M. Nosonovsky and B. Bhushan studied the effect of unitary (non-hierarchical) structures of micro and nano roughness, and hierarchical structures (micro roughness covered with nano roughness). They found that hierarchical structure was not only necessary for a high contact angle but essential for the stability of the water-solid and water-air interfaces (the composite interface). Due to an external perturbation, a standing capillary wave can form at the liquid–air interface. If the amplitude of the capillary wave is greater than the height of the asperity, the liquid can touch the valley between the asperities; and if the angle under which the liquid comes in contact with the solid is greater than h, it is energetically profitable for the liquid to fill the valley. The effect of capillary waves is more pronounced for small asperities with heights comparable to the wave amplitude. An example of this is seen in the case of unitary roughness, where the amplitude of asperity is very low. This is why the likelihood of instability of a unitary interface will be very high. However, in a recent study, Eyal Bittoun and Abraham Marmur found that multiscale roughness is not necessarily essential for superhydrophobicity but beneficial for mechanical stability of the surface.