing films, namely, "uniform thinning" versus nucleation of dislocation loops. It is concluded that the nucleation mechanism dominates provided there is a sufficiently large pressure difference arising from meniscus curvature. Properties such as the line tension and velocity of a moving dislocation line are evaluated self-consistently by the theory.

Layering at free liquid surfaces

We show that simple liquids, with appropriate choices of the isotropic pair interaction, may exhibit surface layering above the melting temperature. Results for the liquid surface have been obtained by Monte Carlo simulations in slab geometry. Surface layering appears at temperatures below approximately one-third of the critical temperature for very different choices of pair interaction. The high melting temperature of the Lennard-Jones crystal preempts the observation of the oscillatory density at the free liquid interface, while model pair interaction potentials, built to reproduce some properties of mercury and the alkali metals, have low melting temperature, uncovering the region of surface layering.

Landau-de Gennes theory of surface-enhanced ordering in smectic films

A Landau theory for surface-enhanced ordering in smectic-A free-standing films is described, based on a generalization of de Gennes' model for a "presmectic" fluid confined between two walls. According to the theory, smectic ordering in free-standing films heated above the bulk smectic melting temperature is due to an intrinsic surface contribution rather than an external field. The theory yields a persistent finite-size effect, in that the film melting temperatures do not tend to the bulk transition temperature in the limit of infinite film thickness. It also predicts that a continuous transition from (N+1)- to N-layer films is impossible without an external field. The theory closely fits existing experimental data on layer-thinning transitions in compounds which exhibit a bulk smectic-A to nematic phase transition. Possible origins of the intrinsic surface contribution are discussed.