Discrete thinning of free-standing smectic films in the de Gennes "pre-smectic liquid" model

It is shown that the successive discrete thinning of free-standing smectic films (FSSFs), which is observed when the films are heated above the temperature of the smectic A-nematic bulk phase transition, has a natural explanation in terms of the de Gennes "pre-smectic liquid'' model, provided that a sufficiently large external compressive force is applied to the free surfaces of the FSSF. In a real situation this force stems from the curvature of the surrounding miniscus, which plays the role of a volume reservoir. In this model a superheated FSSF is stabilized by balancing the external compressive and elastic forces. When heating takes place the bulk modulus of the pre-smectic lattice decreases, and when the superheating reaches a critical value, the FSSF is subject to a long-wavelength instability in thickness because the external compressive and elastic forces can no longer be balanced for a fixed number of smectic layers. If a superheated FSSF possesses adequate stability against disruption, the balance of forces, which was disrupted, and hence the stability of the FSSF can be restored as a result of spontaneous thinning of the film to a thickness corresponding to a smaller number of smectic layers. In general, heating of a superheated FSSF is accompanied by a series of such thinning transitions. Near the critical points where the balance of the forces breaks down, the dislocation mechanism of spontaneous thinning, which could be responsible for the stratified nature of the progressive discrete thinning of real FSSFs, can become dangerous. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7761(99)00601-0].