Abstract
A continuous surface wetting transition, pinned to a solid-liquid-liquid-vapor tetra coexistence point, is studied by x-ray reflectivity in liquid Ga-Bi binary alloys. The short-range surface potential is determined from the measured temperature evolution of the wetting film. The thermal fluctuations are shown to be insufficient to induce a noticeable breakdown of mean-field behavior, expected in short-range-interacting systems due to their upper critical dimensionality.
- Received 13 April 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.035502
©2002 American Physical Society