2001/05/28 by Stefan Schlagowski, Karin Jacobs, Stephan Herminghaus
Computer Science · Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Fluid Dynamics and Thin Films #Liquid Crystal Research Advancements #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1209/epl/i2002-00492-x
4 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2001/05/28 · openalex publication_date 2002/02/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
A surface instability is reported in thin nematic films of 5CB and 8CB, occurring near the nematic-isotropic phase transition. Although this instability leads to patterns which are reminiscent of spinodal dewetting (and have been interpreted as such), we show that it is actually based on a nucleation mechanism. Its characteristic wavelength does not depend markedly on film thickness, but strongly on the heating rate.