Ordering kinetics of block copolymers directed by periodic two-dimensional rectangular fields

The ordering kinetics of directed assembly of cylinder-forming diblock copolymers is investigated by cell dynamics simulation of the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory. The directing field, mimicking chemically or topologically patterned surfaces, is composed of a rectangular array of potential wells which are attractive to the minority blocks. The period of the templating fields is commensurate with the hexagonal lattice of the block copolymer domains. The ordering kinetics is described by the time evolution of the defect concentration, which reveals that the rectangular field of [1 m] for a given density multiplication has the best directing effect, and the reversed case of [m 1] has the worst. Compared with a hexagonal directing field, the rectangular field provides a better directing efficiency for a fixed high density multiplication. The difference of the directing effect can be understood by analyzing the ordering mechanisms in the two types of directing fields. The study reveals that the rectangular pattern is an alternative candidate to direct block copolymer assembly toward large-scale ordered domains.