As the conventional nanofabrication methods are reaching their limits of miniaturization, new methods are being studied to overcome this miniaturization challenge. Among the new emerging nanofabrication methods, bottom-up self assembly of Block Copolymers (BCPs) is gaining significant popularity among the researchers and the semiconductor industries. BCP self assembly has many advantages among which, low processing cost, high resolution, and large scale processing are the more prominent ones. Controlling the polymer fraction in the BCP mix leads to variety of different morphologies, these morphologies can be used to create nanofabrication masks and templates. A great amount of research has been conducted on how to control BCP morphologies. However, orientation of these BCP morphologies are very important and crucial to the nanofabrication technologies. Ideally, morphologies with perpendicular orientation to the surface of the substrate with very high aspect ratios are preferred for pattern transfer. To obtain this unique orientation many different methods have been studied, however in this research we employed a unique method to modify the surface energy of the substrate and create perpendicular morphologies for the BCP of PS-b-PMMA. Further, electron beam lithography was used to modify the properties of the PS-b-PMMA block copolymer in order to obtain different morphologies within the same BCP thin film.

This comprehensive and systematic text is the first of its kind to deal with the fundamental physics underlying the remarkable structural and dynamical properties of block copolymers. It provides the polymer scientist and technologist with a firm grounding in the principles underlying the wide applications of these important materials. It also highlights the intrinsically fascinating properties of block copolymers, such as nanoscale self-assembly in bulk and two-dimensions. The first textof its kind on the subject since the mid-1980s, this book stands alone - previous texts have focused on the chemical and material properties of block copolymers. During the last decade, there have been major developments in the field, and these experimental and theoretical advances are discussed in depth. Topics covered include: the thermodynamics and dynamics of block copolymer melts, block copolymers in dilute, semidilute and concentrated solutions, the structure of crystalline block copolymers and block copolymers in blends with other polymers. This informative book is essential to the polymer physics and materials science researcher in industry and academia, and postgraduates in related fields. Final year undergraduate students in chemistry, physics and materials science will also find this book useful as a reference text.

Ordering of block copolymer (BCP) thin films has been great interest for potential applications due to nanometer scale size self-assembly pattern formation. Numerous methods (chemical, physical, etc.) have been developed to create desired alignment and ordering properties in such block copolymer systems. However, the drawback of most current technologies such as brittleness and lack conformability to different surfaces makes them difficult to implement new emerging high-tech flexible technologies. On the other hand, there is a lack of knowledge in block copolymer wettability characteristics and morphological behavior on soft substrates which makes them attractive to explore for further investigations. A notable challenge in this regard is that successful deployment of BCPs for applications requires an understanding of BCP ordering properties on flexible substrate as a function of their surface chemistry, topography including patterning, roughness, stiffness, modulus and thermal conductivity, etc. Therefore, the general purpose of this research is to investigate the thermodynamics and kinetics of directed assembly of cylinder and lamellar forming polystyrene-block-polymethlymethacrylate (PS-b-PMMA) diblock copolymer films on elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with controlled surface energy and substrate topography. In first part, wettability characteristics of cylinder and lamellae forming PS-b-PMMA thin films versus surface energy of elastomeric PDMS substrates were increasing surface energy of PDMS by tuning with Ultraviolet Ozone (UVO) exposure and elasticity by varying the crosslinking concentration. In this extended wetting regime gradual perpendicular to parallel orientation change was shown for lamellar BCP films unlike cylindrical films where the transition was very sharp, reflecting lamellar BCP intrinsic stability over a wider range of substrate surface energy, consistent with theoretical estimates. In second part of the study, we extended the part on wettability characteristics of polystyrene (PS) homopolymer and PS-b-PMMA block copolymer thin films on flat, periodic and non-periodic nanopatterned elastomeric PDMS substrates. We discovered creating non-periodically nanopatterned surface properties induced retardation of BCP dewetting and mostly eliminate on periodically nanopatterned surface properties without any surface chemistry modification. Time kinetic study results also showed the patterning has a slowing down effect on dewetting mechanism for both homopolymer and block copolymer systems and dewetted droplet shape. In final part of this study, we focused on block copolymer morphology on periodically and non-periodically (rough) patterned elastomeric PDMS substrates with and without tuning the substrate surface energy via UVO exposure. The regular uniform film properties were achieved with parallel or perpendicular microdomain orientation to the substrate at even imcommensurate thicknesses which normally shows island and holes on flat surfaces. In addition to the bottom pattern confinement effect on BCP ordering, uniform size patterned elastomeric top capping layer was also used. Mixed or long range ordered structures were obtained with different annealing conditions.

