Capillary leveling of stepped films with inhomogeneous molecular mobility

ORAL

Abstract

The simple geometry of a polymer film on a substrate with a step at the free surface is unfavourable due to the excess interface induced by the step. Above the glass transition Laplace pressure gradients will drive flow, thus providing an excellent probe for nano-rheology. Here we recap some of our recent progress on the capillary leveling of stepped films. In particular, we present new studies on polymeric samples with precisely controlled, spatially inhomogeneous molecular weight distributions.

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Authors

  • Miriam Rafailovitch

    McMaster University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4M1, Department of Physics \& Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, L8S 4M1, Department of Physics \& Astronomy and the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, SUNY-Stony Brook

  • Joshua D. McGraw

    Saarland University, Department of Experimental Physics, Saarland University, 66041 Saarbr\"{u}cken, Germany, Saarland University, Experimental Physics, D-66041 Saarbr\"{u}cken

  • Thomas Salez

    Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie Th\'eorique, UMR CNRS Gulliver 7083, ESPCI, Paris, France, Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie Th\'{e}orique, UMR CNRS Gulliver 7083, ESPCI, Paris, France, ESPCI

  • Oliver B\"aumchen

    Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics \& Self-Organization, 37077 G\"{o}ttingen, Germany, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics \& Self-Organization, 37077 G\"ottingen, Germany

  • Elie Raphael

    Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie Th\'eorique, UMR CNRS Gulliver 7083, ESPCI, Paris, France, Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie Th\'{e}orique, UMR CNRS Gulliver 7083, ESPCI, Paris, France, UMR Gulliver 7083 CNRS-ESPCI