Article abstract
Nature Materials 2, 59 - 63 (2002)
Published online: 15 December 2002 | doi:10.1038/nmat788
Subject Categories: Surface and thin films | Computation, modelling and theory
Complex dewetting scenarios captured by thin-film models
Jürgen Becker1, Günther Grün1, Ralf Seemann2, Hubert Mantz2, Karin Jacobs2, Klaus R. Mecke3,4 & Ralf Blossey5
Abstract
In the course of miniaturization of electronic and microfluidic devices, reliable predictions of the stability of ultrathin films have a strategic role for design purposes. Consequently, efficient computational techniques that allow for a direct comparison with experiment become increasingly important. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, that the full complex spatial and temporal evolution of the rupture of ultrathin films can be modelled in quantitative agreement with experiment. We accomplish this by combining highly controlled experiments on different film-rupture patterns with computer simulations using novel numerical schemes for thin-film equations. For the quantitative comparison of the pattern evolution in both experiment and simulation we introduce a novel pattern analysis method based on Minkowski measures. Our results are fundamental for the development of efficient tools capable of describing essential aspects of thin-film flow in technical systems.
- Institut für Angewandte Mathematik, Universität Bonn, Beringstrasse 6, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
- Abteilung Angewandte Physik, Universität Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany
- Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
- Institut für Theoretische und Angewandte Physik, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57/VI, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany
- Zentrum für Bioinformatik, Universität des Saarlandes, Im Stadtwald, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
Correspondence to: Ralf Blossey5 e-mail: blossey@bioinf.uni-sb.de
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