We calculate the density distribution of a three-phase contact between the liquid-vapor interface of a simple fluid and a planar substrate. Using a microscopic density functional theory we pay particular attention to the long range of the underlying dispersion forces and find significant deviations from predictions of phenomenological theories. We monitor these structures and the corresponding line tension as a function of temperature upon approaching critical or first-order wetting transitions.

• Received 13 June 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.57.655