Microscopic Model of Upward Creep of an Ultrathin Wetting Film

Abstract

We propose a microscopic, analytically solvable model describing the growth of a thin wetting film climbing on a solid wall (or a fiber) from the bath of liquid. We find analytically that both the length and the mass of the film grow with time $t$ as $\sqrt{t}$, in accord with experimental observations, and specify the physical mechanism responsible for such behavior.