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arXiv · 1602.05538

Capillary levelling of free-standing liquid nanofilms

Mark Ilton·Miles M. P. Couchman·Cedric Gerbelot·Michael Benzaquen·Paul D. Fowler·Howard A. Stone·Elie Raphaël·Kari Dalnoki-Veress·Thomas Salez
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Abstract

We report on the capillary-driven levelling of a topographical perturbation at the surface of a free-standing 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.

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Mark Ilton, Miles M. P. Couchman, Cedric Gerbelot, Michael Benzaquen, Paul D. Fowler, Howard A. Stone, Elie Raphaël, Kari Dalnoki-Veress, Thomas Salez. 2016-09-05. Capillary levelling of free-standing liquid nanofilms. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.117.167801

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