T. Vilmin and E. Raphaël 2005 Europhys. Lett. 72 781 doi:10.1209/epl/i2005-10312-y
T. Vilmin and E. Raphaël
Show affiliationsDewetting of thin polystyrene films deposited onto silicon wafers exhibits unusual dynamics and rim morphologies. Here, we present a new theoretical approach of these phenomena taking into account both the viscoelastic properties of the film and the non-zero velocity of the film at the interface with the substrate (i.e. slippage). We show how these two ingredients lead to: a) a very asymmetric shape of the rim as the film dewets; b) a decrease of the dewetting velocity with time like t−1/2 for times shorter than the reptation time (for larger times, the dewetting velocity reaches a constant value). Recent experiments by Damman, Baudelet and Reiter (Phys. Rev. Lett., 91 (2003) 216101) present, however, a much faster decrease of the dewetting velocity. We then show how this striking result may be explained by the presence of residual stresses in the film.
Issue 5 (December 2005)
Received 19 May 2005, accepted for publication 6 October 2005, in final form 6 October 2005
Published 4 November 2005
T. Vilmin and E. Raphaël 2005 Europhys. Lett. 72 781