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Article

Between Two and Three Dimensions

DEC 01, 1985
The physics of molecular films evolves from two dimensional to three dimensional as the films thicken, but remnants of two‐dimensional behavior persist in bulk materials.
J. G. Dash

One of the most glamorous aspects of monolayer films is their thinness, and another is their two dimensionality. These properties are not the same, of course, although it might seem that each implies the other. We know some monolayers that are not two dimensional, and some much thicker films that are nearly so. Even more confusing is that a film can be two dimensional and three dimensional—and some‐where in between—at the same time. A simple change of temperature can change a film’s dimensionality.

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More about the authors

J. G. Dash, University of Washington, Seattle.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 38, Number 12

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