Breath Figures: Nucleation, Growth, Coalescence, and the Size Distribution of Droplets

Johannes Blaschke, Tobias Lapp, Björn Hof, and Jürgen Vollmer
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 068701 – Published 10 August 2012
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Abstract

The analysis of the size distribution of droplets condensing on a substrate (breath figures) is a test ground for scaling theories. Here, we show that a faithful description of these distributions must explicitly deal with the growth mechanisms of the droplets. This finding establishes a gateway connecting nucleation and growth of the smallest droplets on surfaces to gross features of the evolution of the droplet size distribution.

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  • Received 27 March 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.068701

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Johannes Blaschke1,2, Tobias Lapp1,2, Björn Hof1, and Jürgen Vollmer1,2

  • 1Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation (MPIDS), 37077 Göttingen, Germany
  • 2Fakultät für Physik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 109, Iss. 6 — 10 August 2012

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