English Abstract

Photocontrol of Microphase Separation Structures Formed by Blockcopolymers Takahiro Seki Shusaku Nagano Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,(2006),79(4),237-243 General Review in Japanese Abstract Blockcopolymers provide regular nanoscale microphase separation structures whose pattern size ranges typically several tens nanometers. How to control these structures and patterns is of particular importance from technological viewpoints because top-down (photolithography etc.) and bottom-up supramolecular assembly approaches typically do not reach such feature size. The features of microphase separation structure depend on the architecture of the blockcopolymer, and thus almost all efforts are devoted to syntheses. We introduce in this review article our recent research activities to realize the photocontrol of structures and orientations of the microphase separation in blockcopolymers. Blockcopolymers possessing a photoresponsive azobenzene moiety are newly synthesized and spread on water or spincast as ultrathin films. In such two dimensionally constrained environments, effective controls of microdomain shape and orientation of nanocylinders are performed. Keywords: Azobenzene polymers, Monolayer, Ultrathin films, Microphase separation, photocontrol, Hierarchical structure

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