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arXiv · 1505.05478

Role of Thermal Fluctuations in Nonlinear Thin Film Dewetting

S. Nesic·R. Cuerno·E. Moro·L. Kondic
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Abstract

The spontaneous formation of droplets via dewetting of a thin fluid film from a solid substrate allows for materials nanostructuring, under appropriate experimental control. While thermal fluctuations are expected to play a role in this process, their relevance has remained poorly understood, particularly during the nonlinear stages of evolution. Within a stochastic lubrication framework, we show that thermal noise speeds up and substantially influences the formation and evolution of the droplet arrangement. As compared with their deterministic counterparts, for a fixed spatial domain, stochastic systems feature a smaller number of droplets, with a larger variability in sizes and space distribution. Finally, we discuss the influence of stochasticity on droplet coarsening for very long times.

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S. Nesic, R. Cuerno, E. Moro, L. Kondic. 2015-05-20. Role of Thermal Fluctuations in Nonlinear Thin Film Dewetting. https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.05478

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