Blending Linear and Cyclic Block Copolymers to Manipulate Nanolithographic Feature Dimensions.

ABSTRACT: Block copolymers (BCPs) consist of two or more covalently bound chemically distinct homopolymer blocks. These macromolecules have emerging applications in photonics, membrane separations, and nanolithography stemming from their self-assembly into regular nanoscale structures. Theory suggests that cyclic BCPs should form features up to 40% smaller than their linear analogs while also exhibiting superior thin-film stability and assembly dynamics. However, the complex syntheses required to produce cyclic polymers mean that a need for pure cyclic BCPs would present a challenge to large-scale manufacturing. Here, we employ dissipative particle dynamics simulations to probe the self-assembly behavior of cyclic/linear BCP blends, focusing on nanofeature size and interfacial width as these qualiti

SUBMITTER: Goodson AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8762643 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature