Combinatoral Study of Surface Pattern Formation in Thin Block Copolymer Films

Published

July 1, 2001

Author(s)

A P. Smith, Jack F. Douglas, Alamgir Karim, J C. Meredith, Eric J. Amis

Abstract

We investigate surface patterns in thin block copolymer films with a gradient in thickness, h. The usual hole and island morphologies are found when h varies from integral multiples m of the bulk lamellar thickness Lo but spinodal-like hole and island patterns are found near certain critical film thicknesses. Smooth films are found for a molecular mass (M) dependent h range centered about h (m + )Lo. The average size of bicontinuous patterns (lambda) scale as an inverse power of Lo, lambda Lo^(-2.5) and this effect is suggested to arise from a strong increase in the film surface viscosity with M.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

87

Issue

No. 1

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

combinatorial, diblock copolymers, polymer thin films

Citation

Smith, A. , Douglas, J. , Karim, A. , Meredith, J. and Amis, E. (2001), Combinatoral Study of Surface Pattern Formation in Thin Block Copolymer Films, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=851742 (Accessed October 15, 2025)