Shape control and density multiplication of cylinder-forming ternary block copolymer-homopolymer blend thin films on chemical patterns

The effect of the chemical pattern spot size, the spacing on the size, and the shape of the cylindrical domains in thin films of a ternary block copolymer/homopolymer/homopolymer blend was investigated over a range of homopolymer volume fractions. Cylinder-forming ternary blends were composed of polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) $(PS-b-PMMA)$⁠, and the corresponding PS and PMMA homopolymers were directed to assemble on chemical patterns that had density multiplication ratios ranging from 1:1 to 4:1. By increasing the homopolymer fraction in the blends, the dimensions of the domains were expanded. When the size of the spots on the chemical pattern was not matched with the size of the domain of the blend in the bulk, the dimensions of the domains at the free surface of the assembled films differed from those at the interface with the chemical pattern.