Orientational Order in Block Copoloymer Films Zone Annealed Below the Order-Disorder Transition Temperature

Published

August 11, 2008

Author(s)

Brian Berry, August W. Bosse, Jack F. Douglas, Ronald L. Jones, Alamgir Karim

Abstract

Cold zone annealing (CZA) is a thermal treatment involving pulling a thin block copolymer (BCP) film over a heated region having a temperature significantly above the glass-transition temperature, but well below the film order-disorder temperature. We investigate the potential of CZA for controlling defects in block copolymer thin films and as a platform for studying defect formation, annihilation, and dynamics. The dramatic increase in orientational order obtained by CZA relative to conventional oven annealing methods is attributed to the large in-plane mobility gradient that accompanies the in-plane temperature gradient in glassy polymeric materials. This mobility gradient leads to a progressive alignment of cylinders in the sample pulling direction and presumably to a substantial modification of the defect annihilation dynamics during grain growth.

Citation

Nano Letters

Volume

7

Issue

9

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

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Keywords

block copolymers, defects, order, orientation, zone annealing

Citation

Berry, B. , Bosse, A. , Douglas, J. , Jones, R. and Karim, A. (2008), Orientational Order in Block Copoloymer Films Zone Annealed Below the Order-Disorder Transition Temperature, Nano Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852738 (Accessed October 8, 2025)