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Phase transitions and adsorption isotherm in multilayer adsorbates with lateral interactions

2002; Elsevier BV; Volume: 311; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0378-4371(02)00828-2

1873-2119

Sonia B Casal, Horacio S. Wio, Sergio E. Mangioni,

Material Dynamics and Properties

We analyze here a model for an adsorbate system composed of many layers by extending a theoretical approach used to describe pattern formation on a monolayer of adsorbates with lateral interactions. The approach shows, in addition to a first order phase transition in the first layer, a transition in the second layer together with evidence of a "cascade" of transitions if more layers are included. The transition profiles, showing a staircase structure, corroborate this picture. The adsorption isotherm that came out of this approach is in qualitative agreement with numerical and experimental results.