Bundle structure formation on polymer film by varying temperature AFM scanning

Abstract

The bump and bundle structures formed by atomic force microscopic tip scanning on 133nm thick PtBuA films were examined from room temperature to 58℃ with various scanning velocities of 1—20μm/s. It was observed that the bump structures were readily created at low temperature and high scanning velocity, while the bundles were created at high temperature and low scanning velocity. The period of bundles was about 100nm. The effects of temperature and scanning velocity could be explained by the equivalence of temperature and time of viscoelasticity of the polymer. The roughness increased with the scanning numbers at low temperatures while kept almost the same at high temperatures. All the above results indicated that the bump and bundle structure could be formed more frequently on the polymer surface at glassy state due to its larger modulus, smaller adhesion and weaker relaxation, as compared to its rubber state.