Pearling instability of nanoscale fluid flow confined to a chemical channel

We investigate the flow of a nano-scale incompressible ridge of low-volatility liquid along a "chemical channel": a long, straight, and completely wetting stripe embedded in a planar substrate, and sandwiched between two extended less wetting solid regions. Molecular dynamics simulations, a simple long-wavelength approximation, and a full stability analysis based on the Stokes equations are used, and give qualitatively consistent results. While thin liquid ridges are stable both statically and during flow, a (linear) pearling instability develops if the thickness of the ridge exceeds half of the width of the channel. In the flowing case periodic bulges propagate along the channel and subsequently merge due to nonlinear effects. However, the ridge does not break up even when the flow is unstable, and the qualitative behavior is unchanged even when the fluid can spill over onto a partially wetting exterior solid region.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Physics of Fluids, fixed equation numbering after Eq. (17

Evidence for a first order transition in a plaquette 3d Ising-like action

We investigate a 3d Ising action which corresponds to a a class of models defined by Savvidy and Wegner, originally intended as discrete versions of string theories on cubic lattices. These models have vanishing bare surface tension and the couplings are tuned in such a way that the action depends only on the angles of the discrete surface, i.e. on the way the surface is embedded in ${\bf Z}^3$. Hence the name gonihedric by which they are known. We show that the model displays a rather clear first order phase transition in the limit where self-avoidance is neglected and the action becomes a plaquette one. This transition persists for small values of the self avoidance coupling, but it turns to second order when this latter parameter is further increased. These results exclude the use of this type of action as models of gonihedric random surfaces, at least in the limit where self avoidance is neglected.Comment: 4 pages Latex text, 4 postscript figure

Vibrations, coverage, and lateral order of atomic nitrogen and formation of NH₃ on Ru(10̅̅10)

The dissociative chemisorption of nitrogen on the Ru(10̅10) surface has been studied using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). To prepare a surface covered by atomic nitrogen we have used ionization-gauge assisted adsorption. A saturation coverage of θN=0.6 is achieved of which about 30% is in the subsurface region. At saturation coverage a (-1/2 1/1) pattern is observed. Then v ǁ(Ru–N) mode at 41 meV and the v_l_(Ru–N) mode at 60 meV are identified. Upon exposing the nitrogen covered surface to hydrogen at 300 K we have observed the formation of NH3 which is characterized by its symmetric bending mode δs(NH3) at 149 meV. At 400 K, NH3 could not be detected. The reaction intermediate NH is stable up to 450 K and has been identified by its vibrational losses ν(Ru–NH) at 86 meV, and ν(N–H) at 408 meV. The TD spectra of mass 14 show three desorption states of nitrogen, Nα at 740 K (from subsurface N), Nβ shifting from 690 to 640 K with increasing coverage, and Nϒ at 550 K. The activation energy for desorption via the Nβ state is 120±10 kJ/mol. The TD spectra of mass two showed three desorption states at 450, 550, and 650 K due to the decomposition of NHx

Coverage, lateral order, and vibrations of atomic nitrogen on Ru(0001)

The N/Ru(0001) system was studied by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), low‐energy electron diffraction (LEED), and high‐resolution electron energy‐loss spectroscopy (HREELS). Atomic nitrogen was prepared by NH3 decomposition at sample temperatures decreasing from 500 to 350 K during NH3 exposure. A maximum N coverage of θN=0.38 could thus be achieved. ∛, split 2×2 and 2×2 LEED patterns were observed for decreasing θN. After NH3 decomposition and before annealing the sample to a temperature above 400 K, the surface is composed of adsorbed N, H, and NH species. This composite layer exhibits a split ∛ LEED pattern due to domains of size 4 with heavy walls. This phase decays through dissociation of NH leading to sharp first‐order type desorption peaks of H2 and N2. From the weak intensity of the ν(Ru–NH) stretch mode it is concluded that NH is adsorbed at threefold‐hollow sites. The energy of the ν(Ru–N) mode shifts from 70.5 to 75.5 meV when θN is increased from 0.25 to 0.38

The Adsorption of Atomic Nitrogen on Ru(0001): Geometry and Energetics

The local adsorption geometries of the (2x2)-N and the (sqrt(3)x sqrt(3))R30^o -N phases on the Ru(0001) surface are determined by analyzing low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) intensity data. For both phases, nitrogen occupies the threefold hcp site. The nitrogen sinks deeply into the top Ru layer resulting in a N-Ru interlayer distance of 1.05 AA and 1.10 AA in the (2x2) and the (sqrt(3)x sqrt(3))R30^o unit cell, respectively. This result is attributed to a strong N binding to the Ru surface (Ru--N bond length = 1.93 AA) in both phases as also evidenced by ab-initio calculations which revealed binding energies of 5.82 eV and 5.59 eV, respectively.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Chem. Phys. Lett. (October 10, 1996

Out-of-equilibrium critical dynamics at surfaces: Cluster dissolution and non-algebraic correlations

We study nonequilibrium dynamical properties at a free surface after the system is quenched from the high-temperature phase into the critical point. We show that if the spatial surface correlations decay sufficiently rapidly the surface magnetization and/or the surface manifold autocorrelations has a qualitatively different universal short time behavior than the same quantities in the bulk. At a free surface cluster dissolution may take place instead of domain growth yielding stationary dynamical correlations that decay in a stretched exponential form. This phenomenon takes place in the three-dimensional Ising model and should be observable in real ferromagnets.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Shear flow pumping in open microfluidic systems

We propose to drive open microfluidic systems by shear in a covering fluid layer, e.g., oil covering water-filled chemical channels. The advantages as compared to other means of pumping are simpler forcing and prevention of evaporation of volatile components. We calculate the expected throughput for straight channels and show that devices can be built with off-the-shelf technology. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that this concept is scalable down to the nanoscale.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Sticking coefficient for dissociative adsorption of N₂ on Ru single‐crystal surfaces

The dissociative chemisorption of N2 on Ru(0001), Ru(101̄0), and Ru(112̄1) surfaces at 300 K was studied by means of high‐resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy. The initial sticking coefficient was determined to s0=(1±0.8)×10−12, within the limits of error independent of surface orientation. On Ru(101̄0) and Ru(112̄1) small amounts of N can be dissolved into the subsurface region

String tension in gonihedric 3D Ising models

For the 3D gonihedric Ising models defined by Savvidy and Wegner the bare string tension is zero and the energy of a spin interface depends only on the number of bends and self-intersections, in antithesis to the standard nearest-neighbour 3D Ising action. When the parameter kappa weighting the self-intersections is small the model has a first order transition and when it is larger the transition is continuous. In this paper we investigate the scaling of the renormalized string tension, which is entirely generated by fluctuations, using Monte Carlo simulations This allows us to obtain an estimate for the critical exponents alpha and nu using both finite-size-scaling and data collapse for the scaling function.Comment: Latex + postscript figures. 8 pages text plus 7 figures, spurious extra figure now removed