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News Release 07-091
A New Wrinkle in Thin Film Science
Simple, inexpensive way to measure material properties could impact cosmetics, coating and nanoelectronic industries
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A starburst of wrinkles form in a thin film material when a drop of water is placed on the film as it floats in water. These remarklably simple experiments, done with a pool of water in a Petri dish and a low-magnification microscope, give researchers insight into whether the material properties of ultrathin films differ from their properties in bulk quantities.
Credit: Jiangshui Huan, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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