Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
Direct images of the surface morphology of a series of the poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS) ultrathin films have been obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM). These films were formed under kinetic control. The resulting films consist of 25 nm-diameter spherical structures and/or cylindrical ones. These structures are surprisingly different fi-om alternative-lamellar structures which should be formed under annealed conditions because of the nearly equal length of two blocks of SBS. In nonselective solvents, the surface of the cast solution layer induces the copolymers to self-organize into micelle consisting of a polystyrene (PS) core and a polybutadiene (PB) shell in order to decrease film surface energy. The final structures depend on the property of the solvent used and filn-forming condition.