Thickness effect on the viscoelastic properties of polystyrene thin films as measured by thermal wrinkling

Published

December 29, 2010

Author(s)

Edwin P. Chan, Santanu S. Kundu, Qinhuang Lin, Christopher M. Stafford

Abstract

The viscoelastic properties of polymer thin films can have a significant impact on the performance in many small-scale devices. In this work, we use thermal wrinkling, which is a phenomenon based on a thermally-initiated instability, to measure viscoelastic properties of a polymer thin film as a function of thickness. By monitoring the time-evolved wrinkle wavelength at fixed annealing temperatures, we can infer the stress-relaxation modulus and relaxation time of a polystyrene film as a function of film thickness with the aid of the appropriate buckling mechanics models. Specifically, we are able to identify the rubbery plateau and viscous flow regions as a function of annealing time and temperature above its glass transition. For the polystyrene films investigated, we find that the stress relaxation modulus is thickness-independent for films above 100 nm, while a slight deviation was observed below 100 nm.

Citation

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

Volume

3

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

polymer, viscoelasticity, thin films, coatings, instabilities, wrinkling

Citation

Chan, E. , Kundu, S. , Lin, Q. and Stafford, C. (2010), Thickness effect on the viscoelastic properties of polystyrene thin films as measured by thermal wrinkling, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=906587 (Accessed October 24, 2025)