Book Description

The Advanced Study Institute (AS I) entitled "Phase Transitions in Surface Films" was held at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily from June 19 to June 29, 1990. It reviewed the present understanding (experimental and theoretical) of phase transitions of surfaces, interfaces, and thin ftlms as well as the related structural and dynamical properties of these systems. From its inception, this ASI was envisioned as a sequel to one of the same title organized eleven years earlier by J. G. Dash and J. Ruvalds which was also held at the Ettore Majorana Centre. The previous ASI reflected the progress which had been made in understanding quasi two-dimensional (2D) states of matter, particularly adsorbed monolayers, and the phase transitions which occur in them. At that time, the field was barely ten years old. The modern field to which we are referring here can be traced to the landmark experiments of A. Thorny and X. Duval. Beginning in 1967, they published a series of papers presenting evidence from vapor pressure measurements of 2D phases of krypton and other gases adsorbed on polycrystalline (exfoliated) graphite. Their work led to a large number of thermodynamic and scattering experiments on physisorbed ftlms. This in turn motivated a great deal of theoretical interest in 2D systems and their phase transitions.