Patterning Processes for Polymer Brushes to Direct Assembly

拟议活动的知识价值：图案化聚合物刷，即聚合物薄膜端部固定到表面，在从微电子到生物技术的许多先进技术应用中变得越来越重要。相比之下，图案化聚合物刷是附着在空间限定的微米或纳米尺寸区域的表面上的聚合物刷。建议的研究重点将是研究二嵌段和三嵌段共聚物刷的合成，并详细评估其聚合和微观结构。本提案的第二个重点将是在与刷长度相当的长度尺度上对聚合物刷进行图案化，并研究它们在这些受限区域中的行为和微观结构。图案化方法将包括电子束和EUV光刻以及近场扫描光学方法。如果成功的话，这项研究将提供一个令人兴奋的机会，以克服目前在小尺度（~10 nm）结构形成中遇到的许多障碍，同时为探索自顶向下（光刻）和自底向上（自组装）工艺中的会聚长度尺度提供一个很好的模型系统。我们预计，这种融合将导致有趣的协同作用，并可能使定向组装的嵌段共聚物刷。这种方法可以弥补当前光刻方法的极限（50 nm）和实现小至10 nm纳米结构的需求之间的差距。拟议中的研究将需要在聚合物合成，光刻图案和分析方法，能够表征我们计划生产的小规模结构的专业知识。为了帮助我们在这些新材料的表征，我们将利用我们的合作，研究图案化的嵌段共聚物刷使用一系列的同步加速器为基础的分析方法，包括X射线反射计，掠入射（GI）SAXS和近边X射线吸收精细结构（NEXAFS）的研究。 拟议活动产生的更广泛的影响：该计划将在整个拟议研究计划的过程中吸引积极的本科研究人员。学生将与研究生导师联系，并将参与研究计划的各个方面。来自康奈尔大学项目的REU学生将在夏季参加。参加该计划的人员将参加旨在宣传图案聚合物刷使用的推广活动。我们也会在参与康奈尔高中教师外展活动期间，向感兴趣的教师提供有图案的画笔的教育样品。许多公司将与我们合作，帮助我们开展图案研究。我们鼓励研究生，特别是本科生与我们的合作者一起进行工作实习。

Intellectual Merit of the Proposed Activity: Patterned polymer brushes, that is, thinfilms of polymers end anchored to surfaces are becoming increasingly important in a numberof advanced technology applications ranging from microelectronics to biotechnology. Apatterned polymer brush in comparison is one that is attached to a surface in a spatiallydefined micron or nanometer-sized region. A focus of the proposed research will be toexamine the synthesis of di- and triblock copolymer brushes and to evaluate in detailtheir polymerization and microstructure. A second focus of this proposal will be topattern polymer brushes at length scales comparable to brush length and to investigatetheir behavior and microstructure in these confined regions. Patterning methods willinclude e-beam and EUV lithography as well as near-field scanning optical methods. Ifsuccessful, this study will provide an exciting opportunity to overcome many of thebarriers currently encountered in small scale (~10 nm) structure formation and at the sametime provide an excellent model system for exploring the converging length scales intop-down (lithography) and bottom-up (self-assembly) processing. We expect that thisconvergence will lead to interesting synergies and may enable directed assembly of theblock copolymer brushes. Such an approach could bridge the gap between the limits ofcurrent lithographic methods (50 nm) and the need to achieve nanostructures as small as10 nm. The proposed research will require expertise in polymer synthesis, lithographicpatterning and analytical methods capable of characterizing the small-scale structures weplan to produce. To aid us in the characterization of these new materials, we will makeuse of our collaborations to investigate the patterned block copolymer brushes using arange of synchrotron based analytical methods including X-ray reflectometry, grazingincidence (GI) SAXS and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) studies. Broader Impacts Resulting from the Proposed Activity: This program will engage motivatedundergraduate researchers throughout the course of the proposed research program.Students will be connected with graduate student mentors and will participate in allaspects of the research program. REU students from programs at Cornell will take partduring the summer. Participants in this program will take part in outreach activitiesaimed at communicating the use of patterned polymer brushes. We will also provideeducational samples of patterned brushes to interested teachers during participation inCornell high school teacher outreach activities. A number of companies will collaboratewith us on our research activities helping to carry out patterning studies. Both graduatestudents and especially undergraduate students will be encouraged to carry out workinternships with our collaborators.