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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Cooling Rate Dependent Ellipsometry Measurements to Determine the Dynamics of Thin Glassy Films
Published on: January 26, 2016
The glass transition of thin polymer films in relation to the interfacial dynamics
1Institute for Experimental Physics I, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. serghei@polysci.umass.edu
Abstract:
As opposed to measurements on the glass transition of a polymer in the bulk, measurements of thin polymer layers reflect--due to the alterations of the glassy dynamics at the confining interfaces--several contributions acting together to give the net response of a polymer film. This fundamental difference is exemplified in detail for the particular case of broadband dielectric spectroscopy, an experimental tool extensively employed to investigate the glassy dynamics of polymers under condition of geometrical confinement.
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