The tunable surface-wetting
properties of photosensitive random
copolymer mats were used to spatially control the orientations of
thin-film block copolymer (BCP) structures. A photosensitive mat was
produced via thermal treatment on spin-coated random copolymers of
poly(styrene-ran-2-nitrobenzyl methacrylate-ran-glycidyl methacrylate), synthesized via reversible-deactivation
radical polymerization. The degree of UV-induced deprotection of the
nitrobenzyl esters in the mat was precisely controlled through the
amount of UV-irradiation energy imparted to the mat. The resulting
polarity switching of the constituents collectively altered the interfacial
wetting properties of the mat, and the tunability allowed lamellar
or cylinder-forming poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate)
BCP thin films, applied over the mat, to change the domain orientation
from perpendicular to parallel at proper UV exposures. UV irradiation
passing through a photomask was capable of generating defined regions
of BCP domains with targeted orientations.