title: Phase Separation of Silicon-Containing Polymer/Polystyrene Blends in Spin-Coated Films.
abstract: In this Article, two readily available polymers that contain silicon and have different surface tensions, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyphenylsilsequioxane (PPSQ), were used to produce polymer blends with polystyrene (PS). Spin-coated thin films of the polymer blends were treated by O2 reactive-ion etching (RIE). The PS constituent was selectively removed by O2 RIE, whereas the silicon-containing phase remained because of the high etching resistance of silicon. This selective removal of PS substantially enhanced the contrast of the phase separation morphologies for better scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements. We investigated the effects of the silicon-containing constituents, polymer blend composition, concentration of the polymer blend solution, surface tension of the substrate, and the spin-coating speed on the ultimate morphologies of phase separation. The average domain size, ranging from 100 nm to 10 μm, was tuned through an interplay of these factors. In addition, the polymer blend film was formed on a pure organic layer, through which the aspect ratio of the phase separation morphologies was further amplified by a selective etching process. The formed nanostructures are compatible with existing nanofabrication techniques for pattern transfer onto substrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Qinyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yifeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yuhang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yushuang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Changsheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Haixiong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen