Fig. 4: Spinodal wavelength and rupture time depending on polystyrene (PS) film thickness.

a Spinodal wavelength of PS films with thickness \(2\,{{{{{{{\rm{nm}}}}}}}}\le {h}_{{{{{{{{\rm{PS}}}}}}}}}^{0}\le 8.2\,{{{{{{{\rm{nm}}}}}}}}\) on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) with \({h}_{{{{{{{{\rm{PMMA}}}}}}}}}^{0}=111\,{{{{{{{\rm{nm}}}}}}}}\) (orange crosses) and \({h}_{{{{{{{{\rm{PMMA}}}}}}}}}^{0}=219\,{{{{{{{\rm{nm}}}}}}}}\) (purple crosses) determined from normalized power spectral densities (PSD). The black lines are predictions from linear stability analysis (1) using the full intermolecular potential (solid line) or using only the long-ranged van der Waals potential (dashed line). b Experimentally determined spinodal breakup time (orange crosses) compared to rupture time from linear stability analysis for PMMA thickness of  h⁰_PMMA = 111 nm. The experimental rupture times were re-scaled for a dewetting temperature of T = 125 ^∘C corresponding to a viscosity of μ_PS ≈ 2.7 MPas and μ_PMMA ≈ 1.9 MPas. Error bars denote statistical errors including the uncertainty of individual measurements. Theoretical values assume μ_PMMA = μ_PS = 1.9 MPas and an assumed overlap of \({w}_{{{{{{{{\rm{PS}}}}}}}}}^{u}=0.6\,{{{{{{{\rm{nm}}}}}}}}\). In Supplementary Note 3, this data is shown in a double-logarithmic plot to indicate possible power-law dependencies of wavelength and rupture time on \({h}_{{{{{{{{\rm{PS}}}}}}}}}^{0}\).