AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Thin Film Thursday Sessions
       Session TF-ThP

Paper TF-ThP2
Effect of Substrate Temperature on PMMA Nanocomposite Thin Films Grown by Laser Assisted Deposition

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 5:30 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Thin Film Poster Session
Presenter: J.M. Fitz-Gerald, University of Virginia
Authors: A.T. Sellinger, University of Virginia
E.M. Leveugle, University of Virginia
K. Gogick, University of Virginia
L. Zhigilei, University of Virginia
J.M. Fitz-Gerald, University of Virginia
Correspondent: Click to Email
Nanocomposite thin films of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) infused with carbon nanotubes (CNT) were grown using matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) and pulsed laser deposition (PLD). MAPLE targets were formed from frozen solutions of PMMA dissolved in toluene with CNTs in suspension. Significant surface morphology was observed in films deposited at room temperature. The origin of surface feature formation was probed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), time-gated imaging and molecular dynamics simulations. Both experimental and computational findings suggest that micron sized matrix-polymer clusters are ejected from the irradiated target and are subsequently deposited onto the substrate. In flight, a polymer rich membrane is formed around the exterior of the cluster, encapsulating the solvent within. The remaining toluene vapor eventually escapes from the cluster, leaving only a polymer "sack". In an effort to decrease the observed morphology, substrate temperature was varied between 10 and 152 °C during subsequent depositions. Significant improvements in film morphology were observed as the substrate temperature was increased. Polymer degradation in films grown at several substrate temperatures was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC).