DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Thin Film Self-Assembly of a Silicon-Containing Rod–Coil Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymer

Abstract

The long-range ordering and directed self-assembly of thin films of a high interaction parameter rod–coil liquid crystalline block copolymer (LC BCP), poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly{2,5-bis[(4-methoxyphenyl)-oxycarbonyl]styrene} (PDMS-b-PMPCS, or DM), is described. The LC BCP was spin-coated on a polystyrene brush functionalized substrate and then thermally annealed at different temperatures with respect to the LC ordering temperature. The effects of the wetting behavior, commensurability between the film thickness and the periodicity, and the LC orientation on the ordering and orientation of the microdomains are described. A monolayer of in-plane cylinders with excellent long-range ordering was produced, and was transferred into SiOx patterns with tunable sub-10 nm feature sizes. Well-ordered multilayer in-plane cylinders were produced in thicker films, and the correlation between microstructure evolution and the LC ordering process was studied by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). Finally, the cylindrical rod–coil BCP was directed into a novel ladder morphology within lithographically patterned substrate trenches, as well as into patterns of parallel or transverse cylinders. As a result, the ordering of cylinders, the ladder morphology, and the etch selectivity and thermal stability of this high-interaction parameter silicon-containing LC rod–coil BCP demonstrate its applicability to nanoscale lithography.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Sichuan Univ., Chengdu (China); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  3. Sichuan Univ., Chengdu (China)
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1498278
Report Number(s):
BNL-211342-2019-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 0024-9297
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0012704
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Macromolecules
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 52; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0024-9297
Publisher:
American Chemical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; block copolymer

Citation Formats

Shi, Ling -Ying, Lee, Sangho, Cheng, Li -Chen, Huang, Hejin, Liao, Fen, Ran, Rong, Yager, Kevin G., and Ross, Caroline A. Thin Film Self-Assembly of a Silicon-Containing Rod–Coil Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymer. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01938.
Shi, Ling -Ying, Lee, Sangho, Cheng, Li -Chen, Huang, Hejin, Liao, Fen, Ran, Rong, Yager, Kevin G., & Ross, Caroline A. Thin Film Self-Assembly of a Silicon-Containing Rod–Coil Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymer. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01938
Shi, Ling -Ying, Lee, Sangho, Cheng, Li -Chen, Huang, Hejin, Liao, Fen, Ran, Rong, Yager, Kevin G., and Ross, Caroline A. Fri . "Thin Film Self-Assembly of a Silicon-Containing Rod–Coil Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymer". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01938. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1498278.
@article{osti_1498278,
title = {Thin Film Self-Assembly of a Silicon-Containing Rod–Coil Liquid Crystalline Block Copolymer},
author = {Shi, Ling -Ying and Lee, Sangho and Cheng, Li -Chen and Huang, Hejin and Liao, Fen and Ran, Rong and Yager, Kevin G. and Ross, Caroline A.},
abstractNote = {The long-range ordering and directed self-assembly of thin films of a high interaction parameter rod–coil liquid crystalline block copolymer (LC BCP), poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly{2,5-bis[(4-methoxyphenyl)-oxycarbonyl]styrene} (PDMS-b-PMPCS, or DM), is described. The LC BCP was spin-coated on a polystyrene brush functionalized substrate and then thermally annealed at different temperatures with respect to the LC ordering temperature. The effects of the wetting behavior, commensurability between the film thickness and the periodicity, and the LC orientation on the ordering and orientation of the microdomains are described. A monolayer of in-plane cylinders with excellent long-range ordering was produced, and was transferred into SiOx patterns with tunable sub-10 nm feature sizes. Well-ordered multilayer in-plane cylinders were produced in thicker films, and the correlation between microstructure evolution and the LC ordering process was studied by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). Finally, the cylindrical rod–coil BCP was directed into a novel ladder morphology within lithographically patterned substrate trenches, as well as into patterns of parallel or transverse cylinders. As a result, the ordering of cylinders, the ladder morphology, and the etch selectivity and thermal stability of this high-interaction parameter silicon-containing LC rod–coil BCP demonstrate its applicability to nanoscale lithography.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.macromol.8b01938},
journal = {Macromolecules},
number = 2,
volume = 52,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Fri Jan 04 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share: