Related papers: Surface and Bulk Relaxation of Vapour-Deposited Po…
We measure the isothermal rejuvenation of stable glass films of poly(styrene) and poly(methylmethacrylate). We demonstrate that the propagation of the front responsible for the transformation to a supercooled-liquid state can serve as a…
Several experiments on molecular and metallic glasses have shown that the ability of vapor deposition to produce ultrastable glasses is correlated with their structural and thermodynamic properties. Here we investigate the vapor deposition…
Motivated by recent experimental studies probing i) the existence of a mobile layer at the free surface of glasses, and ii) the capillary leveling of polymer nanofilms, we study the evolution of square-wave patterns at the free surface of a…
A growing body of experimental work indicates that physical vapor deposition provides an effective route for preparation of stable glasses, whose properties correspond in some cases to those expected for glasses that have been aged for…
Vapour deposition can directly produce ultrastable glasses, which are similar to conventional glasses aged over thousands of years. The highly mobile surface layer is believed to accelerate the ageing process of vapour-deposited glasses,…
Surface tension-driven flow techniques have recently emerged as an efficient means of shedding light into the rheology of thin polymer films. Motivated by experimental and theoretical approaches in films bearing a varying surface…
We study the free-surface deformation dynamics of an immersed glassy thin polymer film supported on a substrate, induced by an air nanobubble at the free surface.We combine analytical and numerical treatments of the glassy thin film…
Glass films created by vapor-depositing molecules onto a substrate can exhibit properties similar to those of ordinary glasses aged for thousands of years. It is believed that enhanced surface mobility is the mechanism that allows vapor…
Vapor deposition of molecules on a substrate often results in glassy materials of high kinetic stability and low enthalpy. The extraordinary properties of such glasses are attributed to high rates of surface diffusion during sample…
We report on the rejuvenation of thin films of polystyrene (PS) as they are heated from stable glassy states - prepared either through vapour deposition or physical aging. For films with thickness $h \gtrsim 200$ nm, the rejuvenation of…
The surface of a thin liquid film with nonconstant curvature is unstable, as the Laplace pressure drives a flow mediated by viscosity. We present the results of experiments on one of the simplest variable curvature surfaces: a stepped…
A glass surface may still flow below the bulk glass transition temperature, where the underlying bulk is frozen. Assuming the existence at T=T* of a bulk thermodynamical glass transition, we show that the glass-vapor interface is generally…
The recent experimental fabrication of ultra stable glass films via vapour deposition [Science 315, 353 (2007)] and the observation of front-like response to the annealing of these films [Phys.Rev.Lett. 102, 065503 (2009)], have raised…
Glasses prepared by physical vapour deposition have been shown to be remarkably more stable than those prepared by standard cooling protocols, with properties that appear to be similar to systems aged for extremely long times. When…
Glass films prepared by a process of physical vapor deposition have been shown to have thermodynamic and kinetic stability comparable to those of ordinary glasses aged for thousands of years. A central question in the study of…
Despite their technological relevance, a full microscopic understanding of glasses is still lacking. This applies even more to their surfaces whose properties largely differ from that of the bulk material. Here, we experimentally…
Dewetting of thin polystyrene films deposited onto silicone wafers at temperatures close to the glass transition exhibits unusual dynamics and front morphologies. Here, we present a new theoretical approach of these phenomena taking into…
Confined glasses and their anomalous interfacial rheology raise important questions in fundamental research and numerous practical applications. In this Letter, we study the influence of interfacial air nanobubbles on the free surface of…
A free surface induces enhanced dynamics in glass formers. We study the dynamical enhancement of glassy films with a distinguishable-particle lattice model of glass free of elastic effects. We demonstrate that the thickness of the surface…
Dynamics near the surface of glasses is generally much faster than in the bulk. Neglecting static perturbations of structure at the surface, we use random first order transition theory to show the free energy barrier for activated motion…