A coupling between surface deformation and defect dynamics was suggested to be the cause of deformation patterns in thin films under laser irradiation. A simple model which described the dynamics of such systems was analyzed for the case of focussed laser irradiation. It was shown, using linear, non-linear, and numerical analyses, how rose deformation patterns, with the petal number increasing with laser intensity, arose naturally from this model, and were in agreement-with experimental observations.

J.Lauzeral, D.Walgraef, N.M.Ghoniem: Physical Review Letters, 1997, 79[14], 2706-9