Issue 23, 2019

Spatial control of the topography of photo-sensitive block copolymer thin films

Abstract

We report the preparation of a block copolymer where the glass transition (Tg) of one block can be dramatically increased after undergoing a photoreaction. This involved introducing photo-sensitive nitrobenzyl esters into the pendant groups of one block, where photoreaction yields carboxylic acids that have a significantly higher Tg, due to hydrogen bonding. For a thin film geometry, the change in thermal properties allowed restructuring into a so-called island or hole topography to be restricted to nonirradiated areas. While mass transport was inhibited in the irradiated regions, periodic buckling that was aligned to the boundaries of the photopatterned regions could be induced, due to compressive forces during thermal annealing. We demonstrate that this process of selective UV irradiation and annealing can generate a topographically patterned surface and this mechanism should be applicable to any block copolymers where there is a difference in photoreactivity of the blocks.

Graphical abstract: Spatial control of the topography of photo-sensitive block copolymer thin films

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Feb 2019
Accepted
05 Apr 2019
First published
15 Apr 2019

Polym. Chem., 2019,10, 3135-3145

Spatial control of the topography of photo-sensitive block copolymer thin films

L. C. Chambers, Y. Huang, K. S. Jack and I. Blakey, Polym. Chem., 2019, 10, 3135 DOI: 10.1039/C9PY00200F

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