Combinatorial and high-throughput measurements of the modulus of thin polymer films

We describe the design and refinement of a high-throughput buckling-based metrology for ascertaining the mechanical properties (e.g., modulus) of combinatorial thin polymer film libraries. We provide critical details for the construction of a suitable strain stage, describe sample preparation, and highlight methods for high-throughput data acquisition and data analysis. To illustrate the combinatorial and high-throughput capability of this metrology, we prepare and evaluate films possessing a gradient in the elastic modulus and compare the results with an analytical expression derived from composite beam theory. Application of this metrology is very simple and practically any laboratory, academic or industrial, can perform such measurements with only modest investment in equipment. Although developed as a platform for investigating combinatorial libraries, researchers can take advantage of the high-throughput nature of this metrology to measure noncombinatorial film specimens as well.