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It is generally recognized that the capillary forces associated with internal and external interfaces affect both the shapes of liquid-vapor surfaces and wetting of a solid by a liquid. It is less commonly understood that the same phenomenology often applies equally well to solid-solid or solid-vapor interfaces.The fundamental quantity governing capillary phenomena is the excess free energy associated with a unit area of interface. In what follows we shall show how this fundamental quantity determines the shape of increasingly complex bodies: spheres, wires, thin films and multilayers composed of liquids or solids. Crystal anisotropy is not considered here; all interfaces and surfaces are assumed isotropic.
Citation
Mrs Bulletin
Pub Type
Journals
Keywords
capillary, interfaces, multilayers, thin films
Citation
Josell, D.
and Spaepen, F.
(2008),
Surfaces, Interfaces, and Changing Shapes, Mrs Bulletin
(Accessed October 31, 2024)