Complex Ordering of Supramolecular Dendrimers in Confined Geometries.

The self-assembly of supramolecular dendrimers allows the rapid construction of nanosized structures with regularly ordered features that depend on the shape of the molecules and the relative strength of the intra-and intermolecular interactions. Here we report on a dramatic improvement in the degree of control and selectivity in the orientation of fan-shaped supramolecular molecules over a large area, which has been achieved by confined geometries and applied fields. The order and orientation of supramolecular dendrimers can be controlled by surface anchoring in confined geometries. POM, SEM, TEM, AFM and XRD results show that the molecules form the complicated defect-ordering in the microchannels with different feature sizes. We show that these defect domains are strongly influenced by the boundary and feature size of the surfaces. This technique can be used to create a grain size in the plane of the film that is much larger than that which can be achieved using previously reported soft-material based pattering.