Guided Assembly of Block Copolymers in Three-Dimensional Woodpile Scaffolds

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Dec 12;10(49):42933-42940. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b17172. Epub 2018 Nov 30.

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) nanofabrication using the directed self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) holds great promise for the nanoscale device fabrication and integration into 3D architectures over large areas with high element densities. In this work, a robust platform is developed for building 3D BCP architectures with tailored functionality using 3D micron-scale woodpile structures (WPSs), fabricated by a multiphoton polymerization technique. By completely filling the spaces of the WPSs and using the interactions of the blocks of the BCPs with the struts of the WPS, well-developed 3D nanoscopic morphologies are produced. Metal ion complexation with one block of the copolymer affords a convenient stain to highlight one of the microdomains of the copolymer for electron microscopy studies but also, with the reduction of the complexing salt to the corresponding metal, a simple strategy is shown to produce 3D constructs with nanoscopic domain resolution.

Keywords: block copolymers; directed self-assembly; laser direct writing; multiphoton polymerization; woodpile structures.