# Power-law scaling for solid-state dewetting of thin films: an Onsager variational approach

Source: [Power-law scaling for solid-state dewetting of thin films: an Onsager variational approach](<https://www.sota2.com/research/paper/68fa3b631e209131ce8d25b7>)

Collection index: [llms.txt](<https://www.sota2.com/research/llms.txt>)

Data updated: 2025-10-25T00:34:53.424Z

Authors: Wei Jiang, Xianmin Xu, Weizhu Bao, David J. Srolovitz

Published: 2020-01-25T15:08:26.000Z

## Abstract

We examine the kinetics of surface diffusion-controlled, solid-state dewetting by consideration of the retraction of the contact in a semi-infinite solid thin film on a flat rigid substrate. The analysis is performed within the framework of the Onsager variational principle applied to surface diffusion-controlled morphology evolution. Based on this approach, we derive a simple, reduced-order model to quantitatively analyse the power-law scaling of the dewetting process. Using asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations for the reduced-order model, we find that the retraction distance grows as the $2/5$ power of time and the height of the ridge, adjacent to the contact, grows as the $1/5$ power of time for late time. While the asymptotic analysis focuses on late time and a relatively simple geometric model, the Onsager approach is applicable to all times and descriptions of the morphology of arbitrary complexity.

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## Original sources and implementation

[Original paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.09331>)

[PDF](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/2001.09331.pdf>)