Precursor film controlled wetting of Pb on Cu

Wetting in a system where the kinetics of drop spreading are controlled by the rate of formation of a precursor film is modeled for the first time at the atomistic scale. Molecular dynamics simulations of Pb(l) wetting Cu(111) and Cu(100) show that a precursor film of atomic thickness evolves and spreads diffusively. This precursor film spreads significantly faster on Cu(111) than on Cu(100). For Cu(100), the kinetics of drop spreading are dramatically decreased by slow advancement of the precursor film. Slow precursor film kinetics on Cu(100) are partly due to the formation of a surface alloy at the solid-liquid interface which does not occur on Cu(111).