We have performed the cell dynamics simulation with the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory to study the self- assembled morphology of A-B diblock copolymers and C homopolymers in a neutral nanopore. The nanopore diameter and length are systematically varied to examine their effects on the structures of various morphologies and their phase transition. From the simulation, it is observed that the equilibrium morphology of the confined system is sensitive to pore diameter D and pore length Lpore, the phase behavior in neutral nanopores is due to an interplay of two factors: the surface effect and the extension effect. When the nanopore length and the lamellae spacing are not commensurate, the surface effect prevails at small nanopores (small diameters or short lengths), the extension effect takes over at larger nanopores (large diameters or long lengths). When the nanopore length and the lamellae spacing are commensurate, the surface effect dominates. Furthermore, the interactions between different monomers are also discussed and we obtain a transition from a tilted pancakes/cylinder structure (Ltilted) to a concentric cylindrical structure with defects and to a concentric cylindrical structure (L||). We also investigate the effect of the relative concentrations of diblock copolymer-homopolymer and obtain a transition in which the position of the C blocks changes from the outer of the cylinder to the middle of the cylinder and then to the inner of the cylinder with the concentration of the C blocks decreasing.
The different confinement shapes can induce the formation of various interesting and novel morphologies, which might inspire potential applications of materials. In this paper, we study the directed self-assembly of diblock copolymer confined in irregular geometries with a soft surface by using self-consistent field theory. Two types of confinement geometries are considered, namely, one is the concave pore with one groove and the other is the concave pore with two grooves. We obtain more novel and different structures which could not be produced in other two-dimensional(2D) confinements. Comparing these new structures with those obtained in regular square confinement, we find that the range of ordered lamellae is enlarged and the range of disordered structure is narrowed down under the concave pore confinement.We also compare the different structures obtained under the two types of confinement geometries, the results show that the effect of confinement would increase, which might induce the diblock copolymer to form novel structures. We construct the phase diagram as a function of the fraction of B block and the ratio of h/L of the groove. The simulation reveals that the wetting effect of brushes and the shape of confinement geometries play important roles in determining the morphologies of the system. Our results improve the applications in the directed self-assembly of diblock copolymer for fabricating the irregular structures.
Fe/Sn-codoped In_(2)O_(3)powders and films are prepared by a vacuum annealing process and a pulsed laser deposition technique,respectively.The structural and magnetic properties of the samples are investigated.The obvious room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in both(In_(0.92)Fe_(0.05)Sn_(0.03))_(2)O_(3)powders and films,but their magnetic behaviors are very different.The ferromagnetism of the vacuum-annealed powders is partially due to precipitated Fe_(3)O_(4)impurity.By contrast,the ferromagnetism of the films is intrinsic and does not originate from any magnetic impurity,as confirmed by the extensive x-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetization studies.