Solid films are usually metastable or unstable in the as-deposited state, and they will dewet
or agglomerate to form islands when heated to sufficiently high temperatures. This process …

In the past decade there have been many theoretical and experimental efforts to study the
mechanisms of solid state dewetting, that means the spontaneous agglomeration of a thin …

A stability theory is presented which describes the conditions under which thin films rupture.
It is found that holes in the film will either grow or shrink, depending on whether their initial …

Very thin films, less than 100 nm-thick, are used in a variety of applications, including as
catalysts and for thin film reactions to form patterned silicides in electronic devices. Because …

Fiber‐reinforced ceramic composites achieve high toughness through distributed damage
mechanisms. These mechanisms are dependent on matrix cracks deflecting into fiber/matrix …

We propose a structure-preserving parametric finite element method (SP-PFEM) for
discretizing the surface diffusion of a closed curve in two dimensions (2D) or a surface in …

Formation and dispersion of metal nanoparticles on oxide surfaces in site-specific or even
arrayed configuration are key in various technological processes such as catalysis …

The agglomeration behavior of Cu and Au films each with a thickness of 5 and 50 nm,
deposited on thermally grown SiO 2 by dc magnetron sputtering, was investigated with …

Agglomeration is a common problem in all technological areas that depend on the integrity
and continuity of films. The origin of agglomeration of thin films has been traced to its …

Dense polycrystalline thin films of ZrO2 (3 and 8 mol% Y2O3) were produced by the
pyrolysis of zirconium acetate precursor films, which were deposited on single crystal Al2O3 …