2D reflectometry for the investigation of polymer interfaces: off-specular neutron scattering. (13th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hafner, Aljoša; Gutfreund, Philipp; Toperverg, Boris P; Geoghegan, Mark; Sferrazza, Michele
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 33:Number 36(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-07-13
• Subjects: neutron reflectometry -- off-specular scattering -- thin polymer films -- distorted-wave Born approximation; Condensed matter -- Periodicals; Matière condensée -- Périodiques; Vaste stoffen; Vloeistoffen; Natuurkunde; Electronic journals; Computer network resources; 530.4105
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac0282
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-8984

Abstract

Abstract: Specular and off-specular neutron reflectometry have been used in a combined approach to study thin polymer films. Our goal in this work is to illustrate the power of the off-specular scattering technique to probe the properties of the buried interface of immiscible polymer bilayers of deuterated polystyrene and protonated poly(methyl methacrylate) (h-PMMA). The diffuse scattering stemming from these systems is discussed in relation to thermal fluctuations at the polymer/polymer interface, providing a means to extract in-plane correlation lengths from buried interfaces. In addition the onset of hole formation in the top layer is evidenced by the diffuse scattering, not easily detectable by specular reflection alone.