Surface fabrication of block copolymer-templated polyimide films by reactive ion etching

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrated fabrication of polyimide composite films with periodic nanostructure on the surface by oxygen plasma reactive ion etching (RIE). Poly(2-vinylpyridine)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (P2VP-b-PMMA) was used as a template for formation of periodic nanostructure. The templating block copolymer formed self-assembled structure including the poly(amic acid) (PAA), as a precursor of polyimide, in only the P2VP domain. After the imidization of PAA, PMMA domain was etched selectively by RIE. Thereby, well-ordered hexagonally-packed pores with a d-spacing of approx. 50 nm and a diameter of approx. 25 nm were obtained on the surface of the film.