Self-assembled triangular and labyrinth buckling patterns of thin films on spherical substrates

We investigated the possibility of controlling thin film buckling patterns by varying the substrate curvature and the stress induced therein upon cooling. The numerical and experimental studies are based on a spherical Ag core/SiO2 shell system. For Ag substrates with a relatively larger curvature, the dentlike triangular buckling pattern comes out when the film nominal stress exceeds a critical value. With increasing film stress and/or substrate radius, the labyrinthlike buckling pattern takes over. Both the buckling wavelength and the critical stress increase with the substrate radius. © 2008 The American Physical Society.