Dynamics of hole growth in dewetting polystyrene films

We describe experiments, based on optical and atomic force microscopy, aimed at characterising the growth of nucleated holes in polystyrene films. Circular nucleated holes develop upon dewetting in thick films, and they grow uniformly with time until coalescence with neighbouring holes occurs. Their growth rate follows a model that includes viscous dissipation in the rim and slippage on the substrate. Under certain conditions, however, nucleated holes in very thin films grow uniformly only up to a certain threshold value, beyond which a cascade pattern called “satellite holes” is observed. This pattern is the result of the interplay between the disjoining and Laplace pressure.