Henschel, AnkeAnkeHenschelHofmann, TommyTommyHofmannHuber, PatrickPatrickHuberKnorr, KlausKlausKnorr2022-07-052022-07-052007-02-26Physical Review E 75 (2): 021607 (2007)http://hdl.handle.net/11420/13009The n -alkanes C16 H34, C17 H36, C19 H40, and C25 H52 have been imbibed and solidified in mesoporous, crystalline silicon with a mean pore diameter of 10 nm. The structures and phase sequences have been determined by x-ray diffractometry. Apart from a reduction and the hysteresis of the melting-freezing transition, we find a set of six discrete orientation states ("domains") of the confined alkane crystals with respect to the lattice of the silicon host. The growth process responsible for the domain selection is interpreted as a nanoscale version of the Bridgman technique known from single-crystal growth. Oxidation of the pore walls leads to extrusion of the hydrocarbons upon crystallization, whereas the solidified n -alkanes investigated in nonoxidized, porous silicon are thermodynamically stable.en1550-237620072American Physical SocietyPhysikJournal Article10.1103/PhysRevE.75.021607Journal Article