Microstructures and Polymer Chain Length in Diacetylene Single Crystals

Abstract

Microstructures of polymer in a TS-6 diacetylene monomer matrix were produced using electron beam lithography and UV-holography with a resolution of 300 nm in the chain direction and (for e-beam lithography) less than 40 nm perpendicular to it. From the experimental results an average polymer chain length of 200 nm (400 repeat units) is estimated for e-beam polymerization and of the same order of magnitude for photopolymerization at about 8 % conversion. It is supposed that the chain length is determined by the termination reaction during chain propagation and not by the initiation reaction.