3D Orientational Control in Self‐Assembled Thin Films with Sub‐5 nm Features by Light |
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| Authors: | Koen Nickmans Gerardus M Bögels Carlos Sánchez‐Somolinos Jeffrey N Murphy Philippe Leclère Ilja K Voets Albertus P H J Schenning |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Laboratory of Functional Organic Materials and Devices, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands;2. Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón (ICMA), CSIC‐Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain;3. Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials, Center for Innovation and Research in Materials and Polymers (CIRMAP), University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium;4. Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands;5. Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands;6. Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | While self‐assembled molecular building blocks could lead to many next‐generation functional organic nanomaterials, control over the thin‐film morphologies to yield monolithic sub‐5 nm patterns with 3D orientational control at macroscopic length scales remains a grand challenge. A series of photoresponsive hybrid oligo(dimethylsiloxane) liquid crystals that form periodic cylindrical nanostructures with periodicities between 3.8 and 5.1 nm is studied. The liquid crystals can be aligned in‐plane by exposure to actinic linearly polarized light and out‐of‐plane by exposure to actinic unpolarized light. The photoalignment is most efficient when performed just under the clearing point of the liquid crystal, at which the cylindrical nanostructures are reoriented within minutes. These results allow the generation of highly ordered sub‐5 nm patterns in thin films at macroscopic length scales, with control over the orientation in a noncontact fashion. |
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| Keywords: | azobenzene liquid crystal photoalignment siloxane thin films |
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