Metallic Nanodot Patterns with Unique Symmetries Templated from ABC Triblock Terpolymer Networks.
An image of the automated image analysis steps made by the software that I made for this work.Abstract
Nanotemplates derived from the self‐assembly of AB‐type block copolymers provide an elegant route to achieve well‐defined metallic dot arrays, even if the variety of pattern symmetries is restricted due to the limited number of structures offered by microphase separated diblock copolymers. A strategy that relies on the use of complex network structures accessible through the self‐assembly of linear ABC‐type terpolymers is presented for the formation of metallic nanodots arrays with “outside‐the‐box” symmetries. Patterned templates formed by the cubic Q214 and orthorhombic O70 network structures are used as excellent platforms to build well‐ordered gold nanodot arrays with unique p3m1 and p2 symmetries, respectively. A simple yet efficient blending strategy is used to tune the critical dimensions of the p3m1 pattern while laterally ordered gold nanodot arrays are also demonstrated through a directed self‐assembly approach. Such highly ordered gold nanodots with tunable particle dimensions and array periods, enabling the control of their plasmonic responses, are attractive probes for biological imaging.