Pattern formation in PMMA film induced by electric field

Abstract

Micro‐sized patterns were created on thin poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films by the effect of external field, perpendicular to the film surface. The PMMA film, prepared by spin‐coating onto Si wafer, was heated to the fluid temperature (275 °C) and a linear pattern was created by the effect of electric field produced by a strip electrode. In another experiment, a round pattern was created as a result of local laser heating of the PMMA film under homogenous electrical field. The created patterns were analyzed by optical microscopy and profile meter. The dependence of the form and size of the created patterns on the intensity of the electric field, exposure time, and initial film thickness was examined. Wave guiding property of a linear pattern, produced by the above technique, was examined in a simple experiment. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1131–1135, 2009

Optically induced electrohydrodynamic instability-based micro-patterning of fluidic thin films

“…In order to circumvent the problems associated with high temperatures (such as polymer degradation by thermal oxidation) which arise due to long processing times, methods, such as ''solvent annealing'' (Harkema and Steiner 2005) and low viscosity, photocurable liquids, were introduced into the EHDI process (Dickey et al 2006). Localized laser heating also provided an environmentfriendly approach (Lyutakov et al 2009) for EHDI-based fabrication.…”

Thermocapillary approaches to the deliberate patterning of polymers

“…The angle of this grating allows for the deduction of speed above. The parametric evolution of these structures was investigated in the first and a subsequent publication, with the following conclusions: (i) period of the gratings would vary with polymer type and linearly with writing speed with a slope of 0.2–0.3 , which, should be noted, is very close to the deduced raster rate, (ii) the grating height amplitude of the final patterns was higher for lower molecular weights of the same polymer and would rise linearly with thickness of the film at a slope of ∼0.25 until it went asymptotic at 600–800 nm, and (iii) the local chemistry of the film surfaces was not observed to change. As the molecular weights of the polymers used to arrive at conclusion (i) were not reported, it is possible, and based on more recent literature, likely, that crosstalk between observations (i) and (ii) exists.…”

Electric Field Induced Pattern Formation on PMMA and ITO Layers

“…In their work, the PMMA film prepared by spin‐coating onto Si wafer was subjected to the perpendicular electric field created by a strip electrode. In addition, they showed the formation of a circular pattern on PMMA layer due to local laser heating with electric field . Peng et al developed a model to analyze the pattern formed due to an electric field applied between parallel electrodes consisting of PMMA coated Si plates as a bottom electrode (cathode) and Si plates with a single molecular layer of n‐octadecyltrichlorosilane as the top electrode (anode) in parallel plate configuration .…”

“…A perpendicular electric field was applied between PMMA layer coated on p‐type silicon and ITO plate. The polymer polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was selected for this work, because it is an attractive and widely used polymer in the fabrication of optical and electronic devices, and lithographic techniques . Moreover, thin films of PMMA can be easily formed by spin coating, can be integrated into various components easily .…”