{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32070"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32070","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Electro-optical Properties of Ultra-Thin Organic Films","abstract":"Electro-optical properties of thin film are of great interest owing to the perpetual demand for miniaturization and higher speed devices for communication, electronic, and biomedical applications. The thickness of polymer films developed for these applications has decreased dramatically making interfacial effects significant. It is well documented that, in submicron thickness range, both film/substrate & film/air interface are critical. In this study, we probe the dynamics of electro-optical polymer thin films in the sub-micron thickness regime to understand interfacial effects. The polymer chain dynamics of Polypropylene oxide (PPO) under electric field are investigated in this study. The effects of electric field strength, frequency, and polymer molecular weight on the polymer chain dynamics under electric field are studied. Experimental results show that PPO exhibits both piezoelectric and electrorestrictive effects at significantly high frequencies (101kHz range). Conventional organic materials are responsive only at frequencies in <1kHz range. A high signal-to-noise ratio differential interferometry is designed to quantitatively study the effects of film thickness, electric field frequency and amplitude on the dynamic properties of PPO thin films ranging from 30 nm to 400 nm. The interferometer can concurrently monitor the index of refraction, thickness change of polymer films, and birefringence due to the applied electrical field.","abstract_html":"Electro-optical properties of thin film are of great interest owing to the perpetual demand for miniaturization and higher speed devices for communication, electronic, and biomedical applications. The thickness of polymer films developed for these applications has decreased dramatically making interfacial effects significant. It is well documented that, in submicron thickness range, both film/substrate &amp; film/air interface are critical. In this study, we probe the dynamics of electro-optical polymer thin films in the sub-micron thickness regime to understand interfacial effects. The polymer chain dynamics of Polypropylene oxide (PPO) under electric field are investigated in this study. The effects of electric field strength, frequency, and polymer molecular weight on the polymer chain dynamics under electric field are studied. Experimental results show that PPO exhibits both piezoelectric and electrorestrictive effects at significantly high frequencies (101kHz range). Conventional organic materials are responsive only at frequencies in &lt;1kHz range. A high signal-to-noise ratio differential interferometry is designed to quantitatively study the effects of film thickness, electric field frequency and amplitude on the dynamic properties of PPO thin films ranging from 30 nm to 400 nm. The interferometer can concurrently monitor the index of refraction, thickness change of polymer films, and birefringence due to the applied electrical field.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hodges, Ping Y."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Chemical Engineering","degree_department":"Chemical Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Saraf, Ravi F."],"committee_members":[],"year":2001,"date_issued":"2001-04-23","date_published":"2001-04-23","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:18:49Z","subjects":["interferometry","electric field","thin film"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-05012001-150010"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-05012001-150010","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32070","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Saraf, Ravi F."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Chemical Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hodges, Ping Y."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:40Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:34:40Z","2002-05-02"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2001-04-23"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["interferometry","electric field","thin film"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-05012001-150010"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32070"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Electro-optical properties of thin film are of great interest owing to the perpetual demand for miniaturization and higher speed devices for communication, electronic, and biomedical applications. The thickness of polymer films developed for these applications has decreased dramatically making interfacial effects significant. It is well documented that, in submicron thickness range, both film/substrate & film/air interface are critical. In this study, we probe the dynamics of electro-optical polymer thin films in the sub-micron thickness regime to understand interfacial effects. The polymer chain dynamics of Polypropylene oxide (PPO) under electric field are investigated in this study. The effects of electric field strength, frequency, and polymer molecular weight on the polymer chain dynamics under electric field are studied. Experimental results show that PPO exhibits both piezoelectric and electrorestrictive effects at significantly high frequencies (101kHz range). Conventional organic materials are responsive only at frequencies in <1kHz range. A high signal-to-noise ratio differential interferometry is designed to quantitatively study the effects of film thickness, electric field frequency and amplitude on the dynamic properties of PPO thin films ranging from 30 nm to 400 nm. The interferometer can concurrently monitor the index of refraction, thickness change of polymer films, and birefringence due to the applied electrical field."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Electro-optical Properties of Ultra-Thin Organic Films"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Saraf, Ravi F."],"dc:contributor.department":["Chemical Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Hodges, Ping Y."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:34:40Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:34:40Z","2002-05-02"],"dc:date.issued":["2001-04-23"],"dc:description.abstract":["Electro-optical properties of thin film are of great interest owing to the perpetual demand for miniaturization and higher speed devices for communication, electronic, and biomedical applications. The thickness of polymer films developed for these applications has decreased dramatically making interfacial effects significant. It is well documented that, in submicron thickness range, both film/substrate & film/air interface are critical. In this study, we probe the dynamics of electro-optical polymer thin films in the sub-micron thickness regime to understand interfacial effects. The polymer chain dynamics of Polypropylene oxide (PPO) under electric field are investigated in this study. The effects of electric field strength, frequency, and polymer molecular weight on the polymer chain dynamics under electric field are studied. Experimental results show that PPO exhibits both piezoelectric and electrorestrictive effects at significantly high frequencies (101kHz range). Conventional organic materials are responsive only at frequencies in <1kHz range. A high signal-to-noise ratio differential interferometry is designed to quantitatively study the effects of film thickness, electric field frequency and amplitude on the dynamic properties of PPO thin films ranging from 30 nm to 400 nm. The interferometer can concurrently monitor the index of refraction, thickness change of polymer films, and birefringence due to the applied electrical field."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-05012001-150010"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32070"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["interferometry","electric field","thin film"],"dc:title":["Electro-optical Properties of Ultra-Thin Organic Films"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:18:49Z"}