Novel Technique for Measuring Through-Plane Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Thin Polymer Films

ABSTRACTPolymer thin films (less than 20 ltm) are widely used as coatings and inter-level dielectrics in microelectronic applications. In multi-layer structures, stresses generated in the films due to interaction with adjacent layers and solvent evaporation induced shrinkage, cause the polymer chains to orient in the plane of the film resulting in anisotropic film properties. Characterization of properties in all directions is essential for accurate electrical and mechanical design and modeling.A new technique has been developed to measure, in-situ, the through-plane (z) properties of thin polymer films. A parallel plate capacitor device and an interdigitated electrode structure were used as sensors to detect changes in dielectric constant and thickness of thin polymer films under thermal or mechanical loading. The through-plane compression modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion were calculated and results are reported for benzocyclobutene (BCB) films.

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Thickness‐direction coefficient of thermal expansion measurement of thin polymer films

Review of Scientific Instruments ◽

10.1063/1.1142137 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 62 (2) ◽

pp. 422-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

H. M. Tong ◽

H. K. D. Hsuen ◽

K. L. Saenger ◽

G. W. Su

Keyword(s):

Thermal Expansion ◽

Polymer Films ◽

Coefficient Of Thermal Expansion ◽

Thickness Direction ◽

Thin Polymer Films ◽

Thermal Expansion Measurement ◽

Thin Polymer

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Glass transition behaviour of thin polymer films coated on the 3D networks of porous CNT sponges

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics ◽

10.1039/d0cp02983a ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (37) ◽

pp. 21297-21306

Author(s):

Min Wang ◽

Jiapeng Zhang ◽

Shenglin Zhou ◽

Zhaohui Yang ◽

Xiaohua Zhang

Keyword(s):

Glass Transition ◽

Free Surface ◽

Polymer Films ◽

Polymer Chains ◽

Polymer Substrate ◽

Thin Polymer Films ◽

Substrate Interface ◽

Thin Polymer ◽

Transition Behaviour ◽

3D Networks

The influence of the coexistence of a free surface and a polymer–substrate interface on the glass transition behaviour of polymer chains on CNT sidewalls.

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Mechanical Property Determination for Supported Polymer Films using Double Bending Beams

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-76-123 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 76 ◽

Author(s):

B. J. Han ◽

H. M. Tong ◽

K. Saenger ◽

Carl C. Gryte

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Thermal Expansion ◽

Polymer Films ◽

Coefficient Of Thermal Expansion ◽

Elastic Stiffness ◽

Thin Polymer Films ◽

Thin Polymer ◽

Wet Processing ◽

Beam Technique ◽

Different Young’S Modulus

ABSTRACTA double-bending-beam technique has been developed to determine the mechanical properties (e.g., the elastic stiffness parameter and the in-plane coefficient of thermal expansion) of thin polymer films during thermal cycling. The mechanical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) and a polyimide have been determined from the combined stress-temperature relationships of identical polymer films coated on two rigid beams (each with a distinctly different Young's modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion). The measured mechanical properties were found to agree with data obtained using conventional techniques. The double-bending-beam technique can be applied to a wide variety of dry and wet processing situations involving thin polymer films.

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Investigation of Roughness Correlation in Polymer Brushes via X-ray Scattering

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym12092101 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 2101

Author(s):

Marcus Hildebrandt ◽

Eui-young Shin ◽

Suan Yang ◽

Wael Ali ◽

Sedakat Altinpinar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Polymer Films ◽

Polymer Brushes ◽

Substrate Surface ◽

Polymer Surface ◽

Intrinsic Property ◽

Polymer Chains ◽

Thin Polymer Films ◽

Solvent Vapor ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

Thin Polymer

Thin polymer films and coatings are used to tailor the properties of surfaces in various applications such as protection against corrosion, biochemical functionalities or electronic resistors. Polymer brushes are a certain kind of thin polymer films, where polymer chains are covalently grafted to a substrate and straighten up to form a brush structure. Here we report on differences and similarities between polymer brushes and spin-coated polymer films from polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate with special emphasis on surface roughness and roughness correlation. The phenomenon of roughness correlation or conformality describes the replication of the roughness profile from the substrate surface to the polymer surface. It is of high interest for polymer physics of brush layers as well as applications, in which a homogeneous polymer layer thickness is required. We demonstrate that spin-coated films as well as polymer brushes show roughness correlation, but in contrast to spin-coated films, the correlation in brushes is stable to solvent vapor annealing. Roughness correlation is therefore an intrinsic property of polymer brushes.

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