In contrast to the breath-figure patterns that arise when water condenses on solid surfaces, the condensation and growth of droplets of water on paraffin oil can produce distinct two-dimensional structures. These occur because, in contrast to droplets on a solid surface, droplets of an immiscible fluid on the surface of a liquid can interact by mechanisms other than coalescence. An experimental investigation of the translational and orientational order in the patterns enables a connection to be made between their morphology and growth.

• Received 3 January 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.42.1086