Tuning metal surface diffusion on diblock copolymer films

The authors have studied the effect of predeposition electron exposure on the diffusion behavior of silver evaporated on a diblock copolymer template. Unexposed regions display a highly selective adsorption of Ag clusters on the polystyrene domains. Exposure to the electron beam modifies the surface diffusion constants on each polymer block and produces a trend of smaller mean particle sizes with increased dose. While there is a loss of selectivity in this system upon exposure, alternative diblock chemistries or exposure procedures could enable one to engineer the selectivity of desired materials on polymer films.