When a fluid is confined between two molecularly smooth solid surfaces (e.g., mica surfaces) it tends to form layers of molecular thickness parallel to the surfaces. We study the process of the squeezing out of a monolayer as a function of an applied normal pressure. We estimate the pressure necessary to ‘‘nucleate’’ the thickness transition (n→n-1, where n is the number of monolayers) and study the ‘‘growth’’ or ‘‘spreading’’ of the removal process after the nucleation has occurred.

• Received 18 April 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.50.5590