Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2-2010

Abstract

We have observed a sharp slowing down of the relaxation of the liquid meniscus for polydn-alkyl acrylate) at temperatures where there are no abrupt changes in bulk viscosity or surface tension. This slowing down is due to the formation of a surface-ordered monolayer above the bulk melting temperatures. X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy measurements reveal that the surface capillary fluctuations are also significantly slower due to the formation of the ordered monolayer for film thicknesses comparable to that of the precursor films. The slowing down of the precursor film dynamics is responsible for slower meniscus relaxation below the surface ordering transition temperature.

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

Volume

104

Issue

13

Required Publisher's Statement

Copyright 2010 American Physical Society. The original published version of this article may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.137801.

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