2023 Impact factor 1.8
Soft Matter and Biological Physics


Eur. Phys. J. E 4, 69-76

Stability of thin polymer films on a corrugated substrate

N. Rehse, C. Wang, M. Hund, M. Geoghegan, R. Magerle and G. Krausch.

Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie II and Bayreuther Zentrum für Kolloide und Grenzflächen (BZKG), Universität Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany

mark.geoghegan@sheffield.ac.uk
georg.krausch@uni-bayreuth.de

(Received 6 April 2000 and Received in final form 24 August 2000)

Abstract
We study the wetting behaviour of thin polystyrene (PS) films on regularly corrugated silicon substrates. Below a critical film thickness the PS films are unstable and dewet the substrates. The dewetting process leads to the formation of nanoscopic PS channels filling the grooves of the corrugated substrates. Films thicker than the critical thickness appear stable and follow the underlying corrugation pattern. The critical thickness is found to scale with the radius of gyration of the unperturbed polymer chains.

PACS
68.45.Gd - Wetting.
68.15.+e - Liquid thin films.
61.41.+e - Polymers, elastomers, and plastics.


© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2001