TY - JOUR
T1 - Optical nanoscopy characterization of nanofilms
AU - Montgomery, P. C.
AU - Chapuis, P.
AU - Leong-Hoï, A.
AU - Anstotz, F.
AU - Rubin, A.
AU - Baschnagel, J.
AU - Gauthier, C.
AU - Reiter, G.
AU - McKenna, G. B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2017/2/6
Y1 - 2017/2/6
N2 - Glass formation and glassy behavior remains an important field of study in condensed matter physics, with many aspects still little understood. The approach used in this work is to observe the changes in behavior of glass-forming materials at the nanometer scale by exploring the viscoelastic properties of ultrathin free-standing glassy polymer films. An experimental measurement cell based on the nanobubble inflation method is used, consisting of inflating a polymer film suspended over an array of 5 m diameter holes in a Si wafer. Measuring the deformation as a function of time as the material relaxes is used to determine the creep compliance. Both polystyrene (PS) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) films of a few tens of nm thickness prepared by spin-coating from solution have been studied. Interference microscopy is used to measure the deformation over several hours, which is challenging at the nanoscale due to mechanical deformations and drift. In this paper we present some of the first solutions developed to allow consistent measurements of film deformation using this novel interference nanoscopy technique. Future work will involve the measurements of creep compliance as a function of different film properties so as to be able to compare the results with theoretical predictions.
AB - Glass formation and glassy behavior remains an important field of study in condensed matter physics, with many aspects still little understood. The approach used in this work is to observe the changes in behavior of glass-forming materials at the nanometer scale by exploring the viscoelastic properties of ultrathin free-standing glassy polymer films. An experimental measurement cell based on the nanobubble inflation method is used, consisting of inflating a polymer film suspended over an array of 5 m diameter holes in a Si wafer. Measuring the deformation as a function of time as the material relaxes is used to determine the creep compliance. Both polystyrene (PS) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) films of a few tens of nm thickness prepared by spin-coating from solution have been studied. Interference microscopy is used to measure the deformation over several hours, which is challenging at the nanoscale due to mechanical deformations and drift. In this paper we present some of the first solutions developed to allow consistent measurements of film deformation using this novel interference nanoscopy technique. Future work will involve the measurements of creep compliance as a function of different film properties so as to be able to compare the results with theoretical predictions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85014097200&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1742-6596/780/1/012003
DO - 10.1088/1742-6596/780/1/012003
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85014097200
SN - 1742-6588
VL - 780
JO - Journal of Physics: Conference Series
JF - Journal of Physics: Conference Series
IS - 1
M1 - 012003
T2 - INERA Workshop on Membrane and Liquid Crystal Nanostructures, MELINA 2016
Y2 - 3 September 2016 through 6 September 2016
ER -