Syllabus
1) Definition of basic terms. Thin film, surface, interface. Monomer, oligomer, polymer: linear, branched, cross-linked. Glass transition temperature. Morphology of polymers.
2) Preparation of polymer thin film from solution. Multilayer polymer systems. Composites.
3) Measurement of the thickness of films. Tolansky method, quartz crystal monitor, profilometer(surfometer)
4) Geometry of polymer surfaces. Roughness. Fractal approach to the roughness assessment. Possibilities of the electron microscopy for the study of the surface of polymer films
5) Surface energy, energy of the interface. Methods of the surface energy measurements, static and dynamic.
6) Stabilization of surface properties of polymers. Yasuda's model explaining hysteresis observed in measurements of contact angles of hydrophilic films.
7) Methods of surface analysis applied to polymers, fundamentals of ESCA, AES, SIMS.
8) Basics of the infrared transmission spectroscopy, FTIR, ATR
9) Morphology of nanostructures. Fundamentals of STM and AFM.
10) Thin films prepared by Langmuir-Blodgett technique or electrolitically.
11) Thin polymeric films pepared by vacuum methods. Evaporation, sputtering. Basics of dc and rf discharges for sputering, magnetrons
12) Plasma polymerization, application of dc, rf and microwave discharges. Basic deposition parameters of plasma polymerization.
13) Processes of etching in a low temperature plasma. Sputter-etching, reactive ion etching, plasma etching.
14) Summary of polymer surface modifications in a low temperature plasma.
Annotation
Basic terms and properties of macromolecular solid surfaces. Methods of their investigation.
Modification of their surfaces. Common and organic thin films, their basic properties, methods of investigation and preparation.