https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2010-10673-4
Regular Article
Strong-segregation limit of the self-consistent field theory for diblock copolymer melts
Department of Mathematics, University of Reading, RG6 6AX, Whiteknights, Reading, UK
* e-mail: m.w.matsen@reading.ac.uk
Received:
13
July
2010
Accepted:
20
October
2010
Published online:
25
November
2010
The self-consistent field theory (SCFT) introduced by Helfand for diblock copolymer melts is expected to converge to the strong-segregation theory (SST) of Semenov in the asymptotic limit,
N
∞ . However, past extrapolations of the lamellar/cylinder and cylinder/sphere phase boundaries, within the standard unit-cell approximation, have cast some doubts on whether or not this is actually true. Here we push the comparison further by extending the SCFT calculations to
N = 512000 , by accounting for exclusion zones in the coronae of the cylindrical and spherical unit cells, and by examining finite-segregation corrections to SST. In doing so, we provide the first compelling evidence that SCFT does indeed reduce to SST.
© EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2010