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Structural Evolution and Alignment of Cylinder-Forming PS-b-PEP Thin Films in Confinement Studied by Time-Lapse Atomic Force Microscopy

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Abstract

We have utilized time-resolved high-temperature atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate the mechanism by which topographic templates induce alignment of cylinder-forming diblock copolymer thin films. By tracking the same sample spot during thermal annealing, we observed that the structural evolution and alignment of thin films in confinement involve an intermediate state with disordered morphology and the evolution and annihilation of disclination quadrupoles guided by the channel edges, which ultimately lead to the essentially perfect alignment of cylindrical microdomains.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Chicago, NSF-DMR-0213745. Support is also acknowledged from the University of Chicago-Argonne National Laboratory Consortium for Nanoscience Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The James Franck Institute and Department of Chemistry, The University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, U.S.A.

    Qin Zheng, Dong-Chan Lee, Luping Yu & S. J. Sibener

Authors
  1. Qin Zheng
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  2. Dong-Chan Lee
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  3. Luping Yu
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  4. S. J. Sibener
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Zheng, Q., Lee, DC., Yu, L. et al. Structural Evolution and Alignment of Cylinder-Forming PS-b-PEP Thin Films in Confinement Studied by Time-Lapse Atomic Force Microscopy. MRS Online Proceedings Library 854, U11.7 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-854-U11.17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-854-U11.17

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