Laser processing of polyethylene glycol derivative and block copolymer thin films

We report the deposition by MAPLE of: (i) a novel polyethylene glycol derivative with carboxyl functional groups and (ii) a block copolymer: poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-block-poly(caprolactone)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether. We used a KrF* excimer laser source (lambda = 248 nm, tau = 25 ns, nu = 5 Hz). The laser fluence was set within the 200-700 mJ/cm(2) range. The deposited thin films have been investigated by FTIR and AFM. We have concluded that the main functional groups of starting materials are present in the transferred film. We also examined the influence of laser fluence on both thin film structure and morphology. (C) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.