Abstract. The dewetting of thin polymer films on solid substrates has been studied extensively in recent years. These films can decay either by nucleation events or by spinodal dewetting, essentially only depending on the interface potential describing the short- and long-range intermolecular interactions between the interfaces and the initial film thickness. Here, we describe experiments and simulations concerned with the decay of polystyrene thin films. The rupture of the film occurs by the formation of a correlated pattern of holes ('satellite holes') along the liquid rims accumulating at the channel borders. The development of this complex film rupture process, which is neither simply spinodal nor nucleation dewetting, can be mimicked precisely by making use of a novel simulation code based on a rigorous mathematical treatment of the thin film equation and on the knowledge of the effective interface potential of the system. The conditions that determine the appearance and the position of the satellite holes around pre-existing holes are discussed.

Print publication: Issue 19 (21 May 2003)
Received 22 October 2002
Published 6 May 2003