화학공학소재연구정보센터
Macromolecules, Vol.37, No.14, 5358-5363, 2004
Electrically induced patterning in block copolymer films
Thin films of block copolymers were manipulated on two different length scales simultaneously by use of an electric field. Electrostatic pressure generated at the surface of a block copolymer film between two electrodes with an air gap separating the surface of the block copolymer film and the upper electrode produced, as in homopolymer films, an array of hexagonally ordered columns, tens of microns in size, that spanned between the two electrodes. Within each column the diblock copolymer microphase separated into hexagonally packed cylindrical microdomains, tens of nanometers in size. The orientation of these microdomains was controlled by the interfacial energies of each block with the surfaces of the electrode and the direction of the applied field. Microdomain alignment parallel to and normal to the applied field could be controlled by the strength of the interfacial interactions. The results show a novel means by which block copolymers can be controlled on two different length scales simultaneously and present a new route toward fabricating functional nanoscopic structures in thin polymer films.