189 research outputs found
Block Copolymer at Nano-Patterned Surfaces
We present numerical calculations of lamellar phases of block copolymers at
patterned surfaces. We model symmetric di-block copolymer films forming
lamellar phases and the effect of geometrical and chemical surface patterning
on the alignment and orientation of lamellar phases. The calculations are done
within self-consistent field theory (SCFT), where the semi-implicit relaxation
scheme is used to solve the diffusion equation. Two specific set-ups, motivated
by recent experiments, are investigated. In the first, the film is placed on
top of a surface imprinted with long chemical stripes. The stripes interact
more favorably with one of the two blocks and induce a perpendicular
orientation in a large range of system parameters. However, the system is found
to be sensitive to its initial conditions, and sometimes gets trapped into a
metastable mixed state composed of domains in parallel and perpendicular
orientations. In a second set-up, we study the film structure and orientation
when it is pressed against a hard grooved mold. The mold surface prefers one of
the two components and this set-up is found to be superior for inducing a
perfect perpendicular lamellar orientation for a wide range of system
parameters
Organization of Block Copolymers using NanoImprint Lithography: Comparison of Theory and Experiments
We present NanoImprint lithography experiments and modeling of thin films of
block copolymers (BCP). The NanoImprint lithography is used to align
perpendicularly lamellar phases, over distances much larger than the natural
lamellar periodicity. The modeling relies on self-consistent field calculations
done in two- and three-dimensions. We get a good agreement with the NanoImprint
lithography setups. We find that, at thermodynamical equilibrium, the ordered
BCP lamellae are much better aligned than when the films are deposited on
uniform planar surfaces
Hybrid approaches to nanometer-scale patterning: Exploiting tailored intermolecular interactions
Directing Cluster Formation of Au Nanoparticles from Colloidal Solution
Discrete clusters of closely spaced Au nanoparticles can be utilized in devices from photovoltaics to molecular sensors because of the formation of strong local electromagnetic field enhancements when illuminated near their plasmon resonance. In this study, scalable, chemical self-organization methods are shown to produce Au nanoparticle clusters with uniform nanometer interparticle spacing. The performance of two different methods, namely electrophoresis and diffusion, for driving the attachment of Au nanoparticles using a chemical cross-linker on chemically patterned domains of polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) thin films are evaluated. Significantly, electrophoresis is found to produce similar surface coverage as diffusion in 1/6th of the processing time with an ~2-fold increase in the number of Au nanoparticles forming clusters. Furthermore, average interparticle spacing within Au nanoparticle clusters was found to decrease from 2-7 nm for diffusion deposition to approximately 1-2 nm for electrophoresis deposition, and the latter method exhibited better uniformity with most clusters appearing to have about 1 nm spacing between nanoparticles. The advantage of such fabrication capability is supported by calculations of local electric field enhancements using electromagnetic full-wave simulations from which we can estimate surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancements. In particular, full-wave results show that the maximum SERS enhancement, as estimated here as the fourth power of the local electric field, increases by a factor of 100 when the gap goes from 2 to 1 nm, reaching values as large as 10(10), strengthening the usage of electrophoresis versus diffusion for the development of molecular sensors
Directed Self-Assembly of Lamellar Copolymers: Effects of Interfacial Interactions on Domain Shape
Mechanics of noncoplanar mesh design for stretchable electronic circuits
A noncoplanar mesh design that enables electronic systems to achieve large, reversible levels stretchability (>100%) is studied theoretically and experimentally. The design uses semiconductor device islands and buckled thin interconnects on elastometric substrates. A mechanics model is established to understand the underlying physics and to guide the design of such systems. The predicted buckle amplitude agrees well with experiments within 5.5% error without any parameter fitting. The results also give the maximum strains in the interconnects and the islands, as well as the overall system stretchability and compressibility. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3148245]
- âŠ