Ordering process in quenched block copolymers at low temperatures

Late Stage Domain Coarsening Dynamics of Lamellar Block Copolymers

Block copolymer (BCP) phase separation dynamics can be expected to differ significantly from that of the polymer blends due to the constraint of chain connectivity. BCP phase separation dynamics has been studied theoretically, but there has been little experimental evidence to confirm the BCP domain growth scaling laws put forward theoretically. Here, we investigate the dynamics of late-stage lamellar BCP domain coarsening and find that the scaling exponent for lamellar domain growth is ≈1/6 (0.17), irrespective of the annealing temperature, a value close to the scaling exponent of 0.2 predicted by theoretical studies. Furthermore, we show that the prefactors in the domain coarsening equation show Arrhenius dependence on temperature, indicating that the BCP domain growth dynamics is Arrhenius over the temperature range investigated.

Dynamics of spinodal decomposition in finite-lifetime systems: Nonlinear statistical theory based on a coarse-grained lattice-gas model

We study theoretically dynamics of the spinodal decomposition in finite-lifetime systems to clarify effects of the interparticle interactions beyond the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson phenomenology. Our theory is based on the coarse-grained Hamiltonian derived from the interacting lattice-gas model with a finite lifetime. The information of a system is reduced to closed-form coupled integrodifferential equations for the single-point distribution function and the dynamical structure factor. These equations involve explicitly the interparticle interactions. The finite lifetime prevents the phase separation and the order formation in the cw creation case; domains cannot grow to be larger than an asymptotic characteristic size [k(max)(t --> infinity)](-1). Power-law dependence of k(max)(t --> infinity) on the interparticle interaction and the particle lifetime is also found numerically. The finite lifetime prevents the phase separation, i.e., the lower critical wave number k((1))(c) appears and domains of size larger than [k((1))(c)](-1) cannot grow.