Thermal Marangoni-driven Dynamics of Spinning Liquid Films

TL;DR

This paper investigates how static temperature gradients influence the dynamics and final thickness of spinning liquid films, revealing potential for thermal control in thin film fabrication.

Contribution

It provides experimental and numerical evidence that thermal gradients significantly affect film thickness and profile in spin coating, a novel insight for process control.

Findings

Temperature gradients alter equilibrium film thickness

Thermal control can modulate film height profiles

Experimental and numerical results agree on thermal effects

Abstract

Spin coating of thin films of viscous liquids on a rotating substrate is a core technological component of semiconductor microchip fabrication. The thinning dynamics is influenced by many physical processes. Specifically temperature gradients affect thin liquid films through their influence on the local fluid surface tension. We show here experimentally and numerically that adding a static temperature gradient has a significant effect on the equilibrium film thickness and height profile reached in spin coating. Our results suggest that thermal gradients can be used to control film height profile dynamics.