ABC Triblock Thin Films for Large-Area Nanolithography

Principal Investigators Chris Leighton (IRG-3)Marc Hillmyer (IRG-1)

Description and SignificanceThin films of the ABC triblock terpolymer have been used to prepare nanostructured magnetic films by a simple pattern transfer process. Toshi Kubo and Dr. Ruifang Wang have shown that these triblocks spontaneously align on a variety of metallic substrates upon simple spin coating; no annealing, substrate treatment or external fields are required. These new thin film templates hold great promise for the ready generation of large-area magnetic nanodot arrays for high density storage media applications.

Supported in part by UMN MRSEC Award DMR 0212302

(a) Schematic of the initial structure. A 50 nm thick triblock film on a NiFe/Au/Si/SiO2 substrate.

(b) AFM image after spin casting of the polymer.

(c) AFM image after removal of the cylinders [purple in (a)] by chemical etching.

(d) AFM image of the nanostructured NiFe film after Ar ion beam milling.

Timothy P. Lodge, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, DMR 0212302