Spontaneous Rupture of Thin Films

We explored the lifecycle of freely suspended thin black films - through non-equilibrium molecular dynamics - examining the preparation phase of rupture, subsequent nucleation events characterized by spinodal dewetting, and the growth of individual nuclei leading to coalescence. The absence of surfactants, surface impurities, and external perturbations, allowed us to isolate and investigate the dominating role of thermal fluctuations in the film rupture process. While existing literature attributes complete stochasticity to film rupture, our study uncovers an intriguing short time window during which the future rupture events display deterministic behaviour, eliminating any inherent randomness, both in space, and in time. Findings shed light on the previously unexplored predictability aspects of thin liquid film rupture, and the growth behaviour of nuclei before and beyond coalescence, opening new possibilities for control and manipulation in various nano-fluidic applications.