Condensation of helium in nanoscopic alkali wedges at zero temperature

We present a complete calculation of the structure of liquid 4He confined to a concave nanoscopic wedge, as a function of the opening angle of the walls. This is achieved within a finite-range density functional formalism. The results here presented, restricted to alkali metal substrates, illustrate...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hernández, E. Susana, Ancilotto, Francesco, Barranco Gómez, Manuel, Mayol Sánchez, Ricardo, Pi Pericay, Martí
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2006
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/10555
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/10555
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Líquids quàntics
Teoria del funcional de densitat
Matèria condensada
Equacions d'estat
Quantum liquids
Density functional theory
Condensed matter
Descripción
Sumario:We present a complete calculation of the structure of liquid 4He confined to a concave nanoscopic wedge, as a function of the opening angle of the walls. This is achieved within a finite-range density functional formalism. The results here presented, restricted to alkali metal substrates, illustrate the change in meniscus shape from rather broad to narrow wedges on weak and strong alkali adsorbers, and we relate this change to the wetting behavior of helium on the corresponding planar substrate. As the wedge angle is varied, we find a sequence of stable states that, in the case of cesium, undergo one filling and one emptying transition at large and small openings, respectively. A computationally unambiguous criterion to determine the contact angle of 4He on cesium is also proposed.