Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 30 October 1998:
Vol. 282. no. 5390, pp. 888 - 889
DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5390.888
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

THIN-FILM PATTERN FORMATION:
The Artistic Side of Intermolecular Forces

Günter Reiter

When films get thinner than about one micrometer, they become unstable in ways that affect many applications. In his Perspective, Reiter discusses results reported in the same issue by Herminghaus et al. in which a process called "spinodal dewetting" was studied as a possible source of instability. By adjusting the intermolecular interaction properties, a variety of film patterns were obtained, and these patterns were consistent with those seen in experiments of thin films. Such effects may be especially useful in situations where particular patterns need to be created.

The author is at the Institut de Chimie des Surfaces et Interfaces-CNRS, 15 rue Jean Starcky, B.P. 2488, 68057 Mulhouse Cedex, France. E-mail: g. reiter{at}univ-mulhouse.fr

Read the Full Text

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)