Spinodal Dewetting in Liquid Crystal and Liquid Metal Films

Abstract

Theory predicts that dewetting of a homogeneous liquid film from a solid surface may proceed via unstable surface waves on the liquid. This phenomenon, usually termed spinodal dewetting, has been sought after in many systems. Observations in liquid crystal and liquid metal films showed that, as expected, the emerging structures were similar to those found for spinodal decomposition in mixtures. Certain differences, however, could be attributed to peculiarities of the wetting forces in these two dissimilar systems, thereby demonstrating the role of nonlinearities inherent in the wetting forces.

Deformation and dewetting of thin liquid films induced by moving gas jets

“…Above a critical translation speed, however, a thin liquid film is left on the wafer, that spontaneously breaks up, dewets and leads to undesirable residual droplets on the substrate. Similar film rupture and dewetting phenomena have been described for thin layers of polymer melts [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27], metals [28][29][30][31][32] and oil films submersed in water [33][34][35].…”

Shape of a Liquid Front upon Dewetting

“…We will moreover demonstrate the sensitivity of a liquid profile even to slight changes in the viscoelastic properties of the material. To the best of our knowledge, the analysis of a rim profile was only subject to theoretical studies [1][2][3][4][5], yet experimental studies concentrated on the characterization of the dynamics of dewetting [6][7][8][9][10], but not on the shape of the rim.…”

Electrohydrodynamic instability of thin conductive liquid films

“…With the aid of (6), equation (7) reduces to (8) Substitution of (2) into (8) yields (9) where the higher order term (∂h/∂x) 2 is neglected. Now, consider the evolution of the film surface near h 0 .…”

“…In recent years, this phenomenon has attracted considerable attention due to its fundamental importance in understanding the mechanisms of surface pattern development and relevant modulation during dewetting of thin liquid and polymer films [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. So far, most studies in this field have focused on the forces mentioned above and assumed that other possible instability-driving forces are negligible.…”