Recent work has show that the assembly of polymeric materials can be controlled with considerable precision down to nanometer length scales. The level of control that has been achieved has led to significant efforts aimed at demonstrating whether polymer directed self-assembly can meet the constraints of commercial lithographic processes for fabrication of next-generation nanodevices, including circuits and data storage media. In this work, a combination of theory, simulations, and experiments is used to characterize the dynamics of self assembly, including the processes through which metastable phases and defects arise. To that end, a molecular model is introduced that is capable of describing phase transitions, the rheology of entangled polymeric materials, and the effects of interfaces. We demonstrate the validity of the model in the context of bulk material properties, and we then use it to describe the manner in which entangled polymers undergo microphase morphological transitions. The predictions of the model are compared to industrial-scale experimental data from large samples, both in the form of defect counts and defect topology, as well as in the form of three-dimensional tomography images. Through repeated cycles of prediction and validation, an unprecedented view of polymeric phase transformations is presented in the context of directed assembly for applications that require structural perfection.

Structural evolution during directed assembly of polymeric materials

251st National Meeting (2016)

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