Heterogeneity in Polymer Thin Films

In the last two decades very extensive studies have been performed on polymer thin films to reveal very interesting but unusual properties. One of the most interesting findings is the decrease in glass transition temperature Tg with film thickness in polystyrene (PS) thin film supported on Si substrate. Another interesting finding is apparent negative thermal expansivity in glassy state for thin films below similar to 25 nm. In order to understand the unusual properties of polymer thin films we have studied temperature dependence of thickness of polystyrene thin films by means of X-ray and neutron reflectivity. In addition, we also studied dynamics of PS thin films using inelastic neutron scattering. In the presentation we will discuss the results from viewpoints of heterogeneity of polymer thin films. Finally we did neutron reflectivity measurements on a 5-layer thin film, consisting of alternatively stacked d-PS and h-PS layers to see the distribution of glass transition temperature and thermal expansivity directly.