Invited Lecture
Complex dewetting scenarios of ulta-thin silicon films

Thin solid films are rarely stable when annealed even well below their melting temperature. Under the action of surface diffusion, atoms move away from the film edges leading to the retraction and breaking of the film, eventually forming isolated islands. This is for instance one of the main factors impeding the use of ultra-thin silicon films on insulators (UT-SOI) for the further miniaturization of next generation electronic components. Moreover, the randomness of the islands’ spatial organization and their size dispersion are severe drawbacks limiting the use of this self-assembly method for other purposes such as optical meta-surfaces. Here we demonstrate a method to control UT-SOI dewetting allowing for the precise self-assembly of a plethora of complex nanostructures over large surfaces. Predictive phase-field simulations are shown accounting for the dominant role of surface diffusion limited kinetics and providing a valuable tool for further engineering of this hybrid top-down/bottom-up self-assembly method.