Dewetting of ultrathin solid films

Ultrathin crytalline solid films are found to dewet with a faceted rim. In the case of heterogeneous dewetting initiated from a linear trench or from periodically arranged holes, the dewetted area expands either with a faceted multilayer rim or in a layer-by-layer fashion. In the case of homogeneous dewetting, holes are accompanied with multilayer rims and the uncoverage increases as a power law of time. Results of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are elucidated within the frame of nucleation theory and surface diffusion limited dynamics.