Electrostatic field-induced surface instability

We examine the thermodynamics and evolution of the morphology of a metal surface in the presence of a large electric field. A flat surface is unstable for all finite electric fields E with a critical wavelength proportional to E-1 or E-2 at small and large fields, respectively. The instability wavelength that grows the fastest during surface diffusion-limited evolution scales in the same manner. Such instabilities are important for scanning probe microscopies and are becoming increasingly important in microelectromechanical systems applications as device dimensions are reduced.