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A short review on optical interferometry techniques for characterization of a thin liquid film on a solid surface

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Abstract

Thin films of liquids formed on solid surfaces are of both fundamental and industrial importance. Therefore, the detection and analysis of thin-film profiles have been at the attention of the scientific community for decades. However, due to the small-scale nature, there exists a significant challenge to characterize thin films experimentally. The goal of the present review is to shed light on the recent developments in optical interferometry techniques for the characterization of thin-films. The review includes the efforts devoted to looking into thin-films of several applications, such as falling thin-films, and liquid crystal thin-films; by virtue of optical interferometry. Thereafter, how the technique has been extended to tribology has been reviewed. At last, the efforts devoted to combining reflectometry and interferometry for the characterization of thin liquid films with enhanced accuracy have been outlined.

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Acknowledgements

Authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, India through grant EMR/2016/006326. S.C. thanks award of institute postdoctoral fellowship by IIT Bombay.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, India

    Sanghamitro Chatterjee & Rajneesh Bhardwaj

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  1. Sanghamitro Chatterjee
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  2. Rajneesh Bhardwaj
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Correspondence to Rajneesh Bhardwaj.

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Chatterjee, S., Bhardwaj, R. A short review on optical interferometry techniques for characterization of a thin liquid film on a solid surface. Sādhanā 48, 30 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-023-02091-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-023-02091-6

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