Slip vs. viscoelasticity in dewetting thin films

Abstract

Ultrathin polymer films on non-wettable substrates display dynamic features which have been attributed to either viscoelastic or slip effects. Here we show that in the weak and strong slip regime effects of viscoelastic relaxation are either absent or essentially indistinguishable from slip effects. Strong-slip modifies the fastest unstable mode in a rupturing thin film, which questions the standard approach to reconstruct the effective interface potential from dewetting experiments.