Helium on planar and nanostructured alkali-metal surfaces
We investigate the effects (on the wetting characteristics of helium below 3 K) of tailoring an alkali-metal surface by incorporating a regular array of nanoscopic indentations. We establish the prewetting line of helium on semi-infinite planar Cs up to 3 K in the frame of a finite-range temperature...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2009 |
| País: | Argentina |
| Institución: | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| Repositorio: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/60462 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/11336/60462 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Helium https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.3 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 |
| Sumario: | We investigate the effects (on the wetting characteristics of helium below 3 K) of tailoring an alkali-metal surface by incorporating a regular array of nanoscopic indentations. We establish the prewetting line of helium on semi-infinite planar Cs up to 3 K in the frame of a finite-range temperature-dependent density-functional theory, and examine the modifications introduced in the isotherms when the substrate is covered with a periodic lattice of parabolic cavities. We show that, both for the planar and nanostructured surfaces, the unstable regions of the isotherms are stabilized by nucleation of drops and/or bubbles. Results corresponding to nonwettable Cs surfaces are compared with those obtained both for planar and nanopatterned Na substrates, where wetting at zero temperature is instead expected to occur, for a planar surface, preceded by a first-order prewetting transition. © 2009 The American Physical Society. |
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