Analysis of surface relief structures formed by patterned-photopolymerization induced molecular diffusion

The control of the surface topology is important to utilize their high functionality for a wide variety of applications such as optics and mechanics. Several methods of controlling the surface topology have been proposed; in particular, the light irradiation can precisely control the surface topology in a non-contacting manner. However, conventional methods using the light irradiation need complicated processes with specific photoresponsive molecules. Recently, we revealed that patterned photopolymerization, based on a novel method of molecular alignment, induced surface relief structures on a film; yet, the relationship between the surface structures and molecular alignment has not been clarified. In this study, we made the detailed investigation of surface structures and molecular alignment of the film induced by patterned photopolymerization.