Solvent annealing of Micropatterned PS-b-PEO copolymer films

Solvent annealing of block copolymer thin films have been known as an effective way to control both orientation of microdomains with respect to the surface and their registration into a well ordered periodic lattice structure. We have recently demonstrated hierarchically ordered microdomains in a thin poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide)(PS-b-PEO) film combined with microcontact printing. The solvent annealing gave rise to well ordered spherical PEO microdomains in large area by the confined dewetting of thin PS-b-PEO films which had been micropatterned on chemically modified surface during solvent annealing. In this presentation, we intentionally prepare a micropatterned dewet film of PS-b-PEO by spincoating a block copolymer solution on a topographic PDMS pre-pattern. Convex lens shaped spherical caps of PS-b-PEO individually located on each PDMS mesa were successfully transferred to a Si substrate by a conventional transfer printing technique. We investigate the effect of solvent on not only film wettability but also formation of hierarchical nanostructures.