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Nucleation-induced undulative instability in thin films ofnCB liquid crystals

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2002 EDP Sciences
, , Citation S. Schlagowski et al 2002 EPL 57 519 DOI 10.1209/epl/i2002-00492-x

0295-5075/57/4/519

Abstract

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.

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10.1209/epl/i2002-00492-x