Abstract
We have conducted large molecular dynamics simulations of the dewetting of ultrathin liquid films on a solid substrate at the nanometer scale. In particular, we observed the visco-inertial regime for the first time; this type of dewetting has never been observed because its specific signal is too small, although it is expected to be observed in a wide range of conditions. Dewetting initially behaves in the inertial regime. After the rim size reaches a crossover length, it transits to visco-inertial dewetting, as predicted by the hydrodynamic theory. The assumption of visco-inertial dewetting with the boundary layer in the liquid film agrees with the simulation results. We evaluated the crossover between the inertial and the visco-inertial regimes at the molecular scale that is larger than the critical time based on the hydrodynamic theory, especially in the range of the appearance of the slip effect.
