Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 1251 - 1254 (1998)Spinodal Dewetting of Thin Polymer Films |
R. Xie1,2, A. Karim2 *, J. F. Douglas2 †, C. C. Han2, and R. A. Weiss1
1Polymer Science Program and Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269
2Polymers Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899
Received 9 March 1998
Dewetting of polystyrene films on a silicon substrate is investigated as a function of film thickness h. We observe the nucleation of holes in the early stage of dewetting for relatively thick films (h>100 Å), as observed previously, but the breakup of thinner films occurs through the growth of uniformly distributed surface undulations (“spinodal dewetting”). The average amplitude δh of these undulations increases exponentially up to the film rupture point where δh becomes comparable to h, as predicted by a capillary wave instability model.
©1998 The American Physical Society
URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v81/p1251
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.1251
PACS: 68.15.+e, 47.20.-k, 68.45.-v
* Corresponding author.
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