Capillary oscillations and Tonks-Frenkel instability of a liquid layer of finite thickness

Abstract

A dispersion relation is derived and analyzed for the spectrum of capillary motion at a charged flat surface of viscous liquid covering a solid substrate with a layer of finite thickness. It is shown that for waves whose wavelengths are comparable with the layer thickness, viscous damping at the solid bottom begins to play an important role. The spectrum of capillary liquid motion established in this system has high and low wave number limits. The damping rates of the capillary liquid motion with wave lengths comparable with the layer thickness are increased considerably and the Tonks-Frenkel instability growth rates are reduced compared with those for a liquid of infinite depth.