Polymer melts and polymer solutions near patterned surfaces

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Abstract
We present analytical solutions for density profiles of homopolymer melts and of the mathematically equivalent, incompressible polymer solutions near heterogenous, periodically patternedsurfaces. The theory employs an analytic density functional-self-consistent field theory, and particular applications consider striped and checkerboard patterns. The computations illustrate the competing influences of the pattern size and the bulk correlation length ξ on the density profile both at the surface and orthogonal to the surface. The density profiles are determined by the bulk correlation length ξ if the thickness of the stripes L is larger than 2ξ and by L if L<2ξ.