Surface-Directed Spinodal Decomposition on Chemically Patterned Substrates

TL;DR

This paper presents a numerical study of surface-directed spinodal decomposition on chemically patterned substrates, revealing a crossover from surface-registry to phase-separation regimes through analysis of correlation functions and domain scales.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed numerical analysis of SDSD on patterned surfaces, highlighting the crossover dynamics and providing insights applicable to various surface patterns.

Findings

Identification of a crossover from surface-registry to phase-separation regimes

Analysis of layer-wise correlation functions and structure factors

Observation of domain length scale evolution

Abstract

{\it Surface-directed spinodal decomposition} (SDSD) is the kinetic interplay of phase separation and wetting at a surface. This process is of great scientific and technological importance. In this paper, we report results from a numerical study of SDSD on a chemically patterned substrate. We consider simple surface patterns for our simulations, but most of the results apply for arbitrary patterns. In layers near the surface, we observe a dynamical crossover from a {\it surface-registry regime} to a {\it phase-separation regime}. We study this crossover using layer-wise correlation functions and structure factors, and domain length scales.