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Abstract
<p class="first" id="d7928848e97">We have studied the ordering dynamics of the striped
patterns of a single layer of
cylindrical block copolymer microdomains in a thin film. By tracking disclinations
during annealing with time-lapse atomic force microscopy, we observe a dominant mechanism
of disclination annihilation involving three or four disclinations (quadrupoles).
Pairwise disclination annihilation events are suppressed as a result of the topological
constraints in this system. The kinetic scaling laws with exponents observed here
are consistent with topologically allowed annihilation events involving multiple disclinations.
The results provide insight into two-dimensional pattern formation and may lead to
the successful application of block copolymer lithography.
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