Pattern coarsening in a 2D hexagonal system

HARRISON CK; ANGELESCU DE; TRAWICK ML; CHENG ZD; HUSE DA; CHAIKIN PM; VEGA DA; SEBASTIAN JM; REGISTER RA

EUROPHYSICS LETTERS

EDP Sciences

Lugar: France; Año: 2004 vol. 67 p. 800 - 8006

0295-5075

We have studied the orderingdynamics of a two-dimensional system which consists of a single layer of spherical block copolymer microdomains in a thin film. We follow the annealingpro cess after a quench from the disordered state by electron microscopy andtime-lapse atomic force microscopy. At late times the orientational correlation length î6 of the microdomain lattice exhibits a t1/4 temporal power law. We compare the time evolution of the densities of dislocations, disclinations and the dislocation orientational correlation function. While most disclinations condense into dislocations and most dislocations condense into “grain boundaries”, the dynamics appear to involve the interplay of disclinations and lines of dislocations. Rather than isolated grains shrinking, the most frequently observed process is the collapse of a smaller grain which resides on the boundary of two larger grains.î6 of the microdomain lattice exhibits a t1/4 temporal power law. We compare the time evolution of the densities of dislocations, disclinations and the dislocation orientational correlation function. While most disclinations condense into dislocations and most dislocations condense into “grain boundaries”, the dynamics appear to involve the interplay of disclinations and lines of dislocations. Rather than isolated grains shrinking, the most frequently observed process is the collapse of a smaller grain which resides on the boundary of two larger grains.