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Thin films, bubbles and membranes are central to numerous natural andengineering processes, i.e., in thin-film solar cells, coatings, biosensors,electrowetting displays, foams, and emulsions. Yet, the characterization and anadequate understanding of their rupture is limited by the scarcity of atomicdetail. We present here the complete life-cycle of freely suspended films usingnon-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of a simple atomic fluid free ofsurfactants and surface impurities, thus isolating the fundamental rupturemechanisms. Counter to the conventional notion that rupture occurs randomly, wediscovered a short-term 'memory' by rewinding in time from a rupture event,extracting deterministic behaviors from apparent stochasticity. A comprehensiveinvestigation of the key rupture-stages including both unrestrained andfrustrated propagation is made - characterization of the latter leads to afirst-order correction to the classical film-retraction theory. Furthermore,the highly resolved time window reveals that the different modes of themorphological development, typically characterized as heterogeneous nucleationand spinodal decomposition, continuously evolve seamlessly with time from oneinto the other.

Life and Death of a Thin Liquid Film