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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
Neutron reflectometry is used to measure the rate of interdiffusion between bilayer samples of deuterated and hydrogenated poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films with the polymerpolymer interface near the native oxide surface of a silicon wafer. In this work, the effects of a favorable substrate interaction and the molecular weight of each polymer layer are determined. Both the film thickness and the molecular weight of the lower d-PMMA layer are kept constant with a thickness of approximately one radii of gyration (Rg) of the polymer and the molecular weight of the upper hydrogenated layer is varied. Earlier experiments show that the mobility of the polymer chains within Rg of the substrate is much lower than that of the bulk, suggesting that the mobility of surface-pinned polymers controls the interdiffusion rate. In this study, we find that the rate of interdiffusion is strongly dependent upon the molecular weight of the top layer.