. A.J. M ller, V. Balsamo, M.L. Arnal: Nucleation and Crystallization in Diblock and Triblock Copolymers.- 2 J.-F. Gohy: Block Copolymer Micelles.- 3 M.A. Hillmyer: Nanoporous Materials from Block Copolymer Precursors.- 4 M. Li, C. Coenjarts, C.K. Ober: Patternable Block Copolymers.-

Block copolymers (BCPs) have received considerable attention, as they can self-assemble into different nanoscale structures with different properties under certain conditions for a variety of applications. For example, cylinder forming block copolymers can be applied as effective nano-filtration membranes for oil-water separation. The main objective of this work is to investigate the morphological development of block polymer and homopolymer blend systems that can be ultimately useful in applications. Poly (styrene-block-2vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) was blended with varying concentrations from 0-40 wt% homopolymer poly2-vinylpyridine (P2VP) to examine its effect on morphology, domain size and orientation in thin films. We observed morphologies ranging from parallel cylinders to quasi-micellar cylinders. The effect of different annealing methods (oven annealing, CZA-S and direct immersion annealing) was studied. In uniform thermal annealing, the orientation of P2VP cylinders, changes from parallel to perpendicular and back to parallel again as the homopolymer mass fraction increases in blend and then ultimately results in formation of micelles. Similar results were obtained with zone annealing, however the degree of ordering was higher and faster. For direct immersion annealing, the morphology changes from perpendicular to the mixed morphology composing of parallel and perpendicular orientations, which reflects the degree of isotropy provided by the solvent mixture that reduces the bias provided by the substrate interactions to orient cylinders horizontally to substrate. The opportunity to introduce homopolymer into ordered block copolymer domains in selective manner is useful since this allows us to tune the film morphology without synthesizing new block copolymers for varying molecular weights to obtain similar effects. Extraction of the homopolymer by selective solvent after ordering allows us to make nanoporous channels for membrane applications.

Ch. 1. Block copolymer thin films / J.-Y. Wang, S. Park and T. P. Russell -- ch. 2. Equilibration of block copolymer films on chemically patterned surfaces / G. S. W. Craig, H. Kang and P. F. Nealey -- ch. 3. Structure formation and evolution in confined cylinder-forming block copolymers / G. J. A. Sevink and J. G. E. M. Fraaije -- ch. 4. Block copolymer lithography for magnetic device fabrication / J. Y. Cheng and C. A. Ross -- ch. 5. Hierarchical structuring of polymer nanoparticles by self-organization / M. Shimomura ... [et al.] -- ch. 6. Wrinkling polymers for surface structure control and functionality / E. P. Chan and A. J. Crosby -- ch. 7. Crystallization in polymer thin films: morphology and growth / R. M. Van Horn and S. Z. D. Cheng -- ch. 8. Friction at soft polymer surface / M. K. Chaudhury, K. Vorvolakos and D. Malotky -- ch. 9. Relationship between molecular architecture, large-strain mechanical response and adhesive performance of model, block copolymer-based pressure sensitive adhesives / C. Creton and K. R. Shull -- ch. 10. Stability and dewetting of thin liquid films / K. Jacobs, R. Seemann and S. Herminghaus -- ch. 11. Anomalous dynamics of polymer Films / O. K. C. Tsui.

