Abstract
Thin liquid films are often used to coat rotating magnetic recording disks so as to enhance their durability. These rotating films are subject to inertial and wind shear forces that induce radial motion thereby thinning them. An experiment is discussed here to study the relative importance of inertial forces and wind shear. For a 28-nm-thick layer of perfluoropolyether, air shear dominates inertial effects. Furthermore, the thinning of these films without wind shear does not deviate from the classical models of nearly parallel, slow viscous flow using the bulk viscosity and no slip.

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