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Science 20 August 1982:
Vol. 217. no. 4561, pp. 693 - 700
DOI: 10.1126/science.217.4561.693
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Articles

Melting of Two-Dimensional Solids

W. F. Brinkman 1, Daniel S. Fisher 2, and D. E. Moncton 2

1 Director of the Physical Research Laboratory, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974
2 Members of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974

Recent theoretical predictions indicate that melting of a two-dimensional solid may be caused by spontaneous creation of dislocations. The theory predicts that melting occurs by a two-step process involving an intermediate phase, called the hexatic phase, in which there is order in the local crystalline axes but not in the positions of atoms. These ideas are being tested by numerical simulations and by experiments on electrons on liquid helium, liquid crystal films, and rare gas layers adsorbed on graphite. Experiments on liquid crystal films indicate that the three-dimensional analog of the hexatic phase exists, and xenon on graphite exhibits a melting transition close to the form predicted.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Multiple-Step Melting in Two-Dimensional Hexatic Liquid-Crystal Films.
C. Chou, A. J. Jin, S. W. Hui, C. C. Huang, and J. T. Ho (1998)
Science 280, 1424-1426
   Abstract »    Full Text »
X-ray Diffraction in Two Dimensions: Glancing x-rays at very low angles isolates a surface-specific signal and allows structural studies of two-dimensional physical systems.
A. L. ROBINSON (1983)
Science 221, 1274-1276
   PDF »


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