Coexistence of spinodal instability and thermal nucleation in thin-film rupture:Insights from molecular levels

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.032403· OSTI ID:1130436

Nguyen, Trung D ^[1]; Fuentes-Cabrera, Miguel A ^[1]; Fowlkes, Jason Davidson ^[1]; Rack, Philip D ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Despite extensive investigation using hydrodynamic models and experiments over the past decades, there remain open questions regarding the origin of the initial rupture of thin liquid films. One of the reasons that makes it difficult to identify the rupture origin is the coexistence of two dewettingmechanisms, namely, thermal nucleation and spinodal instability, as observed in many experimental studies. Using a coarse-grained model and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we are able to characterize the very early stage of dewetting in nanometer-thick liquid-metal films wetting a solid substrate. We observe the features characteristic of both spinodal instability and thermal nucleation in the spontaneously dewetting films and show that these two macroscopic mechanisms share a common origin at molecular levels.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1130436
• Journal Information: Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, Vol. 89, Issue 89; ISSN 1539-3755
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English