Thiele Uwe, Knobloch Edgar
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, D-01187 Dresden, Germany.
Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Nov 17;97(20):204501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.204501. Epub 2006 Nov 15.
Pinning and depinning of driven drops on heterogeneous substrates is studied as a function of the driving and heterogeneity amplitude. Two types of heterogeneity are considered: a "hydrophobic" defect that blocks the drop in front and a "hydrophilic" one that holds it at the back. Two different types of depinning leading to sliding motion are identified, and the resulting stick-slip motion is studied numerically.