Study Morphology Transitions in Self-Assembled Triblock Copolymer Thin Films with Nanostructures by AFM

Abstract

As a “bottom-up” approach to nanostructures for nanofabrication, self-assembled block copolymer thin films have received much attention not only thanks to the scale of the microdomains but also due to the convenient shape tunability. In order to realize applications of self-assembled block copolymer thin films in nanotechnologies, control over microdomain spatial and orientational order is paramount. In this paper, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we studied systemically nanostructure transitions induced by post-solvent annealing in self-assembled block copolymer thin films. Furthermore, a variety of thin films with well-ordered nanostructures, which can be employed as templates for nanotechnologies, have been realized simply and at low cost.

Block Copolymer Films Hierarchical Assembly in Confinement

“…Our approach begins by preparing a silicon nitride patterning substrate using AFM micromachining technique. This patterning substrate is then used to guide the self-assembly process of triblock copolymers (SEBS) coupled with solvent annealing technique [5]. Diverse self-assembly nanostructure is achieved in confinement by this method.…”