Work

Defect Removal in the Course of Directed Self-Assembly is Facilitated in the Vicinity of the Order-Disorder Transition

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: The stability of prototypical defect morphologies in thin films of symmetric diblock copolymers on chemically patterned substrates is investigated by self-consistent field theory. The excess free energy of defects and barriers of defect-removal mechanisms are obtained by computing the minimum free-energy path. Distinct defect-removal mechanisms are illustrated demonstrating that (i) defects will become unstable at a characteristic value of incompatibility χN* above the order-disorder transition and (ii) the kinetics is accelerated at weak segregation. Numerical findings are placed in the context of physical mechanisms, and implications for directed self-assembly are discussed.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.113.168301

Authors: Weihua Li, Paul F. Nealey, Juan J. de Pablo, Marcus Müller

Institutions: Fudan University, University of Göttingen, Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Block Copolymer Self-Assembly

Subfield: Materials Chemistry

Field: Materials Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green