Instabilities in Patterned Polymer Surfaces

该奖项的研究目的是阐明纳米图案聚合物表面不稳定性的本质。与平面聚合物薄膜中已被广泛研究的弹性或粘性不稳定性相比，图案化聚合物表面的粘弹性不稳定性在很大程度上仍未被研究，而且由于影响其特性的多个变量而更加复杂。这项研究结合了实验和理论工作，将使人们更清楚地了解图案化不稳定性的科学基础，包括它们的边界条件、特征波长和起始时间的标度关系、纳米制造参数的作用以及材料性质。如果成功，这项研究成果将有助于图案化聚合物表面的应用，图案化聚合物表面是许多技术的关键部件。深入了解图案化聚合物表面的不稳定性将为高保真图案化制造铺平道路，并使利用溶剂和热退火的制造后工艺成为可能。一旦了解了这些不稳定性，还将提供一种独特的途径来创建新的分层结构，否则使用并行光刻技术制造这些结构是具有挑战性的。这一奖项将通过直接让K-12、本科生和研究生参与研究来为他们提供教育好处。这笔赠款还将促进材料学位项目的课程设置，该项目为落基山区前沿地区的学生提供机会。研究结果将作为专题和单元纳入课程，并通过期刊出版物、国家会议和TeachEngineering数字图书馆广泛传播。

The research objective of this award is to elucidate the nature of the instabilities in nano-patterned polymer surfaces. Compared with the elastic or viscous instabilities that have been actively studied in planar polymer films, the viscoelastic instabilities in patterned polymer surfaces remain largely unexplored, and are far more complex due to the multiple variables that can affect their characteristics. The proposed study, combining experimental and theoretical work, will result in a clear understanding on the scientific underpinning of the pattern instabilities, including their boundary conditions, scaling relationships for characteristic wavelength and onset time, the role of nano-fabrication parameters, and materials properties.If successful, the results of this research will benefit applications of patterned polymer surfaces, which are critical components to many technologies. Thorough understanding of the instabilities in patterned polymer surface will pave the way for high fidelity pattern fabrications and enable post-fabrication processes that utilize solvents and thermal annealing. These instabilities, once understood, will also offer a unique avenue to create novel hierarchical structures that are otherwise challenging to fabricate with parallel lithographic techniques. This award will provide educational benefits to K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students by directly involving them into the research. The grant will also facilitate curriculum for a materials degree program which offers opportunity for students in the front range of rocky mountain area. The results of the research will be incorporated as topics and modules into courses, as well as broadly disseminated through journal publications, national conferences and TeachEngineering digital library.