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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Formation of Thick Dense Yttrium Iron Garnet Films Using Aerosol Deposition
Published on: May 15, 2015
Crossover from semi-dilute to densely packed thin polymer films at the air-water interface and structure formation at
Christian Appel1, Martin Kraska, Christian Rüttiger
1Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 8, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany. christian.appel@fkp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de.
Abstract:
A series of poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PnBA, 5 to 32 kg mol-1) homopolymers and diblock copolymers with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, constant molecular weight of 0.3 kg mol-1) is synthesized for the purpose of the investigation of quasi-2D polymer films at the air-water interface. The presented compression isotherms show a transition from θ solvent behavior for PnBA homopolymers to good solvent conditions when the volume fraction of the PEG in the block copolymers is increased by decreasing the molecular weight of PnBA. A transition from a semi-dilute regime to a densely packed layer is observed in the pressure isotherms for all the polymers. In the densely packed films we found first evidence for thin film breakup of a thin polymer film directly at the air-water interface. Combination of results from Brewster-Angle-Microscopy and Surface X-ray scattering provide a consistent picture of the film breakup. Our results suggest a preferred length scale of 2.5 μm. This scenario is analogous to a spinodal mechanism driven by thermal fluctuations of the film height.
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