Phase Transitions of Condensates Investigated in an Atom by Atom Way*

Condensation processes and phase transitions are investigated in an atom-by-atom way in on-surface nanosized confinements. Structural transformations are induced thermally and by local probe excitation. The pores of a metal-organic network occupied with 1 up to 9 Xe atoms have been investigated in their propensity to undergo 'condensed solid' to 'confined fluid' transitions. Different transition temperatures are identified, which depend on the number of Xe atoms in the condensate and relate to the stability of the Xe clustering in the condensed 'phase'. This work is of fundamental interest and reveals the feature-rich behaviour of transitions of confined planar condensates which provide a showcase towards future 'phase-transition' storage media patterned by self-assembly.

[1] S. Nowakowska et al. Nature Communications (2017) DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7071
[2] A. Ahsan et al. SMALL (2018) DOI: 10.1002/smll.201803169