Volume Fraction Dependence of the Structure Function in Binary Systems Undergoing Phase Separation

Abstract

Various binary systems, that are initially homogeneous, can be brought by a sudden change of temperature or pressure into an unstable state towards the decomposition of the constituents. The structure function S(k,t), which characterizes the inhomogeneous structure and evolves with real time t, has been found to be expressed by a timeindependent scaling function $\tilde{s}(x)$ in a form

$$S(k,t) \sim k_{m}^{{ - d}}(t)\tilde{s}(k/{{k}_{m}}(t))$$

(1)

in terms of scaling length k_m ⁻(t) at that time t, where d is the dimensionality of the system¹.