Formation of nanoscale vacuum films governing thermal resistance in amorphous ice

Formation of nanoscale vacuum films governing thermal resistance in amorphous ice | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Formation of nanoscale vacuum films governing thermal resistance in amorphous ice Katrin Amann-Winkel, Yizhi Liu, Tobias Eklund, Aigerim Karina, and 18 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8617069/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rapid crystallization prevents equilibrium studies of liquid water in the deeply supercooled regime. Although ultrafast X-ray experiments enable simultaneous heating and structural probing of water and ice, the heating dynamics of amorphous solid water (ASW), especially how heat propagates across nanoscale films under non-equilibrium conditions, remain poorly understood. Here, we combine X-ray free-electron laser pump–probe diffraction, continuum heat-transfer modeling, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to unravel the transient thermal response of ASW films on a Pt substrate at a base temperature of 110 K. Picosecond laser pulses induce a nanosecond-long temperature increase of the Pt surface to 700 K. Surprisingly, the hundreds-nanometer-thick ASW layer remains unchanged within tens of ns, revealing a striking thermal decoupling between metal and ASW. Continuum modeling indicates that the inferred interfacial resistance cannot be explained by conventional equilibrium models. MD simulations identify the spontaneous formation of a nanometric vapor film at the interface as the microscopic origin of this decoupling, which suppresses thermal contact and insulates the ice. The experimentally observed out-of-plane diffraction peak splitting matches the signature obtained in simulations only when a vapor-nucleated layer is present at the interface, demonstrating that the diffraction anisotropy originates from interfacial separation rather than bulk porosity. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics Physical sciences/Chemistry/Physical chemistry Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Surfaces, interfaces and thin films water amorphous ice heat-transfer Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files LiuEklundFormationofnanoscalevacuumfilmsgoverningthermalresistanceinamorphousiceSI.docx Supplementary Information for “Formation of nanoscale vacuum films governing thermal resistance in amorphous ice” Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8617069","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":583058005,"identity":"6b6288b7-22c0-4af2-9377-17c6dfeba294","order_by":0,"name":"Katrin 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