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Review of Scientific Instruments / Volume 82 / Issue 10 / ARTICLES / Optics; Atoms and Molecules; Spectroscopy; Photon Detectors

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 103111 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3653880 (10 pages)

Combined optical and acoustical method for determination of thickness and porosity of transparent organic layers below the ultra-thin film limit

K. B. Rodenhausen1, T. Kasputis2,3, A. K. Pannier2, J. Y. Gerasimov4, R. Y. Lai4, M. Solinsky5, T. E. Tiwald6, H. Wang7, A. Sarkar7, T. Hofmann7, N. Ianno7, and M. Schubert7

1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
2Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
3Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
4Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
5The Procter & Gamble Company, 11810 E. Miami River Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio 45252, USA
6J. A. Woollam Co., Inc., 645 Main Street, Suite 102, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508, USA
7Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA

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(Received 24 May 2011; accepted 2 October 2011; published online 28 October 2011)

Analysis techniques are needed to determine the quantity and structure of materials composing an organic layer that is below an ultra-thin film limit and in a liquid environment. Neither optical nor acoustical techniques can independently distinguish between thickness and porosity of ultra-thin films due to parameter correlation. A combined optical and acoustical approach yields sufficient information to determine both thickness and porosity. We describe application of the combinatorial approach to measure single or multiple organic layers when the total layer thickness is small compared to the wavelength of the probing light. The instrumental setup allows for simultaneous in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and quartz crystal microbalance dynamic measurements, and it is combined with a multiple-inlet fluid control system for different liquid solutions to be introduced during experiments. A virtual separation approach is implemented into our analysis scheme, differentiated by whether or not the organic adsorbate and liquid ambient densities are equal. The analysis scheme requires that the film be assumed transparent and rigid (non-viscoelastic). We present and discuss applications of our approach to studies of organic surfactant adsorption, self-assembled monolayer chemisorption, and multiple-layer target DNA sensor preparation and performance testing.

© 2011 American Institute of Physics

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. THEORY
    1. Spectroscopic ellipsometry
      1. Pseudodielectric model function approach
      2. Virtual separation approach
      3. Parameter accessibility
    2. Quartz crystal microbalance
    3. Experimental parameters
      1. Determination of X SE
      2. Determination of fraction and thickness parameters
      3. Comparison of thickness and surface density parameters
  3. COMBINATORIAL APPROACH TO CHARACTERIZE ULTRA-THIN FILMS
    1. Experimental setup
    2. Data acquisition procedures
    3. Data analysis procedures
  4. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUSES
  5. CASE STUDIES
    1. Surfactant adsorption
    2. Self-assembled monolayer chemisorption
    3. Selective DNA detection
  6. SUMMARY

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

acousto-optical effects, adsorption, biosensors, chemisorption, DNA, ellipsometry, fluids, molecular biophysics, monolayers, porosity, self-assembly, shear modulus, surfactants, thin films, transparency

PACS

  • 78.20.hb

    Piezo-optical, elasto-optical, acousto-optical, and photoelastic effects

  • 68.43.-h

    Chemisorption/physisorption: adsorbates on surfaces

  • 68.43.Mn

    Adsorption kinetics

  • 78.20.Ci

    Optical constants (including refractive index, complex dielectric constant, absorption, reflection and transmission coefficients, emissivity)

  • 78.66.Qn

    Polymers; organic compounds

  • 87.14.gk

    DNA

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3653880

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0034-6748 (print)  
1089-7623 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.
    A. Domack, O. Prucker, J. Rühe, and D. Johannsmann, Phys. Rev. E 56(1), 680 (1997).

    L. Broch, L. Johann, N. Stein, A. Zimmer, and R. Beck, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 78(6), 064101 (2007)RSINAK000078000006064101000001.

    D. E. Aspnes and A. A. Studna, Phys. Rev. B 27(2), 985 (1983).

    M. Schubert, Phys. Rev. B 53(8) 4265 (1996) .


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