Mechanism of Regular Pattern Formation in Reactive Dewetting

Regularly striped patterns of various dimensions and directions can emerge from the Langmuir–Blodgett transfer of phospholipids onto hydrophilic substrates under the appropriate conditions (see optical micrographs; bar=5 μm). The authors quantitatively measure the dependence of the pattern dimensions on the transfer velocity and the surface pressure. A mechanism for pattern formation, based on the local curvature of the monolayer-covered liquid–vapour interface in the vicinity of the three-phase contact line, is presented.