Liquid crystallinity in block copolymer films for controlling polymeric nanopatterns

Abstract

We review thin-film morphologies of hybrid liquid-crystalline/amorphous block copolymers. The microphase separation of the blocks and the smectic liquid crystalline ordering within one of the blocks are treated systematically in terms of the interaction parameters. The competition of the "tandem" interactions in terms of length scales and of surface anchoring can be used advantageously to control the orientation of block interfaces for nanopatterning. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.