Electrospun Nanofibers covers advances in the electrospinning process including characterization, testing and modeling of electrospun nanofibers, and electrospinning for particular fiber types and applications. Electrospun Nanofibers offers systematic and comprehensive coverage for academic researchers, industry professionals, and postgraduate students working in the field of fiber science. Electrospinning is the most commercially successful process for the production of nanofibers and rising demand is driving research and development in this field. Rapid progress is being made both in terms of the electrospinning process and in the production of nanofibers with superior chemical and physical properties. Electrospinning is becoming more efficient and more specialized in order to produce particular fiber types such as bicomponent and composite fibers, patterned and 3D nanofibers, carbon nanofibers and nanotubes, and nanofibers derived from chitosan. - Provides systematic and comprehensive coverage of the manufacture, properties, and applications of nanofibers - Covers recent developments in nanofibers materials including electrospinning of bicomponent, chitosan, carbon, and conductive fibers - Brings together expertise from academia and industry to provide comprehensive, up-to-date information on nanofiber research and development - Offers systematic and comprehensive coverage for academic researchers, industry professionals, and postgraduate students working in the field of fiber science

Block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly has found broad use in applications ranging from nanocomposites to nanolithography by exploiting the precise control of nanoscale order possible over macroscopic length scales. One application garnering significant attention for commercialization uses this nanoscale order to augment current photolithography patterning to achieve sub-20 nm features through directed self assembly (DSA). Extending current lithography to these smaller length scales is critical to enable cost-effective next-generation semiconductor devices, furthering technological progress and maintaining the pace of Moore's law. As with many of these applications, DSA utilizes BCPs starting from deeply metastable states. Detail of the initial phase segregation process, structure formation, and refinement are critical to device function, efficacy, and yield. However, understanding of this initial phase segregation from deeply metastable states, especially the temporal evolution, is currently lacking. This ignorance stems in part from both a difficulty in experimentally measuring the short time structural response of polymers, and on the computational difficulty in modeling large enough systems at high fidelity over molecular timescales. Furthermore, for DSA, the anneal must achieve a near perfectly aligned equilibrium structure. The timescale required, and thus the cost, to reach the fully aligned state is dependent upon kinetic pathways, especially past any potential trapped defect states. Laser spike annealing (LSA) can achieve high temperatures for short durations allowing investigation of potential process windows in the microsecond to millisecond time scales. In this work, a CO2 gas laser (120 W, wavelength=10600 nm) and a solid state diode laser (250 W, wavelength=980 nm), were used to achieve peak temperatures up to ~1000 degrees C on time scales from 0.05 ms to 10 ms. Additionally, high throughput experiments of the lateral gradient LSA (lgLSA) method were used to fully explore these time and temperature regimes. This has enabled exploration of a previously inaccessible temperature regime and the determination of kinetic parameters that potentially offers access to new processing regimes and resulting structures. For these short duration anneals, it is shown that the thermal stability of typical organic materials is extended by over 450 degrees C compared to hot plate limits. This stability was quantified using Arrhenius kinetics with activation enthalpies ranging between 0.6 and 1.2 eV. The activation energies appear to scale with the primary (backbone) bond formation energy and inversely with the bond polarity. This extended thermal stability was exploited to probe the self-assembly kinetics of cylinder forming poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA, 54 kg/mol, fraction PS=0.67) by annealing at temperatures up to 550 degrees C for timescales from 0.25 ms to 10 ms with heating and cooling rates in excess of 10^6 K/s. Segregation kinetics were quantified by X-ray scattering (micro-GISAXS) and electron microscopy (SEM), resulting in kinetic phase maps that describe the phase segregation behavior. The onset of phase segregation and of disordering were found to be kinetically suppressed for times below 1 ms, exceeding the exp...