A Molecular View of Block Copolymer Directed Assembly with Solvent Vapors Simulation

Abstract

For block copolymer (BCP) lithography, solvent vapor annealing (SVA), is a well-known a low-cost, and highly efficient method used to annihilate defects in BCP thin films and to form highly ordered micro-domains within only a few minutes. In this paper, the physical process of SVA in BCPs is modeled and simulated by using a theoretical and computational approach of self-consistent field theory (SCFT) simulation with the solvent model. The impacts of the simulation parameters on the final microdomain morphologies are described and analyzed. The simulation parameters are the solvent volume fraction (f(sol)), polymerization degree (N), component volume fraction (f), and Flory-Huggins interaction parameter (chi). The solvent volume fraction (f(sol)) is a dominant factor on phase diagrams of BCP. This study can contribute to the field by greatly expanding and diversifying the range of possible applications of BCP with solvent.