Inspired by the observation that many naturally occurring adhesives arise as textured thin films, we consider the displacement-controlled peeling of a flexible plate
from an incision-patterned thin adhesive elastic layer. We find that crack initiation
from an incision on the film occurs at a load much higher than that required to
propagate it on a smooth adhesive surface; multiple incisions thus cause the crack
to propagate intermittently. Microscopically, this mode of crack initiation and propagation in geometrically confined thin adhesive films is related to the nucleation of
cavitation bubbles behind the incision which must grow and coalesce before a viable
crack propagates. Our theoretical analysis allows us to rationalize these experimental
observations qualitatively and quantitatively and suggests a simple design criterion
for increasing the interfacial fracture toughness of adhesive films