Eur. Phys. J. D 52, 207-210 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00072-2

Size effects on melting and wetting in the Ga–Pb nano-alloy

¹ Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis et UMR CNRS No. 6622, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
² Wolfson Applied Materials Research Center, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel
³ Department of Physical Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel

Corresponding author: ^a marco.allione@iit.it

Received: 19 September 2008
Published online: 6 March 2009

Abstract

Ga–Pb alloys with 15 at% Pb mean concentration have been prepared at the nanoscale by means of evaporation-condensation technique in ultra high vacuum conditions. Transmission electron microscope images indicate that at room temperature, the system is a two-components breath figure composed of liquid Ga nanodrops containing Pb nanocrystals. Some thermodynamic properties of this nano-alloy are investigated for different temperatures and particle sizes. The results obtained put in evidence a large modification of the Ga–Pb bulk phase diagram: a decrease of the melting temperatures of the two components as well as the ones of the miscibility gap. Changes in the microscopic structure of the system as a function of temperature have been investigated and a full wetting transition from a dry to a completely wet state has been put in evidence.