'Thin films & coatings' Roadmap - Nano Mahidol

of organic materials; however, nanotechnology allows retention of these properties,
with regard to transparency mainly because the particles are smaller than the
wavelengths of visible light.
2.2 Most remarkable properties of thin films
The main advantage of thin films (or any other coating) is that materials properties
can be transferred to the surface (thus enabling the use of diverse substrates). The
substrate and the thin film are a material system where each of them provides the
required functionality.
In general, nanotechnology provides the tools for controlling 3 key parameters for
thin films performance: chemical composition (and crystalline structure at nano-sized
domains), thickness and topography (including nano-scale patterning of thin films’
surface).
According to the experts, most remarkable thin film properties are: optical,
mechanical and chemical properties. Monolayer thin films could, most of the times,
provide these properties, although multi-layer thin films are sometimes required. Of
course, in many applications, it is exactly the combination of properties (often the
transparency combined with chemical or mechanical properties) that exploits the
nanoscale most.
Chemical properties
Thin films could be designed to have properties like water repellence, anti-fogging,
chemical barriers and chemical inertness, oxygen or moisture barriers over polymers
or antimicrobial surfaces. The functionalisation of polar/apolar surfaces is crucial for
sensors’ applications and together with hydrophilic/hydrophobic balances is essential
in hard coatings. By increasing the inorganic content, thin film stability could also be
improved. The appropriate chemical composition (e.g. hybrid coatings) also provides
good etch barrier characteristics (e.g. for plastics on automotive bodies) or has also a
great impact on electrical properties (e.g. in SiOxNy) and especially on insulation
properties (relevant for semiconductor circuit structures).
8 Roadmap report on
Thin films and coatings