The theoretical and experimental study of polymers, polymer surfaces and thin films has undergone a revolution in the last 25 years. This book captures recent advances in this field. It covers equilibrium aspects, kinetics and reactions at interfaces. It is aimed not only at a research audience but also at beginners.

Nano-scale thin polymeric films supported on different substrates have been investigated by using positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS). The object of this research was to characterize and to understand basic physical properties of thin films at different depths.

For one and a half decades, the application of positron annihilation to condensed-matter physics concentrated on the study of the Fermi surfaces of metals and alloys. As other, often more powerful, techniques for performing this type of study were developed, it appeared that condensed-matter positron physics was going to be relegated to being a niche interest. However, the situation changed dramatically when it was found that measurements of positron annihilation in metals were sensitive to the structures of well-known defects. This discovery, and subsequent research made it a major tool in materials science.