Abstract: The thin polymer film instability in a general criterion is discussed.When the film is dewetted from the substrate in the spinodal,the instability is dominated by the dispersion force and the local thermal stress.It turns out that the thermal stress plays an important role when there is special interaction between the film and the substrate.The results show that the mode wavelength will grow as the film thickens in weak and strong slip.

Key words: film, instability, slip, Young&rsquo, s modulus