Spin casting

Abstract: Light-emissive polymers are outstanding laser materials because they are intrinsically “4-level” systems, they have luminescence efficiencies higher than 60 % even in undiluted films, they emit at colors that span the visible spectrum, and they can be processed into optical quality films by spin casting. The important materials issues are reviewed and the prospects for making polymer diode lasers are discussed.

Abstract: We present the results of a systematic study on how the processing conditions of spin casting affect the morphology of polymer thin films, and how the morphology affects polymer light-emitting diode (LED) performance. The absorption peaks of poly(2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1, 4-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-PPV) thin films, which reflects the conjugation of π electrons, are strongly correlated to the spin-casting conditions. At high spin speed, better conjugation is observed. In addition, the photoluminescence emission peak of MEH-PPV films at ∼630 nm has a strong correlation to polymer aggregation. By proper selection of organic solvents, polymer solution concentrations, and spin speeds, we are able to control the aggregation of the polymer chains. Subsequently, we are able to control the emission color and the quantum efficiency of the MEH-PPV LEDs by simply adjusting the spin-casting conditions. Although spin casting is the most commonly used technique for the preparation of polymer thin films, our fin...

Abstract: Polymer coatings often contain degradation-susceptible regions, and corrosion of the metallic substrate can occur directly underneath these regions. In this paper, the microstructure of model coating materials is investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Specifically, AFM is used to study heterogeneity in thin film blends of polystyrene (PS) and polybutadiene (PB) as a function of annealing time at 80 °C. PS/PB blend films with thicknesses of approximately 250 nm are prepared by spin casting from solutions onto silicon substrates. Both topographic and phase imaging in tapping mode AFM are performed on these films under ambient conditions and at different force levels using a silicon tip. For certain force levels, phase imaging provides good contrast between the phase-separated PS and PB regions, primarily because of the large compliance difference between the two materials. This contrast decreases with increasing annealing time because thermal oxidation causes cross-linking in PB, and thus, the compliance of the PB region increases toward that of PS. Nanoscale indentation measurements are then made on the observed phase-separated regions to identify these regions as PS- and PB-rich and to better understand the influence of relative surface stiffness on the phase images. Cast and free-standing films of pure PS and pure PB are also studied as a function of annealing time using AFM, contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Results from studies of the individual PS and PB films are related to the AFM results for the blend films. The use of phase imaging for cure monitoring of polymers and for studies of chemically heterogeneous polymer systems is also discussed.