Droplets pinned at chemically inhomogenous substrates: A simulation study of the two-dimensional Ising case

Marta L. Trobo, Ezequiel V. Albano, and Kurt Binder
Phys. Rev. E 93, 052805 – Published 26 May 2016

Abstract

As a simplified model of a liquid nanostripe adsorbed on a chemically structured substrate surface, a two-dimensional Ising system with two boundaries at which surface fields act is studied. At the upper boundary, the surface field is uniformly negative, while at the lower boundary (a distance L apart), the surface field is negative only outside a range of extension b, where a positive surface stabilizes a droplet of the phase with positive magnetization for temperatures T exceeding the critical temperature Tw of the wetting transition of this model. We investigate the local order parameter profiles across the droplet, both in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the substrate, varying both b and T. Also, precursor effects to droplet formation as T approaches Tw from below are studied. In accord with theoretical predictions, for T>Tw the droplet is found to have the shape of a semiellipse, where the width (distance of the interface from the substrate) scale is proportional to b (b1/2). So, the area of the droplet is proportional to b3/2, and the temperature dependence of the corresponding prefactor, which also involves the interfacial stiffness, is studied.

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  • Received 9 February 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.93.052805

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Marta L. Trobo

  • Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLYSIB), CCT-CONICET La Plata, UNLP, Calle 59 Nro. 789, (1900) La Plata, Argentina and Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina

Ezequiel V. Albano

  • Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos (IFLYSIB), CCT-CONICET La Plata, UNLP, Calle 59 Nro. 789, (1900) La Plata, Argentina, and Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina

Kurt Binder

  • Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 5 — May 2016

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