Pulsed force mode AFM characterization of photopatterned polymers films

This paper demonstrates the potentiality of AFM used in pulsed force mode (PFM) to investigate the structure of photopatterned polymer at a submicroscopic scale. This technique provides, simultaneously to the surface corrugation analysis, a measure of the local mechanical properties of the material (stiffness and adhesion). Pulsed force mode was particularly interesting for the study of polymeric optical diffractive elements, created by interference between two laser beams. In this case, PFM provides characterizations complementary to those obtained by optical measurements or by UV-visible or FTIR spectroscopies giving rise only to average values of the grating parameters. It was also demonstrated that systems with complex geometry can be investigated using the same procedure.