Figure 1

(Color online) Dewetting of square patches. [(a)–(d)] AFM images of evolving square patches with various initial sizes. The initial edge length of each patch was about $18.4\mu \text{m}$, $14.6\mu \text{m}$, $10.8\mu \text{m}$, and $8.9\mu \text{m}$, respectively. The total annealing time was 270, 540, and 1020 min from the left to right panel. The in-plane crystallographic orientation is indicated in the lower-left corner. Scale bars, $4\mu \text{m}$. [(e)–(h)] Height profiles for each of the patterns on the left. The height profiles were measured along the dashed lines in the AFM images. The dashed lines in the height profiles show the initial film thickness. The halos that show the original patch shape are an artifact of sample patterning and do not affect diffusion of Ni on the Ni surfaces.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 2

SEM image of the dewetted pattern that evolved from a cross patch. The edge length of the initial patch was about $10.8\mu \text{m}$. The gray dashed lines indicate the initial shape of the patch. The in-plane crystallographic orientations are indicated in the lower-left corner. The total annealing time was 1020 min. Scale bar, $10\mu \text{m}$.Reuse & Permissions

Figure 3

(Color online) Schematic illustration of the cross section of patches with different width, $W$, to thickness, $H$, ratios, dewetting into one, two, or three lines [after Dornel et al. (Ref. 6)].Reuse & Permissions

Figure 4

(Color online) [(a) and (b)] Tilt-corrected SEM images of FIB-milled cross sections of the lines shown in Fig. 2. Before milling, the lines were coated with carbon and platinum to reduce charging and protect the nickel. The curved lines are artifacts of milling of these protective layers. Scale bar, 400 nm. [(c) and (d)] AFM images of thickened edges retracting in the $\left[1\overline{1}0\right]$ and [001] directions. The annealing time was 270 min. [(e) and (f)] Height profiles of thickened facetted edges seen in (c) and (d). These were measured from the substrate surface to the top of the facets. The actual angles in the profiles approximately match the ideal angles of the indicated facets.Reuse & Permissions