Symmetric Diblock Copolymers Confined by Two Nanopatterned Surfaces

Using Monte Carlo simulations of a coarse-grained model, we explore the equilibrium morphologies of symmetric diblock copolymers between two chemically patterned surfaces. The chemical patterns on the surfaces consist of periodic stripes of width W with a periodicity Ls. The stripes on the two chemical patterns are oriented orthogonally. By systematically varying the width of the stripes, the interaction strength between the patterns and block copolymers, and the thickness of the block copolymer films, we investigate complex three-dimensional morphologies that are not available in the bulk and that could be useful in a wide array of applications. The results of simulations are shown to be in quantitative agreement with experimental observations.

[1]  Jongseung Yoon,et al.  Enabling nanotechnology with self assembled block copolymer patterns , 2003 .

[2]  O. Bunk,et al.  Morphology of lamellae-forming block copolymer films between two orthogonal chemically nanopatterned striped surfaces. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[3]  Henry I. Smith,et al.  Fabrication of nanostructures with long-range order using block copolymer lithography , 2002 .

[4]  Y. Dzenis,et al.  Guided self-assembly of diblock copolymer thin films on chemically patterned substrates. , 2006, The Journal of chemical physics.

[5]  Coarse graining in block copolymer films , 2006, cond-mat/0603096.

[6]  P. Nealey,et al.  Block copolymers and conventional lithography , 2006 .

[7]  M. Muthukumar,et al.  Effect of patterned surface on diblock-copolymer melts and polymer blends near the critical point , 1997 .

[8]  G. Gompper,et al.  Twist grain boundaries in cubic surfactant phases. , 2009, The Journal of chemical physics.

[9]  F. Detcheverry,et al.  Numerical simulation of Gaussian chains near hard surfaces. , 2010, The Journal of chemical physics.

[10]  Marcus Müller,et al.  Theoretically informed coarse grain simulations of polymeric systems. , 2009, The Journal of chemical physics.

[11]  Marcus Müller,et al.  Morphology of multi-component polymer systems: single chain in mean field simulation studies. , 2006, Soft matter.

[12]  P. Nealey,et al.  Theoretically informed coarse grain simulations of block copolymer melts: method and applications , 2009 .

[13]  G. Fredrickson,et al.  Self-consistent field simulations of self- and directed-assembly in a mixed polymer brush , 2011 .

[14]  E. W. Edwards,et al.  Directed Assembly of Block Copolymer Blends into Nonregular Device-Oriented Structures , 2005, Science.

[15]  Juan J. de Pablo,et al.  Symmetric diblock copolymer thin films confined between homogeneous and patterned surfaces: Simulations and theory , 2000 .

[16]  Juan J. de Pablo,et al.  Directed Assembly of a Cylinder-Forming Diblock Copolymer: Topographic and Chemical Patterns , 2010 .

[17]  P. Nealey,et al.  Morphologies of Linear Triblock Copolymers from Monte Carlo Simulations , 2011 .

[18]  Q. Wang,et al.  Morphology of Symmetric Diblock Copolymers Confined Between Two Stripe‐Patterned Surfaces – Tilted Lamellae and More , 2005 .

[19]  G. Fredrickson,et al.  Block copolymer thermodynamics: theory and experiment. , 1990, Annual review of physical chemistry.

[20]  Surface induced ordering in thin film diblock copolymers: Tilted lamellar phases , 2001, cond-mat/0103250.

[21]  S. Darling.  Block copolymers for photovoltaics , 2009 .

[22]  Juan J. de Pablo,et al.  Interpolation in the Directed Assembly of Block Copolymers on Nanopatterned Substrates: Simulation and Experiments , 2010 .

[23]  E. Thomas,et al.  LAMELLAR DIBLOCK COPOLYMER GRAIN-BOUNDARY MORPHOLOGY .1. TWIST BOUNDARY CHARACTERIZATION , 1993 .

[24]  Huiman Kang,et al.  Pattern dimensions and feature shapes of ternary blends of block copolymer and low molecular weight homopolymers directed to assemble on chemically nanopatterned surfaces. , 2011, ACS nano.

[25]  I. Hamley.  Nanostructure fabrication using block copolymers , 2003 .

[26]  R. Hamers,et al.  Hierarchical assembly of nanoparticle superstructures from block copolymer-nanoparticle composites. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[27]  K. Daoulas,et al.  Polymer-solid contacts described by soft, coarse-grained models. , 2011, Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP.

[28]  Christopher Harrison,et al.  Block copolymer lithography: Periodic arrays of ~1011 holes in 1 square centimeter , 1997 .

[29]  David Andelman,et al.  Block Copolymer at Nano-Patterned Surfaces , 2010 .

[30]  P. Nealey,et al.  Lamellar Structures of Symmetric Diblock Copolymers: Comparisons between Lattice Monte Carlo Simulations and Self-Consistent Mean-Field Calculations , 2002 .

[31]  L. An,et al.  Self-Assembly of Rod-Terminally Tethered Three-Armed Star-Shaped Coil Block Copolymer: Investigation of the Presence of the Branching in the Coil to the Self-Assembled Behavior , 2008 .

[32]  J. Alexander Liddle,et al.  Bending Soft Block Copolymer Nanostructures by Lithographically Directed Assembly , 2006 .

[33]  Qiang Wang,et al.  Monte Carlo Simulations of Diblock Copolymer Thin Films Confined between Chemically Heterogeneous Hard Surfaces , 2000 .

[34]  Guoliang Liu,et al.  Integration of Density Multiplication in the Formation of Device‐Oriented Structures by Directed Assembly of Block Copolymer–Homopolymer Blends , 2010 .

[35]  Chad A. Mirkin,et al.  Emerging Methods for Micro- and Nanofabrication , 2001 .

[36]  G. Fredrickson,et al.  Block Copolymers—Designer Soft Materials , 1999 .

[37]  Marcus Müller,et al.  Fabrication of complex three-dimensional nanostructures from self-assembling block copolymer materials on two-dimensional chemically patterned templates with mismatched symmetry. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[38]  Marcus Müller,et al.  Monte carlo simulation of coarse grain polymeric systems. , 2009, Physical review letters.

[39]  Marcus Müller,et al.  Directed self-assembly of block copolymers for nanolithography: fabrication of isolated features and essential integrated circuit geometries. , 2007, ACS nano.

[40]  Juan J de Pablo,et al.  Three‐dimensional Directed Assembly of Block Copolymers together with Two‐dimensional Square and Rectangular Nanolithography , 2011, Advanced materials.

[41]  Marcus Müller,et al.  Monte Carlo Simulations of a Coarse Grain Model for Block Copolymers and Nanocomposites , 2008 .

[42]  E. Helfand.  Theory of inhomogeneous polymers: Fundamentals of the Gaussian random‐walk model , 1975 .

[43]  I. Hamley,et al.  Nanotechnology with soft materials. , 2003, Angewandte Chemie.

[44]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Self-Assembly at All Scales , 2002, Science.

[45]  P. Nealey,et al.  Epitaxial self-assembly of block copolymers on lithographically defined nanopatterned substrates , 2003, Nature.

[46]  M. Muthukumar,et al.  Self-consistent field theory of diblock copolymer melts at patterned surfaces , 1998 .

[47]  G. Craig,et al.  Graphoepitaxial assembly of asymmetric ternary blends of block copolymers and homopolymers , 2010, Nanotechnology.

[48]  David M. Anderson,et al.  Periodic area-minimizing surfaces in block copolymers , 1988, Nature.

[49]  Diblock copolymer ordering induced by patterned surfaces , 2000, cond-mat/0007056.