Confinement-Induced Ordering in Dewetting and Phase Separation of Polymer Blend Films

摘要

Dewetting and phase separation of a thin polymer film over a homogeneous surface has been extensively investigated in recent decades. Research was driven either by scientific curiosity for general principles of rupture mechanisms or by technical anticipation in finding out the conditions for stable lithographic resist layers. Depending on the interfacial interactions, there are two possible rupture mechanisms of a polymer film: one occurs via nucleation of dry spots and the other is by spontaneous amplifying the capillary waves caused by thermal fluctuation.