Thin films of diblock copolymers: windows into bulk and reduced dimensional phenomena

Thin films of symmetric diblock copolymers undergo a self-assembling upon annealing above the glass transition temperature of the components. The multilayers organize according to the specific interactions of the segments with the substrate and the surface tension of the two components. These near perfect multilayers, coupled with different depth profiling techniques, provide a unique and quantitative means of evaluating the morphology of symmetric diblock copolymers. In addition, the surface topography of the thin film diblock copolymers and the manner in which the topography changes with time, offers an easy means of studying coarsening behavior in reduced dimensions. © 1993.