Competition between collapse and breakup in nanometre-sized thin rings using molecular dynamics and continuum modelling

ABSTRACT: We consider nanometer-sized fluid annuli (rings) deposited on a solid substrate and ask whether these rings break up into droplets due to the instability of Rayleigh-Plateau-type modified by the presence of the substrate, or collapse to a central drop due to the presence of azimuthal curvature. The analysis is carried out by a combination of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and a continuum model based on a long-wave limit of Navier−Stokes equations. We find consistent results between the two approaches, and demonstrate character-istic dimension regimes which dictate the assembly dynamics. 1