Surface transitions under confinement

Abstract

We describe the modifications undergone by phase transitions associated with a planar surface when the system is confined by the presence of a second surface parallel to the first. The inhomogeneous states are studied within the Landau density functional theory, which imparts scaling properties to the order parameter profiles. We distinguish between two situations, identical and symmetrically opposed surface fields, and provide three illustrations: (i) a liquid crystal at the nematic-isotropic transition, (ii) a racemic mixture of enantiomeric species and (iii) a ternary molecular fluid mixture close to a consolute point.