Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The kinetics of de-wetting a polycarbonate (PC) film from a poly(styrene-coacrylonitrile) (SAN) copolymer film was monitored using optical microscopy. Whereas the SAN layer was stable upon annealing at 190°C, the PC layer dewetted the SAN and formed holes whose diameter increased linearly with time. Auger electron spectroscopy measurements confirmed that PC was fully removed from the interior of the hole. Upon varying the AN content, the dewetting velocity was found to be a minimum near 0.27 weight percent AN. This result is consistent with the interfacial thermodynamics between PC and SAN. Atomic force microscopy was used to provide a unique image of the hole profile.