Islands and holes on the free surface of thin diblock copolymer films. I. Characteristics of formation and growth

Coulon, G.; Collin, Blaise P.; Ausserré, Dominique; Chatenay, D.; Russell, Thomas P.

doi:10.1051/jphys:0199000510240280100

Cited by 157 publications

(193 citation statements)

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“…Previous work has shown that when these polymers are cast as thin films, a preferential surface interaction between one of the blocks and the substrate causes the lamellae to become oriented parallel to the substrate. [2,[17][18][19][20][21][22] These films are smooth when the film thickness (h) is an integral multiple of the lamella thickness (L o ) but have an incomplete surface lamella that forms islands or holes of L o when the thickness deviates from this value. [2][3][4] In addition to film thickness, the substrate surface energy (g s ) may affect the morphology of the thin film.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combinatorial Mapping of Surface Energy Effects on Diblock Copolymer Thin Film Ordering

Smith

Sehgal

Douglas

et al. 2003

Macromol. Rapid Commun.

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Combinatorial gradient techniques are used to map the morphology dependence of thin symmetric diblock copolymer films on film thickness and substrate surface energy. An inversion from symmetric to anti‐symmetric lamellar morphology occurs with a progressive change in surface energy. An intermediate neutral region is found between these limiting types of ordering. The width ω of this transitional energy range scales as a power of copolymer mass M, ω ∝ M1.9.Optical photograph of a combinatorial map of the thin‐film block‐copolymer morphology on a film thickness and surface energy gradient. Island and holes on the surface scatter light causing the film to appear cloudy (lighter in color) in the areas where they exist. The darker areas do not have surface features and do not scatter light.magnified imageOptical photograph of a combinatorial map of the thin‐film block‐copolymer morphology on a film thickness and surface energy gradient. Island and holes on the surface scatter light causing the film to appear cloudy (lighter in color) in the areas where they exist. The darker areas do not have surface features and do not scatter light.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combinatorial Mapping of Surface Energy Effects on Diblock Copolymer Thin Film Ordering

Smith

Sehgal

Douglas

et al. 2003

Macromol. Rapid Commun.

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“…Initially, islands and holes form randomly over the sample surface by a process analogous to spinodal decomposition [153,154]. Typically, the average size of the islands increases through coalescence of smaller domains and the growth of larger domains at the expense of smaller ones through an Ostwald ripening process [155][156][157][158][159][160][161][162]. This coarsening is driven by the line tension of the edges of the two-dimensional islands so that over time there is a decrease in the total length of island edges.…”

Section: Thicker Films and Bulk Order Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterning with block copolymer thin films

Segalman

2005

Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports

931

921

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The nanometer-scale architectures in thin films of self-assembling block copolymers have inspired a variety of new applications. For example, the uniformly sized and shaped nanodomains formed in the films have been used for nanolithography, nanoparticle synthesis, and high-density information storage media. Imperative to all of these applications, however, is a high degree of control over orientation of the nanodomains relative to the surface of the film as well as control over order in the plane of the film. Induced fields including electric, shear, and surface fields have been demonstrated to influence orientation. Both heteroepitaxy and graphoepitaxy can induce positional order on the nanodomains in the plane of the film. This article will briefly review a variety of mechanisms for gaining control over block copolymer order as well as many of the applications of these materials. Particular attention is paid to the potential of perfecting long-range two-dimensional order over a broader range of length scales and the extension of these concepts to functional materials and more complex architectures. #

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“…The thickness of this ordered film must belong to a discrete spectrum of allowed values d n , where d n ͑n 1 1͞2͒L 0 , or d n nL 0 , depending on the interfacial segregation behavior of the blocks in the system [3]. If the thickness d of the film is incommensurate with these values, say d n , d , d n11 , then the system will separate into coexisting domains of thicknesses d n and d n11 [6], in a process which has been compared to 2D topological coarsening [7]. Experimental and theoretical results on isotropic diblocks confined between parallel hard walls have illustrated the effects of frustration between the lamellae period and an externally imposed length scale [8][9][10][11][12].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An isotropic lamellar diblock film usually forms a macromolecular "stack" parallel to the surface, with a period L 0 equal to the thickness of an ABBA sequence [2][3][4][5][6]. The thickness of this ordered film must belong to a discrete spectrum of allowed values d n , where d n ͑n 1 1͞2͒L 0 , or d n nL 0 , depending on the interfacial segregation behavior of the blocks in the system [3].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%