The Effect of Crystal-Melt Surface Energy on the Stability of Ultra-Thin Melt Films
The stability and evolution of very thin, single component, metallic-melt films is studied by analysis of coupled strongly nonlinear equations for gas-melt (GM) and crystal-melt (CM) interfaces, derived using the lubrication approximation. The crystal-melt interface is deformable by freezing and melting, and there is a thermal gradient applied across the film. Linear analysis reveals that there is a maximum applied far-field temperature in the gas, beyond which there is no film instability. Instabilities...