Phase Diagram of Diblock Copolymers Confined in Thin Films

The phase behaviors of diblock copolymers confined in thin films with two identical preferential surfaces are investigated using the self-consistent field theory. Around 20 morphologies, including centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric ones, are considered to construct the two-dimensional phase diagram with respect to the volume fraction and the film thickness, while the interaction parameter χN and the surface preferences are fixed. When these morphologies are classified into four categories of ordered phases--sphere, cylinder, perforated lamella (corresponding to gyroid phase in bulk), and lamella--the phase diagram directly reveals the impact of the film confinement on the order-order transitions as a function of volume fraction via the comparisons to those in bulk. Our results also provide a comprehensive understanding over the dependence of the structure formations on the film thickness for each volume fraction.