Benetzung strukturierter Substrate

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Siegfried Dietrich
• Subject Area: Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 1998 to 2005
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5093760

Modern experimental techniques allow one to endow substrates in lateral directions with rich and well-defined chemical or geometric structures. These structures generate purposive modulations in the density distribution of adjacent liquids which can be exploited in the context of microfluidics. The project aims at calculating these fluid structures in thermal equilibrium and at a molecular scale by using various methods of statistical physics. Results, which have been obtained during the first grant period, are to be studied in more detail and extended to additional substrate structures. Moreover, it is planned to investigate the influence of capillary waves on the generated fluid structures. Interesting new results are expected for the case that lateral substrate structures are exposed to liquid crystals. The analysis of prefreezing of hard spheres near hard walls should shed light on the possibility of spontaneously breaking the homogeneous lateral translational invariance. Finally, first exploratory investigations are planned concerning the dynamics of liquids in contact with structured substrates.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1052: Benetzung und Strukturbildung an Grenzflächen