abstract
- The capillary levelling of cylindrical holes in viscous polystyrene films was studied using atomic force microscopy as well as quantitative analytical scaling arguments based on thin film theory and self-similarity. The relaxation of the holes was shown to consist of two different time regimes: an early regime where opposing sides of the hole do not interact, and a late regime where the hole is filling up. For the latter, the self-similar asymptotic profile was derived analytically and shown to be in excellent agreement with experimental data. Finally, a binary system of two holes in close proximity was investigated where the individual holes fill up at early times and coalesce at longer times.