Symmetric diblock copolymer thin films on rough substrates; Microdomain periodicity in pure and blended films

Sivaniah, E.*; Matsubara, Shinya*; Zhao, Y.; Hashimoto, Takeji; Fukunaga, Kenji*; Kramer, E. J.*; Mates, T. E.*

The lamellar dimension, D, for pure and blended block copolymer (BCPs) thin films of symmetricpoly(styrene)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) was measured using atomic force microscopy analysis of surface patterns of perpendicularly oriented lamellar structures. It was approximately verified, using SAXS and AFM analysis, that perpendicular structures in lamellar thin films bounded by a neutral and a roughened interface did not significantly alter the bulk block copolymer phase separation thermodynamics. In the case of blends, it was also verified that there was a uniform distribution of blend components throughout the thin film.