PNNL

Abstract

Capillary forces play an active role in defining the equilibrium structure of nanoscale structures. This effect can be especially pronounced in soft materials such as polymers near or above their glass transition temperature Tg where material flow is possible. In these situations, the effect of surface tension can produce varied and complex capillary instabilities, even in relatively simple geometries such as parallel line-space grating patterns. Here we investigate a novel capillary instability that arises in polystyrene line-space gratings with a residual layer connecting these structures (created by nanoimprint lithography) upon thermal annealing of these patterns. This novel instability is characterized by the development of lateral undulations of the lines that culminates in the local coalescence of adjacent imprinted lines. An exact analytic model of this undulatory instability is not possible, but we introduce a simple physical model for this lateral instability based on the driving force to reduce the surface energy, as in the well-known Rayleigh-Plateau instability which is likewise surface energy driven. Good agreement is obtained between this simplified model and our observations. Our insights into the nature of this instability have implications for controlling the thermal stability of nanoscale patterns made by nanoimprint lithography or other lithography techniques.