Surface dynamics of polymer films

The dynamics of supported polymer films were studied by probing the surface height fluctuations as a function of lateral length scale using x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Measurements were performed on polystyrene (PS) films of thicknesses varying from 84 to 333 nm at temperatures above the PS glass transition temperature. Within a range of wave vectors spanning 10(-3) to 10(-2) nm(-1), good agreement is found between the measured surface dynamics and the theory of overdamped thermal capillary waves on thin films. Quantitatively, the data can be accounted for using the viscosity of bulk PS.