Surface Instability and Pattern Formation in thin Polymer Films

Mukherjee, Rabibrata; Sharma, Ashutosh; Steiner, Ullrich

doi:10.1002/9783527633449.ch11

Cited by 16 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 261 publications

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“…Molecular interactions (e.g., van der Waals interactions, residual stresses due to long chain entanglement) or surface heterogeneities drive the spontaneous rupture of these thin films (e.g., spinodal dewetting). (Figure 6a,b) [122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130] Desired patterns can be generated by tuning physical or chemical heterogeneity on the substrate. [122,123] Surface patterns created by rational dewetting have been applied for optoelectronics and semiconductor devices.…”

Section: Induced Surface Topographies (Strategy 2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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“2D or not 2D”: Shape-programming polymer sheets

Liu

Genzer

Dickey

2016

Progress in Polymer Science

315

206

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Section: Induced Surface Topographies (Strategy 2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[122,123] Surface patterns created by rational dewetting have been applied for optoelectronics and semiconductor devices. [122][123][124]…”

Section: Induced Surface Topographies (Strategy 2)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“2D or not 2D”: Shape-programming polymer sheets

Liu

Genzer

Dickey

2016

Progress in Polymer Science

315

206

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“…Surface instabilities and pattern formation have been explored as well. [12][13][14] Moreover, the role of film preparation has been investigated 15,16 but remains complex, as pointed out in the particular case of the glass transition temperature. 17,18 The systems discussed above are often well described by the lubrication theory through capillarydriven thin film equations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capillary-driven flow induced by a stepped perturbation atop a viscous film

Salez¹,

McGraw²,

Bäumchen³

et al. 2012

Physics of Fluids

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Thin viscous liquid films driven by capillarity arewell described in the lubrication theory through the thin film equation. In this article, we present an analytical solution of this equation for a particular initial profile: a stepped perturbation. This initial condition allows a linearization of the problem making it amenable to Fourier analysis. The solution is obtained and characterized. As for a temperature step in the heat equation, self-similarity of the first kind of the full evolution is demonstrated and a long-term expression for the excess free energy is derived. In addition, hydrodynamical fields are described. The solution is then compared to experimental profiles from a model system: a polystyrene nanostep above the glass transition temperature which flows due to capillarity. The excellent agreement enables a precise measurement of the capillary velocity for this polymeric liquid, without involving any numerical simulation. More generally, as these results hold for any viscous system driven by capillarity, the present solution may provide a useful tool in hydrodynamics of thin viscous films

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“…Moreover, their instability and low interpenetrability can reduce the interfacial area between both materials, increasing the diffusion length excitons must travel before charge separation can occur. In ultrathin polymer-blend films the morphological evolution might further be stimulated by surface deformation modes, 67 induced through the release of residual stresses resulting from the fabrication process, nonequilibrium interactions with other device components, an externally applied mechanical strain or electrical fields. To stabilize the nanostructured BHJ morphology, one possibility is to make use of block copolymers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is well known that even with block-copolymer technologies perfect periodic domain ordering is generally achieved only over micron-sized regions, separated by grain boundaries. 67 To provide an estimate for the influence of defects on the length scales of grain boundaries, new simulation approaches will have to be developed, offering guidance to experimentalists and new perspectives for the design of OPV devices with optimized performance.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new multiscale modeling method for simulating the loss processes in polymer solar cell nanodevices

Pershin

Donets

Baeurle

2012

The Journal of Chemical Physics

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The photoelectric power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells is till now, compared to conventional inorganic solar cells, still relatively low with maximum values ranging from 7% to 8%. This essentially relates to the existence of exciton and charge carrier loss phenomena, reducing the performance of polymer solar cells significantly. In this paper we introduce a new computer simulation technique, which permits to explore the causes of the occurrence of such phenomena at the nanoscale and to design new photovoltaic materials with optimized opto-electronic properties. Our approach consists in coupling a mesoscopic field-theoretic method with a suitable dynamic Monte Carlo algorithm, to model the elementary photovoltaic processes. Using this algorithm, we investigate the influence of structural characteristics and different device conditions on the exciton generation and charge transport efficiencies in case of a novel nanostructured polymer blend. More specifically, we find that the disjunction of continuous percolation paths leads to the creation of dead ends, resulting in charge carrier losses through charge recombination. Moreover, we observe that defects are characterized by a low exciton dissociation efficiency due to a high charge accumulation, counteracting the charge generation process. From these observations, we conclude that both the charge carrier loss and the exciton loss phenomena lead to a dramatic decrease in the internal quantum efficiency. Finally, by analyzing the photovoltaic behavior of the nanostructures under different circuit conditions, we demonstrate that charge injection significantly determines the impact of the defects on the solar cell performance.

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Surface Instability and Pattern Formation in thin Polymer Films

Cited by 16 publications

References 261 publications

“2D or not 2D”: Shape-programming polymer sheets

“2D or not 2D”: Shape-programming polymer sheets

Capillary-driven flow induced by a stepped perturbation atop a viscous film

A new multiscale modeling method for simulating the loss processes in polymer solar cell nanodevices

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