We consider two stacked ultrathin layers of different liquids on a solid substrate. Using long-wave theory, we derive coupled evolution equations for the free liquid-liquid and liquid-gas interfaces. Depending on the long-range van der Waals forces and the ratio of the layer thicknesses, the system follows different pathways of dewetting. The instability may be driven by varicose or zigzag modes and leads to film rupture either at the liquid-gas interface or at the substrate. We predict that the faster layer drives the evolution and may accelerate the rupture of the slower layer by orders of magnitude, thereby promoting the rupture of rather thick films.

We consider a thin film consisting of two layers of immiscible liquids on a solid horizontal (heated) substrate. Both, the free liquid-liquid and the liquid-gas interface of such a bilayer liquid film may be unstable due to effective molecular interactions relevant for ultrathin layers below 100 nm thickness, or due to temperature-gradient caused Marangoni flows in the heated case. Using a long wave approximation we derive coupled evolution equations for the interface profiles for the general non-isothermal situation allowing for slip at the substrate. Linear and nonlinear analyses of the short-and long-time film evolution are performed for isothermal ultrathin layers taking into account destabilizing long-range and stabilizing short-range molecular interactions. It is shown that the initial instability can be of a varicose, zigzag or mixed type. However, in the nonlinear stage of the evolution the mode type and therefore the pattern morphology can change via switching between two different branches of stationary solutions or via coarsening along a single branch.

We consider two layers of immiscible liquids confined between an upper and a lower rigid plate. The dynamics of the free liquid-liquid interface is described for arbitrary amplitudes by an evolution equation derived from the basic hydrodynamic equations using long-wave approximation. After giving the evolution equation in a general way, we focus on interface instabilities driven by gravity, thermocapillary and electrostatic fields. First, we study the linear stability discussing especially the conditions for destabilizing the system by heating from above or below. Second, we use a variational formulation of the evolution equation based on an energy functional to predict metastable states and the long-time pattern morphology ͑holes, drops or maze structures͒. Finally, fully nonlinear three-dimensional numerical integrations are performed to study the short-and long-time evolution of the evolving patterns. Different coarsening modes are discussed and long-time scaling exponents are extracted.

We study a thin liquid film with a free surface on the underside of a cooled horizontal substrate. We show that if the fluid is initially in equilibrium with its own vapor in the gas phase below, regular surface patterns in the form of long-wave hexagons having a well-defined lateral length scale are observed. This is in sharp contrast to the case without evaporation where rupture or coarsening to larger and larger patterns is seen in the long time limit. In this way, evaporation could be used for regular structuring of the film surface. Finally, we estimate the finite wave length for the simplified case of an extended Cahn-Hilliard equation.

The structuring process of two-layer liquid films driven by van der Waals interactions is investigated numerically for three-dimensional systems. Different types of dynamical transitions of the interface morphologies are characterised using coupled evolution equations for the thickness profiles. We introduce a global deflection measure that faithfully captures the transitions occurring in the course of the short-and long-time evolution. Using an Si/PMMA/PS/air system as example, transitions via branch switching and via coarsening are analysed in detail.