Surface freezing and a two-step pathway of the isotropic-smectic phase transition in colloidal rods

Details Surface freezing and a two-step pathway of the isotropic-smectic phase transition in colloidal rods Surface freezing and a two-step pathway of the isotropic-smectic phase transition in colloidal rods

2003-08-26

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0308556v1

Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 165701 (2003).

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

5 pages, 4 figure, accepted by PRL

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.165701

We study the kinetics of the isotropic-smectic phase transition in a colloidal rod/polymer mixture by visualizing individual smectic layers. First, we show that the bulk isotropic-smectic phase transition is preceded by a surface freezing transition in which a quasi two-dimensional smectic phase wets the isotropic-nematic interface. Next, we identify a two step kinetic pathway for the formation of a bulk smectic phase. In the first step a metastable isotropic-nematic interface is formed. This interface is wetted by the surface induced smectic phase. In the subsequent step, smectic layers nucleate at this surface phase and grow into the isotropic bulk phase.

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