TY - JOUR A1 - Silbernagl, Dorothee A1 - Cappella, Brunero T1 - Mechanical properties of thin polymer films on stiff substrates JF - Scanning N2 - Force–displacement curves have been acquired with a commercial atomic force microscope on thin films of poly(n-butyl methacrylate) on glass substrates in order to examine the so-called 'mechanical double layer' topic, i.e. the influence of the substrate on the mechanical properties of the film in dependence of the film thickness. The hyperbolic fit, a novel semi-empirical equation introduced in previous articles, has been further corroborated. The interpretation of this equation has been deepened, yielding a quantitative and demonstrative characterization of the mechanical properties of double layers. Provided that the Young's moduli of bulk polymer and substrate are measured from the deformation curves, this mathematical model permits to fit the deformation–force curves on the double layers and to determine the thickness of the polymer films in wide range (0–200 nm). KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Indentation KW - Rheology KW - Polymers KW - Thin films PY - 2010 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sca.20196 SN - 0161-0457 SN - 1932-8745 VL - 32 IS - 5 SP - 282 EP - 293 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken, NJ AN - OPUS4-22681 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -