Ultrathin block copolymer films are promising candidates for bottom-up nanotemplates
in hybrid organic-inorganic electronic, optical, and magnetic devices. Key to many future
applications is the long range ordering and precise placement of the phase-separated nanoscale
domains. In this paper, a combined top-down/bottom-up hierarchical approach is presented on how
to fabricate massive arrays of aligned nanoscale domains by means of the self-assembly of
asymmetric poly (styrene-block-ethylene/butylenes-block-styrene) (SEBS) tirblock copolymers in
confinement. The periodic arrays of the poly domains were orientated via the introduction of AFM
micromachining technique as a tool for locally controlling the self-assembly process of triblock
copolymers by the topography of the silicon nitride substrate. Using the controlled movement of 2-
dimensional precision stage and the micro pressure force between the tip and the surface by
computer control system, an artificial topographic pattern on the substrate can be fabricated
precisely. Coupled with solvent annealing technique to direct the assembly of block copolymer, this
method provides new routes for fabricating ordered nanostructure. This graphoepitaxial
methodology can be exploited in hybrid hard/soft condensed matter systems for a variety of
applications. Moreover, Pairing top-down and bottom-up techniques is a promising, and perhaps
necessary, bridge between the parallel self-assembly of molecules and the structural control of
current technology.
Self-Assembly: Direct In Situ Observation of the Early-Stage Disorder-Order Evolution of Perpendicular Lamellae in Thermally Annealed High-χ Block Copolymer Thin Films (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 11/2019)