Sectorization of Macromolecular Single Crystals Unveiled by Probing Shear Anisotropy

Polymer single crystals continue to infiltrate emerging technologies such as flexible organic field-effect transistors because of their excellent translational symmetry and chemical purity. However, owing to the methodological challenges, direct imaging of the polymer chains folding direction resulting in sectorization of single crystals has rarely been investigated. Herein, we directly image the sectorization of polymer single crystals through anisotropic elastic deformation on the surface of macromolecular single crystals. A variant of friction force microscopy, in which the scanning direction of the probe tip is parallel with the cantilever axis, allows for high contrast imaging of the sectorization in polymer single crystals. The lateral deflection of the cantilever resulting from shear forces transverse to the scan direction shows a close connection with the in-plane components of the elastic tensor of the polymer single crystals, which is of a fundamentally different origin than the friction forces. This allows for fast, facile, and nondestructive characterization of the microstructure and in-plane elastic anisotropy of compliant crystalline materials such as polymers.

Automated summary

The study directly images the sectorization of polymer single crystals through anisotropic elastic deformation on the crystal surface. By utilizing a variant of friction force microscopy, the scanning direction of the probe tip parallel to the cantilever axis allows for high contrast imaging of sectorization in polymer single crystals. This approach provides a fast, easy, and nondestructive characterization of the microstructure and in-plane elastic anisotropy of compliant crystalline materials such as polymers.