Magnetic field-driven dewetting of a weakly conducting thin liquid film is studied in this work. The purpose is to first examine the stability of the film on a smooth solid surface when an imposed longitudinal magnetic field is present. Then topographical variations are introduced on the substrate to study if magnetic field effects compete with topographically driven flow. The film is assumed to be thin enough so that the lubrication theory can be invoked. Contrary to physical intuition, results suggest little scope for changes in dewetting behaviour and time scales by changing the topographical feature sizes. The work presented here is relevant to many technological applications that rely on liquid film dewetting, like magnetic brakes, stirring, and manufacture of bio optical sensing-like devices.

Keywords: Thin liquid films, Topography, Magnetic fields.