Surface-diffusion-driven decay of patterns: beyond the small slopes approximation

MARCOS F. CASTEZ

JOURNAL OF PHYSICS CONDENSED MATTER

IOP PUBLISHING LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2010 vol. 22 p. 3450071 - 3450077

0953-8984

By combining analytical results and computer simulations, we studied the continuous theory  of surface diffusion applied to the decay of periodic high-aspect-ratio patterned substrates. Our results show that, after a transient stage, and for a broad class of initial conditions,  patterns adopt a "universal" mathematically well-specified shape that depends on two coefficients. Moreover, we were able to determine the time-dependence of such coefficients,  which enabled us to mathematically reconstruct the pattern´s shape at any subsequent time. So, our analysis can be a useful predictive theoretical tool for the design and interpretation of  experiments on thermal treatments of high-aspect-ratio patterns.