0000000000002887
AUTHOR
Ezequiel V. Albano
showing 20 related works from this author
Properties of the Ising magnet confined in a corner geometry
2007
Abstract The properties of Ising square lattices with nearest neighbor ferromagnetic exchange confined in a corner geometry, are studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Free boundary conditions at which boundary magnetic fields ± h are applied, i.e., at the two boundary rows ending at the lower left corner a field + h acts, while at the two boundary rows ending at the upper right corner a field − h acts. For temperatures T less than the critical temperature T c of the bulk, this boundary condition leads to the formation of two domains with opposite orientation of the magnetization direction, separated by an interface which for T larger than the filling transition temperature T f ( h ) …
Study of the dynamical approach to the interface localization–delocalization transition of the confined Ising model
2004
Confined magnetic Ising films in a L ? D geometry (), with short-range competing magnetic fields?(h) acting at opposite walls along the D-direction, exhibit a slightly rounded localization?delocalization transition of the interface between domains of different orientations that runs parallel to the walls. This transition is the precursor of a wetting transition that occurs in the limit of infinite film thickness () at the critical curve Tw(h). For T Tw(h)) such an interface is bounded (unbounded) to the walls, while right at Tw(h) the interface is freely fluctuating around the centre of the film. Starting from disordered configurations, corresponding to , we quench to the wetting critical t…
Critical wetting in the square Ising model with a boundary field
1990
The Ising square lattice with nearest-neighbor exchangeJ>0 and a free surface at which a boundary magnetic fieldH1 acts has a second-order wetting transition. We study the surface excess magnetization and the susceptibility ofL×M lattices by Monte Carlo simulation and probe the critical behavior of this wetting transition, applying finite-size scaling methods. For the cases studied, the results are not consistent with the presumably exactly known values of the critical exponents, because the asymptotic critical region has not yet been reached. Implication of our results for critical wetting in three dimensions and for the application of the present model to adsorbed wetting layers at surfac…
Interfaces in the confined Ising system with competing surface fields
2005
Abstract When a magnetic Ising film is confined in a L × M geometry ( L ⪡ M ) short-range competing magnetic fields ( h 1 ) are applied at opposite walls along the M -direction, a (weakly rounded) localization–delocalization transition of the interface between domains of different orientation that runs parallel to walls can be observed. This transition is the precursor of a wetting phase transition that occurs in the limit of infinite film thickness ( L → ∞ ) at the critical curve T w ( h 1 ) . For T T w ( h 1 ) ( T > T w ( h 1 ) ) such an interface is bound to (unbound from) the walls, while right at T w ( h 1 ) the interface is freely fluctuating around the center of the film. We present …
Heterogeneous nucleation of a droplet pinned at a chemically inhomogeneous substrate: A simulation study of the two-dimensional Ising case
2018
Heterogeneous nucleation is studied by Monte Carlo simulations and phenomenological theory, using the two-dimensional lattice gas model with suitable boundary fields. A chemical inhomogeneity of length b at one boundary favors the liquid phase, while elsewhere the vapor is favored. Switching on the bulk field Hb favoring the liquid, nucleation and growth of the liquid phase starting from the region of the chemical inhomogeneity are analyzed. Three regimes occur: for small fields, Hb bcrit, the critical droplet radius is so large that a critical droplet having the contact angle θc required by Young's equation in the region of the chemical inhomogeneity does not yet "fit" there since the base…
Monte Carlo studies ofd= 2 Ising strips with long-range boundary fields
2000
A two-dimensional Ising model with nearest-neighbour ferromagnetic exchange confined in a strip of width L between two parallel boundaries is studied by Monte Carlo simulations. `Free' boundaries are considered with unchanged exchange interactions at the boundary but long-range boundary fields of the form H (n ) = ? h [n -3 - (L - n + 1) -3 ], where n = 1, 2, ... ,L labels the rows across the strip. In the case of competing fields and L , the system exhibits a critical wetting transition of a similar type as in the well studied case of short-range boundary fields. At finite L , this wetting transition is replaced by a (rounded) interface localization-delocalization transition at Tc (h , L )…
Kinetics of domain growth in finite Ising strips
1992
Abstract Monte Carlo simulations are presented for the kinetics of ordering of the two-dimensional nearest-neighbor Ising models in an L x M geometry with two free boundaries of length M ⪢ L . This geometry models a “terrace” of width L on regularly stepped surfaces, adatoms adsorbed on neighboring terraces being assumed to be noninteracting. Starting out with an initially random configuration of the atoms in the lattice gas at coverage θ = 1 2 in the square lattice, quenching experiments to temperatures in the range 0.85⩽ T / T c ⩽1 are considered, assuming a dynamics of the Glauber model type (no conservation laws being operative). At T c the ordering behavior can be described in terms of…
Corner wetting in the two-dimensional Ising model: Monte Carlo results
2003
Square L ? L (L = 24?128) Ising lattices with nearest neighbour ferromagnetic exchange are considered using free boundary conditions at which boundary magnetic fields ? h are applied, i.e., at the two boundary rows ending at the lower left corner a field +h acts, while at the two boundary rows ending at the upper right corner a field ?h acts. For temperatures T less than the critical temperature Tc of the bulk, this boundary condition leads to the formation of two domains with opposite orientations of the magnetization direction, separated by an interface which for T larger than the filling transition temperature Tf (h) runs from the upper left corner to the lower right corner, while for T …
Finite-size scaling approach for critical wetting: rationalization in terms of a bulk transition with an order parameter exponent equal to zero.
