Shear alignment of sphere-morphology block copolymer thin films with viscous fluid flow

The effect of shear on crystalline order is interesting fundamentally, as well as technologically, for producing long-range alignment of micron- and nanoscale structures. We study the influence of shear on a sphere-forming diblock copolymer thin film consisting of a stack of two to six hexagonal lay...

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Published in:Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 2006-10, Vol.74 (4 Pt 1), p.040801-040801, Article 040801
Main Authors: Wu, Mingshaw W, Register, Richard A, Chaikin, Paul M
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The effect of shear on crystalline order is interesting fundamentally, as well as technologically, for producing long-range alignment of micron- and nanoscale structures. We study the influence of shear on a sphere-forming diblock copolymer thin film consisting of a stack of two to six hexagonal layers, using a stress-controlled rheometer to transmit the stress through a viscous fluid layer. Above a threshold stress, the hexagonal layers align macroscopically in the "easy shear" direction. A simple phenomenological model with an orientation-dependent order-disorder temperature, T*(ODT)(deltatheta)=T(ODT)[1-(sigma/sigma(c))sin2(3 deltatheta)] and recrystallization describes the influence of stress level, temperature, and shearing time remarkably well.
ISSN:1539-3755
1550-2376
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevE.74.040801