Surface instabilities of liquids have intrigued scientists for more than a century and continue to be subject of intensive research.  Apart from the technological importance of thin films, this is mainly due to the fact that the break-up of thin films sensitively mirrors the minute forces that act at the film's interface. Thin films are therefore  sensitive measurement devices to detect interfacial interactions. Technologically, on the other hand, film instabilities are usually undesired and considerable efforts are made to ensure film stability during coating processes.

In my presentation, I will give several examples of different film instabilities.  While diverse in terms of their physical origin, the break-up of films can be described by a single theoretical framework.  In addition,  gaining an understanding of  the origins of the film instabilities enables us to control the the morphology of films  after break-up.  By exploring simultaneously fundamental and applied aspects, we benefit from synergies of looking at the problem of film instabilities from more than one angle.

The following systems will be discussed:

1. Film Instabilities by liquid-liquid demixing
2. Film Instabilities induced by an electric field
3. Film Instabilities caused by temperature gradients
4. Applications of film instabilities for functional films and as lithographic techniques.