NUCLEATION AT FIRST-ORDER WETTING TRANSITIONS

Abstract

A brief review is given of the status of both theory and experiments of nucleation phenomena at first-order wetting transitions, focusing on the early stages of the decay of metastable thin and thick wetting films. Generally, the decay of metastable films is initiated by the formation of critical nuclei, which for a metastable thin film are droplets on the wall of the system, and holes in the wetting layer for a metastable thick film. The shapes of critical droplets and critical holes are characterized in the various regions of the wetting phase diagram. The nucleation rate of critical nuclei is determined, which is a measure of the lifetime of the metastable states. The connection of the theoretical results with recent experiments on nucleated wetting layers is discussed. An outlook on open problems concludes the review.