Surface Wrinkling Patterns of Film–Substrate Systems With a Structured Interface

Abstract

Wrinkling of thin films resting on compliant substrates has emerged as a facile means to create well-ordered surface patterns. In this paper, both theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are presented to study the surface wrinkling of a film–substrate system with periodic interfacial structures. It is demonstrated that a variety of novel surface wrinkling patterns can be generated through the introduction of interfacial architectures. These surface patterns can be easily tuned by adjusting two geometric parameters: the lengths of the thin films in the thick and the thin regions. A phase diagram is established for the onset of different wrinkling morphologies with respect to the two geometric dimensions. This study offers a promising route for engineering the surfaces of materials endowed with tunable properties and functions.