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A new look at surface and bulk phase transitions
In a paper published by Nature [421, 149–152 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01331], workers at the NSRIM Institute and High Field Magnet Laboratory, University of Nijmegen, have presented a novel study into isotropic to nematic surface and bulk phase transitions.
M. I. Boamfa, M. W. Kim, J. C. Maan and TH. Rasing used optical birefringence measurements and light scattering to probe both the surface and bulk phase transitions separately.
While several theoretical studies have concluded a difference between the surface and bulk transitions, until now no observations have confirmed the existence of a first-order, combined first-order/continuous or continuous surface transition. What is novel in this paper is the use a new material mixture, reducing the proximity of the surface transition to the bulk transition. The results clearly illustrate the different order dependent properties of the two transitions. Most notably they provide the first evidence that the surface transition is of first order on surfaces with weak anchoring and is continuous in the presence of strong anchoring.
Date: March 2003
Helen Gleeson
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