The phase behavior of two-dimensional symmetrical mixtures in a weak external field of square symmetry

Using Monte Carlo simulation methods in the grand canonical and semigrand canonical ensembles, we study the phase behavior of two-dimensional symmetrical binary mixtures of Lennard-Jones particles subjected to a weakly corrugated external field of a square symmetry. It is shown that the both vapor-liquid condensation and demixing transition in the liquid phase are not appreciably affected by a weakly corrugated external field. On the other hand, even a weakly corrugated external field considerably influences the structure of solid phases and the liquid-solid transition. In particular, the solid phases are found to exhibit uniaxially ordered distorted hexagonal structure. The triple point temperature increases with the corrugation of the external field, while the triple point density becomes lower when the surface corrugation increases. The changes in the location of the triple point are shown to lead to the changes of the phase diagram topology. It is also demonstrated that the solid phase undergoes a demixing transition, which is also very slightly affected by the weakly corrugated external potential. The demixing transition in the solid phase is shown to belong to the universality class of the Ising model. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3583984]