Orientation of adsorbed polar molecules (dipoles) in external electrostatic field

A M Gabovich; A I Voitenko

doi:10.1088/1361-648X/abb997

Orientation of adsorbed polar molecules (dipoles) in external electrostatic field

J Phys Condens Matter. 2020 Oct 19;33(3). doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/abb997.

Authors

A M Gabovich¹, A I Voitenko¹

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Physics, 46 Nauky Ave., Kyiv 03028, Ukraine.

PMID: 33094735
DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/abb997

Abstract

A model is proposed in the framework of classical electrostatics to describe the behavior of an adsorbed polar molecule near the plane interface between two insulators under the action of an external electrostatic field. The molecule is considered as a permanent point dipole that polarizes the interface and interacts with it through electrostatic image forces. The latter and the applied field try to reorient the dipole in a competitive manner. The system behavior turns out to be rather complicated: it may show a bistable character with a hysteresis (a switch). Such a switch can serve as an element in a memory network made of adsorbed molecules.

Keywords: adsorption; bistable switch; electric dipole; electrostatic field; image forces; interface phenomena; polar molecule.