Thickness Limit for Alignment of Block Copolymer Films Using Solvent Vapor Annealing with Shear

Zhang, Chao; Cavicchi, Kevin A.; Li, Ruipeng; Yager, Kevin G.; Fukuto, Masafumi; Vogt, Bryan D.

doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00539

Title: Thickness Limit for Alignment of Block Copolymer Films Using Solvent Vapor Annealing with Shear

Journal Article · 23 May 2018 · Macromolecules

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b00539 · OSTI ID:1454806

Zhang, Chao ^[1];

^[1]; Li, Ruipeng ^[2];

^[3]; Fukuto, Masafumi ^[2];

^[1]

Univ. of Akron, OH (United States). Dept. of Polymer Engineering
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)

The swelling and deswelling of a cross-linked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pad adhered to a block copolymer (BCP) film during solvent vapor annealing (SVA) provides sufficient shear force to produce highly aligned domains over macroscopic dimensions in thin films. Here in this paper, we examine how far this alignment can propagate through the thickness of a BCP film to understand the limits for efficacy of the SVA-S (SVA with shear) process. Films of cylinder-forming polystyrene-block-polyisoprene-block-polystyrene (SIS) ranging from 100 nm to more than 100 μm are examined using the same processing conditions. The SIS surface in contact with the PDMS is always well-aligned, with Herman’s orientation parameter (S) exceeding 0.9 as determined from AFM micrographs, but the bottom surface in contact with the silicon wafer is not aligned for the thickest films. The average orientation through the film thickness was determined by transmission small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), with S decreasing gradually with increasing thickness for SIS films thinner than 24 μm, but S remains >0.8. S precipitously decreases for thicker films. A stop-etch-image approach allows the gradient in orientation through the thickness to be elucidated. The integration of this local orientation profile agrees with the average S obtained from SAXS. These results demonstrate the effective alignment of supported thick BCP films of order 10 μm, which could be useful for BCP coatings for optical applications.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704; 1462284.

OSTI ID:: 1454806

Report Number(s):: BNL-205771-2018-JAAM

Journal Information:: Macromolecules, Vol. 51, Issue 11; ISSN 0024-9297

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 12 works

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