Dewetting of Thin Polymer Films near the Glass Transition

Dewetting of ultrathin polymer films near the glass transition exhibits unexpected front morphologies [G. Reiter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 186101 (2001)]. Here, we present the first theoretical attempt to understand these features, focusing on the shear-thinning behavior of these films. We analyze the profile of the dewetting film, and characterize the time evolution of the dry region radius, $R_d\left(t\right)$, and of the rim height, $h_m\left(t\right)$. After a transient time, depending on the initial thickness, $h_m\left(t\right)$ grows like $\sqrt{t}$ while $R_d\left(t\right)$ increases like $\exp \left(\sqrt{t}\right)$. Different regimes of growth are expected, depending on the initial film thickness and experimental time range.