It is argued that an enhancement of the surface hexatic in-plane ordering is due to the quench of the out-of-plane surface-layer fluctuations. It is shown that the layer-by-layer freezing (liquid-hexatic phase transition) in freely suspended liquid-crystal films can be induced by the layer fluctuation profile. The obtained results relating transition temperatures to the bend elasticity and the surface tension can be also applied to monolayers undergoing liquid-hexatic phase transition on liquid or liquid-crystal surfaces.

• Received 12 May 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.46.15542