Coalescence of viscous two-dimensional smectic islands.

Abstract

Freestanding smectic films give a unique possibility to study two-dimensional coalescence. We report experimental investigations in freestanding films and detailed analysis of coalescence of islands, circular regions of larger thickness than the surrounding film. The driving force of island coalescence is the dislocation tension on the boundary between the island and the film. The obtained experimental results enable one to perform complex analysis of two-dimensional coalescence in Stokes regime and compare it to theoretical predictions. The applicability of scaling arguments for the description of the peculiarities of domain dynamics is demonstrated. The whole process of coalescence is well described by the analytical solution adapted to our case of islands in freestanding smectic films.