Morphology induced spinodal decomposition at the surface of symmetric diblock copolymer films

Peters, R. D., Stasiak, P., Matsen, M. W. and Dalnoki-Veress, K. (2013) Morphology induced spinodal decomposition at the surface of symmetric diblock copolymer films. ACS Macro Letters, 2 (5). pp. 441-445. ISSN 2161-1653 doi: 10.1021/mz400159s

Abstract/Summary

Atomic force microscopy is used to study the ordering dynamics of symmetric diblock copolymer films. The films order to form a lamellar structure which results in a frustration when the film thickness is incommensurate with the lamellae. By probing the morphology of incommensurate films in the early ordering stages, we discover an intermediate phase of lamellae arranged perpendicular to the film surface. This morphology is accompanied by a continuous growth in amplitude of the film surface topography with a characteristic wavelength, indicative of a spinodal process. Using selfconsistent field theory, we show that the observation of perpendicular lamellae suggests an intermediate state with parallel lamellae at the substrate and perpendicular lamellae at the free surface. The calculations confirm that the intermediate state is unstable to thickness fluctuations, thereby driving the spinodal growth of surface structures.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/35387
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Publisher	American Chemical Society
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