2012
Clarification of critical wetting with short-range forces by simulations has been hampered by the lack of accurate methods to locate where the transition occurs. We solve this problem by developing an anisotropic finite-size scaling approach and show that then the wetting transition is a ``bulk'' critical phenomenon with order parameter exponent equal to zero. For the Ising model in two dimensions, known exact results are straightforwardly reproduced. In three dimensions, it is shown that previous estimates for the location of the transition need revision, but the conclusions about a slow crossover away from mean-field behavior remain unaltered.
Phase diagram of polymer blends in confined geometry
2001
Within self-consistent field theory we study the phase behavior of a symmetrical binary AB polymer blend confined into a thin film. The film surfaces interact with the monomers via short range potentials. One surface attracts the A component and the corresponding smei-infinite system exhibits a first order wetting transition. The surface interaction of the opposite surface is varied as to study the crossover from capillary condensation for symmetric surfaces fields to the interface localization/delocalization transition for antisymmetric surface fields. In the former case the phase diagram has a single critical point close to the bulk critical point. In the latter case the phase diagram exh…
The Ising square lattice in aL�M geometry: A model for the effect of surface steps on phase transitions in adsorbed monolayers
1989
Critical phenomena in adsorbed monolayers on surfaces are influenced by limited substrate homogeneity, such as surface steps. We consider the resulting finite-size and boundary effects in the framework of a lattice gas system with nearest neighbor attraction in aL×M geometry, with two free boundaries of lengthM≫L, and periodic boundary conditions in the other direction (along the direction of the steps). This geometry thus models a “terrace” of the stepped surface, and adatoms adsorbed on neighboring terraces are assumed to be non-interacting. Also the effect of boundary “fields” is considered (describing the effects of missing neighbors and changed binding energy to the substrate near the …
Polymer mixtures in confined geometries: Model systems to explore phase transitions
2005
While binary (A,B) symmetric polymer mixtures ind = 3 dimensions have an unmixing critical point that belongs to the 3d Ising universality class and crosses over to mean field behavior for very long chains, the critical behavior of mixtures confined into thin film geometry falls in the 2d Ising class irrespective of chain length. The critical temperature always scales linearly with chain length, except for strictly two-dimensional chains confined to a plane, for whichT; c ∝N; 5/8 (this unusual exponent describes the fractal contact line between segregated chains in dense melts in two spatial dimensions, d = 2). When the walls of the thin film are not neutral, but preferentially attract one …
Droplets pinned at chemically inhomogenous substrates: A simulation study of the two-dimensional Ising case
2016
As a simplified model of a liquid nanostripe adsorbed on a chemically structured substrate surface, a two-dimensional Ising system with two boundaries at which surface fields act is studied. At the upper boundary, the surface field is uniformly negative, while at the lower boundary (a distance L apart), the surface field is negative only outside a range of extension b, where a positive surface stabilizes a droplet of the phase with positive magnetization for temperatures T exceeding the critical temperature Tw of the wetting transition of this model. We investigate the local order parameter profiles across the droplet, both in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the substrate, vary…
Properties of the interface in the confined Ising magnet with competing surface fields
2007
Abstract A two-dimensional magnetic Ising system confined in an L × D geometry ( L ⪡ D ) in the presence of competing magnetic fields (h) acting at opposite walls along the D -direction, exhibits an interface between domains of different orientation that run parallel to the walls. In the limit L → ∞ , this interface undergoes a wetting transition that occurs at the critical curve T w ( h ) , so that for T T w ( h ) such an interface is bound to the walls, while for T w ( h ) ⩽ T T cb the interface is freely fluctuating around the center of the film, where T cb is the bulk critical temperature. By considering both short- and long-range magnetic fields acting at the walls, we study the diverg…
Numerical evidence of hyperscaling violation in wetting transitions of the random-bond Ising model in d = 2 dimensions
2017
We performed extensive simulations of the random-bond Ising model confined between walls where competitive surface fields act. By properly taking the thermodynamic limit we unambiguously determined wetting transition points of the system, as extrapolation of localization-delocalization transitions of the interface between domains of different orientation driven by the respective fields. The finite-size scaling theory for wetting with short-range fields establishes that the average magnetization of the sample, with critical exponent β, is the proper order parameter for the study of wetting. While the hyperscaling relationship given by γ+2β=ν +ν requires β=1/2 (γ=4, ν =3, and ν =2), the therm…
PHASE EQUILIBRIA IN THIN POLYMER FILMS
2001
Within self-consistent field theory and Monte Carlo simulations the phase behavior of a symmetrical binary AB polymer blend confined into a thin film is studied. The film surfaces interact with the monomers via short ranged potentials. One surface attracts the A component and the corresponding semi-infinite system exhibits a first order wetting transition. The surface interaction of the opposite surface is varied as to study the crossover from capillary condensation for symmetric surface fields to interface localization/delocalization transition for antisymmetric surface fields. In the former case the phase diagram has a single critical point close to the bulk critical point. In the latter…
First-order and tricritical wetting transitions in the two-dimensional Ising model caused by interfacial pinning at a defect line
2014
We present a study of the critical behavior of the Blume-Capel model with three spin states (S=±1,0) confined between parallel walls separated by a distance L where competitive surface magnetic fields act. By properly choosing the crystal field (D), which regulates the density of nonmagnetic species (S=0), such that those impurities are excluded from the bulk (where D=) except in the middle of the sample [where DM(L/2)≠], we are able to control the presence of a defect line in the middle of the sample and study its influence on the interface between domains of different spin orientations. So essentially we study an Ising model with a defect line but, unlike previous work where defect lines …
Capillary condensation in the two-dimensional lattice gas: A Monte Carlo test of fluctuation corrections to the Kelvin equation
1997
A two-dimensional lattice gas model with nearest-neighbour attractive interaction confined in a strip of width L between two parallel boundaries at which an attractive short-range force acts is studied by Monte Carlo simulations, for cases where the system is in the wet phase near the critical wetting transition line for . We study the shift of the chemical potential of the transition in the strip as a function of L by thermodynamic integration methods, , and also obtain the thickness of the wetting film at the chemical potential at which capillary condensation occurs. In the range the data are consistent with a variation according to the Kelvin equation, , as well as with a shifted Kelvin …
Study of the confined Ising magnet with long-range competing boundary fields
2005
We present extensive Monte Carlo simulations of the Ising film confined in an L × M geometry () in the presence of long-range competing magnetic fields h(n) = h1/n3(n = 1,2,...,L) which are applied at opposite walls along the M-direction. Due to the fields, an interface between domains of different orientations that runs parallel to the walls forms and can be located close to one of the two surfaces or fluctuate in the centre of the film (localization–delocalization transition). This transition is the precursor of the wetting phase transition that occurs in the limit of infinite film thickness () at the critical curve Tw(h1). For T<Tw(h1) (T≥Tw(h1)) such an interface is bound to (unbound fr…
Study of the dynamic growth of wetting layers in the confined Ising model with competing surface fields
2006
A two-dimensional magnetic Ising system confined in an L × D geometry () in the presence of competing magnetic fields (h) acting at opposite walls along the D-direction exhibits an interface between domains of different orientation that runs parallel to the walls. In the limit of infinite film thickness () this interface undergoes a wetting transition that occurs at the critical curve Tw(h), so that for T<Tw(h) such an interface is bound to the walls, while for Tw(h)≤T≤Tcb the interface is freely fluctuating around the centre of the film, where Tcb is the bulk critical temperature. Starting from a monodomain structure with the interface bound to one wall, we study the onset of the interface…