Figure 1

Nodular geometries used for electric-field simulations. (a) Nodule with a D=sqrt(4dt) aspect ratio initiating from a 0.9-μm silica microsphere for which the film thickness over the seed is non-uniform. (b) Nodule with a D=sqrt(8dt) aspect ratio initiating from a 0.9-μm silica microsphere for which the film thickness over the seed is uniform. The incident angle across the nodular surface is non-constant. At the nodular center, the incident angle is zero, and it increases to a maximum angle θ when moving to the nodular edge.