Article history: Received 4 July 2009 Received in revised form 16 November 2009 Available online 29 January 2010 0026-2714/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.microrel.2009.11.010 * Corresponding author. Address: Department of M University, P.O. Box 10028, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA +1 409 880 8121. E-mail address: [email protected] (X.J. Fan). In this paper, a variety of wafe...

An exact analytical solution, based on the method of images, is obtained for the description of the electric field between an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip and a thin dielectric polymer film (30 nm thick) spin coated on a conductive substrate. Three different tip shapes are found to produce electrostatic pressure above the plasticity threshold in the polymers up to 50 MPa. It is shown exper...

Thin-film mirrors are attractive for large apertures, lightweight optical systems and microwave antennas operating in micro-gravity environments. The surface shape of these deployable thin film structures requires control to a precision range that depends on the specific applications. For optical systems, such surfaces need to be deployed and refined in the range of sub-microns. Electroactive p...

Spreading of a polymer drop on a solid substrate was monitored with molecular resolution. Three characteristic rates, i.e., the spreading rate of the precursor film D(spread)=(3.9+/-0.2)x10(3) nm(2)/s, the flow-induced diffusion rate of molecules within the film D(induced)=1.3+/-0.1 nm(2)/s, and the thermal diffusion coefficient of single molecules D(therm)</=0.10+/-0.03 nm(2)/s, were independe...

We report surface and interface effects in dynamics and chain conformation in the thin film of conjugated polymer PCDTBT. To probe dynamic anomalies, we measure the glass transition temperature (T(g)) of PCDTBT films as a function of thickness, and find that there is a significant depression in T(g) for films less than 100 nm thick; a result qualitatively similar to that observed in many other ...

Conducting polymers such as polypyrrole, polythiophene and polyaniline are currently studied as novel biologically inspired actuators. The actuation mechanism of these materials depends upon the motion of ions in and out of the polymer film during electrochemical cycling. The diffusion of ions into the bulk of the film causes the dynamic mechanical compliance (or modulus) of the material to cha...

We study resistive switching memory phenomena in conducting polymer PEDOT PSS. In the same film, there are two types of memory behavior coexisting; namely, the switchable diode effect and write once read many memory. This is the first report on switchable diode phenomenon based on conducting organic materials. The effect was explained as charge trapping of PEDOT PSS film and movement of proton....

Thin films of polystyrene on silicon substrate were investigated for thickness-dependent interface properties. To better understand the desirable electrical, mechanical, and optical properties of a polymer thin film, the interfacial structures must be first understood. Using x-ray reflectivity, data from polystyrene-air and polystyrene-silicon interfaces were collected and correlated with a the...

The frequency-dependent shear response of an ultrathin polymer melt (polyphenylmethylsiloxane) confined between adsorbing surfaces (parallel plates of mica) is described. The sinusoidal deformations were sufficiently small to give linear response, implying that measurement did not perturb the film structure. A remarkable transition was observed with decreasing thickness. When the film thickness...

Parylene C, poly(chloro-para-xylylene) is the most widely used member of the parylene family due to its excellent chemical and physical properties. In this work we analyzed the formation of the parylene C film using molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics methods. A five unit chain is necessary to create a stable hydrophobic cluster and to adhere to a covered surface. Two scenarios were deem...