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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Adatom-adatom interaction mediated by an underlying surface phase transition
I Brihuega1, A Cano, M M Ugeda
1Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
Low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy measurements on the adsorption of single Pb adatoms on Si(111)-(square root 3 x square root 3)-Pb surfaces reveal the vertical displacement patterns induced on the substrate by these Pb adatoms as well as a novel adatom-adatom interaction. The origin of both can be traced back to the (square root 3 x square root 3)<-->(3 x 3) phase transition taking place at lower temperatures. A Landau-like approach explains the displacement patterns as due to the corresponding order parameter and shows that the vicinity of a surface phase transition gives rise to a nonmonotonic adatom-adatom interaction.
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