Capillary filling of anodized alumina nanopore arrays

The filling behavior of a room temperature solvent, perfluoromethylcyclohexane, in approximately 20 nm nanoporous alumina membranes was investigated in situ with small angle x-ray scattering. Adsorption in the pores was controlled reversibly by varying the chemical potential between the sample and a liquid reservoir via a thermal offset, DeltaT. The system exhibited a pronounced hysteretic capillary filling transition as liquid was condensed into the nanopores. These results are compared with Kelvin-Cohan theory, with a modified Derjaguin approximation, as well as with predictions by Cole and Saam.     

Liquids on topologically nanopatterned surfaces

We report here surface x-ray scattering studies of the adsorption of simple hydrocarbon liquid films on nanostructured surfaces-silicon patterned by an array of nanocavities. Two different regimes, filling and growing, are observed for the wetting film evolution as a function of the chemical potential offset from the bulk liquid-vapor coexistence. The strong influence of geometrical effects is manifested by a dependence of liquid adsorption in the nanocavities that is stronger than the van der Waals behavior for flat surfaces. The observed dependence is, however, much weaker than predicted for the infinitely deep parabolic cavities, suggesting that the finite-size effects contribute significantly to the observed adsorption behavior.     

Effect of fluorosurfactant on capillary instabilities in nanoimprinted polymer patterns

Surface forces play a paramount role in most aspects of Nanoimprint Lithography. In particular, subjecting nanoimprinted patterns to moderate heating allows surface tension to smooth out undesirable roughness and defects in the patterns, but this “thermal reflow” treatment can induce structural decay or even collapse of the patterns by capillary instability if this process is not carefully controlled. Adhesion between the mold and polymer film can also cause the imprinted structure to tear or fracture. Fluorinated surfactants (FS) are attractive for reducing mold adhesion, yet the effects of these additives on nanostructure stability during thermal reflow are not well understood. Here we present thermal stability studies of line-space grating patterns created by Thermal Embossing Nanoimprint Lithography (TENIL) on model polystyrene (PS) films with FS additives. As expected by energy considerations, FS segregates to the air interface, where it seems to facilitate mold release. This also reduces the surface energy and thus reduces the driving force for pattern “slumping” (height decay). However, the beneficial effects of the surfactant are counterbalanced by the fact that the FS decreases the effective film viscosity, which accelerates nanopattern leveling. The net effect is that the pattern height decay is strongly a function of FS concentration. This enhanced film fluidity in the presence of FS also makes the pattern more susceptible to an undulatory capillary instability under thermal reflow conditions. Surface phase segregation of FS and PS is also observed in conjunction with both slumping and lateral capillary instabilities, which may be useful for producing chemically patterned surfaces. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2591–2600, 2009