Architecture dependence of thermal fluctuation effects on the order–disorder transition of block copolymer melts

Small-angle X-ray scattering has done to explore the difference in the strength of the thermal fluctuation effects between A–B diblock copolymer and (A/2)2–B Y-shaped copolymer. SAXS profiles for both systems in their disordered states were analyzed with the Brazovskii-type non-mean field theory by Fredrickson and Helfand. The analyses yielded Ginzburg number characterizing the strength of thermal fluctuation effects. Ginzburg number of Y-shaped copolymer is larger than that of diblock copolymer, suggesting that the strength of the thermal fluctuation effects is affected by the architecture of copolymers.