Environment-controlled spin coating to rapidly orient microdomains in thin block copolymer films

Alamgir Karim

Abstract

We demonstrate a simple and fast methodology to control the orientation of cylindrical microdomains in thin block copolymer films using environment-controlled spin coating. During spinning, the preferential affinity of vapor atmosphere successfully directs the cylinders to be aligned from parallel to perpendicular with respect to the film surface and also improve the degree of lateral order. A combinatorial gradient technique was used to prove that the interfacial energy at the air/film interface is more important for solvent-induced orientation.