Deformation of a glassy polymer film by long-range intermolecular forces

Long-range van der Waals forces may govern the physical behavior of thin films with thicknesses lying in the nanometer range scale. Here, we show that these forces can also be highly efficient across multilayer systems. The observed destabilization of a thin fluid layer, confined between a rigid substrate and a thin solid polymeric film, leading to the deformation of the solid covering film, revealed the strength of these interactions. Furthermore, simply by modifying the thickness of the layers or by changing the bounding medium, the effect of these interactions could be controlled and even reversed.