Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and neutron diffraction experiments have been performed on -dotriacontane ( ) monolayers adsorbed on a graphite basal-plane surface. The diffraction experiments show little change in the crystalline monolayer structure up to a temperature of above which a large thermal expansion and decrease in coherence length occurs. The MD simulations provide evidence that this behavior is due to a phase transition in the monolayer in which intramolecular and translational order are lost simultaneously. This melting transition is qualitatively similar to the gel-to-fluid transition found in bilayer lipid membranes.
- Received 4 November 1998
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.2362
©1999 American Physical Society