Microphase Separation in Diblock Copolymer Melts
by
Rustum Choksi
Simon Fraser University & The Fields Institute

Diblock copolymer melts, dubbed ``designer materials'', have the remarkable ability for self-assembly into various ordered structures. These structures are key to the many properties that make diblock copolymers of great technological interest.

The density functional theory of Ohta and Kawasaki leads to a nonlocal variational problem, and presents an excellent setting for the analysis of microphases. In this talk, I will first discuss the origins and derivation of this theory, presenting it in connection with the self-consistent mean field theory. Then, focusing on what is know as the strong segregation regime, I will discuss some analytical techniques which provide insight on the scales of minimizing structures (phases). These techniques have the advantage that they are ansatz-free, that is they are not based upon any preassigned bias for the phase geometry.

I will also discuss the modeling of copolymer-homopolymer blends, where one observes both microphase and macrophase separation.

Date received: November 3, 2003