The close packed (001) face of the anisotropic molecular crystal biphenyl has been studied using X-ray reflectivity upon approaching the melting point. No evidence for surface melting has been found, in contrast to the observations of Chernov and Yakovlev [Langmuir 3 (1987) 635] for the same crystal face against glass. We speculate that in the latter case the surface melting is not intrinsic but induced by the roughness of the glass.

Surf. Sci.

de Jeu, W. H., Shindler, J. D., Chandavarkar, S., Geertman, R. M., & Liang, K. S. (1995). On the (absence of) surface melting in biphenyl. Surf. Sci., 342, 341–344.