Short commentary: Theoretical considerations on concentrated polymer interfaces: an attempt to explain dewetting of ultra-thin films

M. Manghi; M. Aubouy

doi:10.1140/epje/e2004-00017-4

EPJ

Short commentary: Theoretical considerations on concentrated polymer interfaces: an attempt to explain dewetting of ultra-thin films

M. Manghi¹ and M. Aubouy²^*

¹ Sektion Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Theresienstr. 37, 80333, München, Germany
² Département de Recherche Fondamentale sur la Matiére Condensée, CEA-Grenoble, SI3M, UMR no 5819, CEA/CNRS/Université Joseph-Fourier, 38054, Grenoble, Cedex 9, France

Abstract

We discuss the dewetting of ultra-thin molten polymer films within the framework of the Cahn-Hilliard theory for liquid interfaces. We argue that a) we need a pair of descriptors to characterize the bulk liquid of polymer chains (rather than the monomer density alone), b) the so-called loop density S, first introduced to describe polymer layers, may be a good scalar candidate for the configurational descriptor, c) the results found for the variation of S with distance might suggest an explanation for dewetting of ultra-thin polymer films.