arXiv subjects

Xingkun Man

Publications and source records attributed to Xingkun Man.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Vapor-Induced Motion of Liquid Droplets on an Inert Substrate

Evaporating droplets are known to show complex motion that has conventionally been explained by the Marangoni effect (flow induced by the gradient of surface tension). Here, we show that the droplet motion can be induced even in the absence of the Marangoni effect due to the gradient of evaporation rate. We derive an equation for the velocity of a droplet subject to non-uniform evaporation rate and non-uniform surface tension placed on an inert substrate where the wettability is uniform and unchanged. The equation explains the previously observed attraction-repulsion- chasing behaviors of evaporating droplets.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Defect-free Perpendicular Diblock Copolymer Films: The Synergistic Effect of Surface Topography and Chemistry

We propose a direct self-assembly mechanism towards obtaining defect-free perpendicular lamellar phases of diblock copolymer (BCP) thin films. In our numerical study, a thin BCP film having a flat top surface is casted on a uni-directional corrugated solid substrate. The substrate is treated chemically and has a weak preference toward one of the two BCP components. Employing self-consistent field theory (SCFT), we find that there is an enhanced synergy between two substrate characteristics: its topography (geometrical roughness) combined with a weak surface preference. This synergy produces the desired perpendicular lamellar phase with perfect inplane ordering. Defect-free BCP lamellar phases are reproducible for several random initial states, and are obtained for a range of substrate roughness and chemical characteristics, even for a uni-directional multi-mode substrate roughness. Our theoretical study suggests possible experiments that will explore the interplay between uni-directional substrate corrugation and chemical surface treatment. It may lead to viable and economical ways of obtaining BCP films with defect-free lateral alignment.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Ring to Mountain Transition in Deposition Pattern of Drying

When a droplet containing a non-volatile component is dried on a substrate, it leaves a ringlike deposit on the substrate. We propose a theory which predicts the deposit distribution based on a model of fluid flow and contact line motion of the droplet. It is shown that the deposition pattern changes continuously from coffee-ring to volcano-like and to mountain-like depending on the mobility of the contact line and the evaporation rate. Analytical expression is given for the peak position of the distribution of deposit left on the substrate.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

Lamellar Diblock Copolymers on Rough Substrates: Self-consistent Field Theory Studies

We present numerical calculations of lamellar phases of di-block copolymers (BCP) confined between two surfaces, where the top surface is flat and the bottom one is corrugated. The corrugated substrate is assumed to have a single $q$-mode of lateral undulations with a wavenumber q_s and amplitude R. We focus on the effects of substrate roughness, parameterized by the dimensionless quantity, q_sR, on the relative stability between parallel and perpendicular orientations of the lamellar phase. The competition between film confinement, energy cost of elastic deformation and gain in surface energy induces a parallel-to-perpendicular transition of the BCP lamellae. Employing self-consistent field theory (SCFT), we study the critical substrate roughness value corresponding to this transition. The critical value increases as function of the surface preference towards one of the two BCP components, and as function of film thickness. But, it decreases with increasing values of the Flory-Huggins parameter. Our findings are equivalent to stating that the critical value decreases as the BCP molecular weight or the natural BCP periodicity increases. We further show that the rough substrate can overcome the formation of parallel lamellae in cases where the top surface has a preference towards one of the two BCP components. Our results are in good agreement with previous experiments, and highlight the physical conditions behind the perpendicular orientation of lamellar phases, as is desired in nanolithography and other industrial applications.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Coherent States Formulation of Polymer Field Theory

We introduce a stable and efficient complex Langevin (CL) scheme to enable the first numerical simulations of the coherent-states (CS) formulation of polymer field theory. In contrast with Edwards' well known auxiliary-field (AF) framework, the CS formulation does not contain an embedded non-linear, non-local functional of the auxiliary fields, and the action of the field theory has a fully explicit, finite-order and semi-local polynomial character. In the context of a polymer solution model, we demonstrate that the new CS-CL dynamical scheme for sampling fluctuations in the space of coherent states yields results in good agreement with now-standard AF simulations. The formalism is potentially applicable to a broad range of polymer architectures and may facilitate systematic generation of trial actions for use in coarse-graining and numerical renormalization-group studies.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2012

Tailoring Nanostructures Using Copolymer Nanoimprint Lithography

Finding affordable ways of generating high-density ordered nanostructures that can be transferred to a substrate is a major challenge for industrial applications like memories or optical devices with high resolution features. In this work, we report on a novel technique to direct self-assembled structures of block copolymers by NanoImprint Lithography. Surface energy of a reusable mold and nanorheology are used to organize the copolymers in defect-free structures over tens of micrometers in size. Versatile and controlled in-plane orientations of about 25 nm half-period lamellar nanostructures are achieved and, in particular, include applications to circular tracks of magnetic reading heads.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2012

Block Copolymer at Nano-Patterned Surfaces

We present numerical calculations of lamellar phases of block copolymers at patterned surfaces. We model symmetric di-block copolymer films forming lamellar phases and the effect of geometrical and chemical surface patterning on the alignment and orientation of lamellar phases. The calculations are done within self-consistent field theory (SCFT), where the semi-implicit relaxation scheme is used to solve the diffusion equation. Two specific set-ups, motivated by recent experiments, are investigated. In the first, the film is placed on top of a surface imprinted with long chemical stripes. The stripes interact more favorably with one of the two blocks and induce a perpendicular orientation in a large range of system parameters. However, the system is found to be sensitive to its initial conditions, and sometimes gets trapped into a metastable mixed state composed of domains in parallel and perpendicular orientations. In a second set-up, we study the film structure and orientation when it is pressed against a hard grooved mold. The mold surface prefers one of the two components and this set-up is found to be superior for inducing a perfect perpendicular lamellar orientation for a wide range of system parameters.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2012

Block Copolymer Films with Free Interfaces: Ordering by Nano-Patterned Substrates

We study block copolymers (BCP) on patterned substrates, where the top polymer film surface is not constrained but is a free interface that adapts its shape self-consistently. In particular, we investigate the combined effect of the free interface undulations with the wetting of the BCP film as induced by nano-patterned substrates. For a finite volume of BCP material, we find equilibrium droplets composed of coexisting perpendicular and parallel lamellar domains. The self-assembly of BCP on topographic patterned substrates was also investigated and it was found that the free interface induces mixed morphologies of parallel and perpendicular domains coupled with a non-flat free interface. In both cases, the free interface relaxes the strong constraints that would otherwise be imposed by a fixed top boundary (which is commonly used in simulations), and affects strongly the BCP ordering. Our study has some interesting consequences for experimental setups of graphoepitaxy and nanoimprint lithography.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2011

Organization of Block Copolymers using NanoImprint Lithography: Comparison of Theory and Experiments

We present NanoImprint lithography experiments and modeling of thin films of block copolymers (BCP). The NanoImprint lithography is used to align perpendicularly lamellar phases, over distances much larger than the natural lamellar periodicity. The modeling relies on self-consistent field calculations done in two- and three-dimensions. We get a good agreement with the NanoImprint lithography setups. We find that, at thermodynamical equilibrium, the ordered BCP lamellae are much better aligned than when the films are deposited on uniform planar surfaces.

cond-mat.soft↗