Figure 1. Soft-shear laser zone annealing (SS-LZA).

SS-LZA is used to produce monolithically aligned block copolymer (BCP) templates for nanowire synthesis. (a) Experimental schematic: a focused laser line is absorbed by a layer of germanium underlying a BCP film, inducing local heating. The entire sample is rapidly annealed by sweeping the laser line. The temperature rise and steep thermal gradients induce accelerated self-assembly of the BCP cylindrical phase. Simultaneously, differential thermal expansion of a transparent PDMS cladding shears the BCP (white arrows), aligning the cylinders along the sweep direction. (b) Globally aligned array of nanowires after polymer to inorganic material conversion (scale bar 500 nm). (c) Cross-sectional view of the nanowires. (d) GISAXS of the polymer matrix after infusion with inorganic precursors (1 h soak, 0.02 M Na₂PtCl₄ in 0.5 M HCl).