NDLI: Thinning and thickening of free-standing smectic films revisited

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Pikina, Elena S. Ostrovskii, Boris I. Jeu, Wim H.
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	We present a theoretical explanation of the remarkable thickness instabilities that occur in free-standing smectic films (FSSF) upon changing the external conditions: i) upon heating the film above the bulk smectic disordering temperature, generally the film does not rupture but instead shows successive layer-by-layer thinning transitions; ii) thickening of FSSF, which occurs within the thermal range of the smectic phase upon local heating. All observations reported so far can be explained on the basis of the Landau-de Gennes theory of the smectic state in combination with nucleation theory. In overheated smectic films (thinning) or locally heated FSSF (thickening) an additional normal tensile force appears due to a change of the mean density of the film. In the case of an overheated FSSF the free energy has oscillatory character, and upon heating the balance of tensile and elastic forces breaks down spontaneously. This leads to thinning of the film, which proceeds via thermal nucleation and growing of dislocation loops in the middle plane of the film. The expression for the envelope of the points of thinning as well as estimates of the dynamics of growth of dislocation loops, are in good agreement with experiments. Local heating of a FSSF within the smectic temperature range induces thermal expansion, which shifts the system to a metastable state. This favors nucleation and growth of dislocation loops of excess smectic layers in the middle plane of the film. The activation energy of such dislocation loops attains values below the threshold energy and decreases upon further heating. This leads to local film thickening by many tens of layers. Realization of this scenario depends crucially on the energy dissipated locally in the film. Estimates of the thickness of the growing “island” in the film and of the velocity of the dislocation loop growth are in reasonable agreement with experiments.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	22
Page Count	22
File Format	PDF
ISSN	12928941
Journal	The European Physical Journal E
Volume Number	38
Issue Number	3
e-ISSN	1292895X
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2015-03-09
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Soft Matter: Liquid crystals Soft and Granular Matter, Complex Fluids and Microfluidics Biophysics and Biological Physics Surfaces and Interfaces, Thin Films Nanotechnology Polymer Sciences Statistical Physics, Dynamical Systems and Complexity
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Chemistry Medicine Biophysics Materials Science Surfaces and Interfaces Biotechnology

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