Theory of first-order layering transitions in thin helium films
- Center for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843 (United States)
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)
Thin liquid {sup 4}He films on graphite show evidence of layered growth with increasing number density via a succession of first-order phase transitions. These so-called {open_quote}{open_quote}layering transitions{close_quote}{close_quote} separate uniformly covering phases, such as monolayers and bilayers. The present work is a detailed theoretical study of such layering transitions using a Maxwell construction. We model the graphite surface by a strong substrate potential, and using a microscopic variational theory we obtain the uniform coverage solutions for liquid helium. For each layer, the theory yields the chemical potential {mu} and surface tension {alpha} as functions of coverage {ital n}, and from this we deduce {mu}({alpha}). For each set of adjacent layers, we then obtain the crossing point in the curves of {mu}({alpha}). In this way we obtain the values of {mu}, {alpha}, and surface coverages for the transition. Particular attention is paid to the monolayer-bilayer transition. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}
- OSTI ID:
- 383252
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 54, Issue 9; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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