Numerical investigation of local defectiveness control of diblock copolymer patterns

Abstract

We numerically investigate local defectiveness control of self-assembled diblock copolymer patterns through appropriate substrate design. We use a nonlocal Cahn-Hilliard (CH) equation for the phase separation dynamics of diblock copolymers. We discretize the nonlocal CH equation by an unconditionally stable finite difference scheme on a tapered trench design and, in particular, we use Dirichlet, Neumann, and periodic boundary conditions. The value at the Dirichlet boundary comes from an energy-minimizing equilibrium lamellar profile. We solve the resulting discrete equations using a Gauss-Seidel iterative method. We perform various numerical experiments such as effects of channel width, channel length, and angle on the phase separation dynamics. The simulation results are consistent with the previous experimental observations.