Mechanisms of Ordering in Striped Patterns
Christopher Harrison,1
Douglas H. Adamson,2
Zhengdong Cheng,1*
John M. Sebastian,3
Srinivasan Sethuraman,4
David A. Huse,1
Richard A. Register,3
P. M. Chaikin1
We have studied the ordering dynamics of the striped
patterns of a single layer of cylindrical block copolymer microdomains in a thin film. By tracking disclinations during annealing with time-lapse atomic force microscopy, we observe a dominant mechanism of
disclination annihilation involving three or four disclinations (quadrupoles). Pairwise disclination annihilation events are suppressed as a result of the topological constraints in this system. The kinetic
scaling laws with exponents observed here are consistent with
topologically allowed annihilation events involving multiple disclinations. The results provide insight into two-dimensional pattern
formation and may lead to the successful application of block copolymer
lithography.
1 Department of Physics,
2 Princeton Materials Institute,
3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton
University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
4 Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Mailstop 302-306, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
*
Present address: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, 1545 Route 22 East, Annandale, NJ 08801-0998, USA.
