Stress-Induced Acceleration and Ordering in Solid-State Dewetting

We report on the influence of elastic strain on solid-state dewetting. Using continuum modeling, we first study the consequences of elastic stress on the pinching of the film away from the triple line during dewetting. We find that elastic stress in the solid film decreases both the time and the distance at which the film pinches in such a way that the dewetting front is accelerated. In addition, the spatial organization of islands emerging from the dewetting process is affected by strain. As an example, we demonstrate that ordered arrays of quantum dots can be achieved from solid-state dewetting of a square island in the presence of elastic stress.