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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Orientational order in block copolymer films zone annealed below the order--disorder transition temperature
Brian C Berry1, August W Bosse, Jack F Douglas
1Polymers Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8541, USA.
Abstract:
We report measurements of rapid ordering and preferential alignment in block copolymer films zone annealed below the order-disorder transition temperature. The orientational correlation lengths measured after approximately 5 h above the glass-transition temperature ( approximately 2 microm) were an order of magnitude greater than that obtained under equivalent static annealing. The ability to rapidly process polymers with inaccessible order-disorder transition temperatures suggests zone annealing as a route toward more robust nanomanufacturing methods based on block copolymer self-assembly.
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