Capillary Leveling of Freestanding Liquid Nanofilms.

Publication Year
2016

Type

Journal Article
Abstract

We report on the capillary-driven leveling of a topographical perturbation at the surface of a freestanding liquid nanofilm. The width of a stepped surface profile is found to evolve as the square root of time. The hydrodynamic model is in excellent agreement with the experimental data. In addition to exhibiting an analogy with diffusive processes, this novel system serves as a precise nanoprobe for the rheology of liquids at interfaces in a configuration that avoids substrate effects.

Journal
Phys Rev Lett
Volume
117
Issue
16
Pages
167801
Date Published
2016 Oct 14
ISSN Number
1079-7114
Alternate Journal
Phys Rev Lett
PMID
27792365