Surface melting and preroughening of argon: An X-ray reflection study

F. Rieutord; R. Simon; R. Conradt; P. Müller-Buschbaum

doi:doi:10.1209/epl/i1997-00181-4

Surface melting and preroughening of argon: An X-ray reflection study DOI: 10.1209/epl/i1997-00181-4

Europhys. Lett, 37 (8), pp. 565-570 (1997)

Surface melting and preroughening of argon: An X-ray reflection study

F. Rieutord , R. Simon , R. Conradt and P. Müller-Buschbaum

CEA/Département de Recherche Fondamentale sur la Matière Condensée, SI3M/MCI, 38054 Grenoble Cédex 9, France
Projekt ANKA, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe - 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
Fakultät für Physik, Universität Konstanz - 78434 Konstanz, Germany
Institut für Experimentalphysik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Leibnizstrasse 19, 24118 Kiel, Germany

(received 31 October 1996; accepted in final form 10 February 1997)

PACS. 68.55Jk - Structure and morphology; thickness.
PACS. 64.70Dv - Solid-liquid transitions.
PACS. 68.35Rh - Phase transitions and critical phenomena.

Abstract:

We present results of an X-ray reflection study of the surface melting of the dense (111) face of a thick argon film on MgO. Our data show evidence of surface melting through a power law divergence of the thickness of the quasi-liquid surface layer at the triple-point temperature. They also give new direct experimental evidence of preroughening and support the view that the onset of surface melting in these systems is the preroughening transition.