Concurrent spinodal decomposition and surface roughening in thin solid films

A computational model based on the phase field method is developed to investigate the morphological evolution of a thin solid film undergoing concurrent spinodal decomposition and surface roughening. It is found that there is a strong link between developing two-phase microstructures, surface roughness, and film break-up. A non-traditional film-to-island morphological transition is observed due to the presence of coherency stress in the film caused by phase separation. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3624532]