| Author(s): |
August W. Bosse; Carlos Garcia-Cervera; Glenn Fredrickson; |
| Title: |
Microdomain Ordering in Laterally Confined Block Copolymer Thin Films |
| Published: |
November 29, 2007 |
| Abstract: |
We examine the effects of small-scale, hexagonal, lateral confinement on microdomain ordering in $AB$ diblock copolymer thin films using self-consistent field theory (SCFT) simulations. Specifically, we examine a hexagonal confinement well with side length $L$ approximately equal to five cylindrical microdomain lattice spacings. The commensurability constraints of the small-scale lateral confinement, coupled with surface-induced effects allows the confining well to have a significant effect on the perfection of microdomain order. We identify commensurability windows in $L$ that depend on the segment wall interaction, and the ``temperature'' annealing rate (modeled as a Flory $\chi ~ 1/T$ annealing rate). The effect of added majority-block homopolymer is also explored. |
| Citation: |
Macromolecules |
| Volume: |
40 |
| Pages: |
pp. 9570 - 9581 |
| Keywords: |
block copolymers;commensurability;lateral confinement;mean-field;self-assembly;simulations;surface-directed ordering;thin films |
| Research Areas: |
Polymers, Block copolymer lithography |
| PDF version: |
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