Nanoporous ultra-low-dielectric-constant fluoropolymer films via selective UV decomposition of poly(pentafluorostyrene)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) copolymers prepared using atom transfer radical polymerization

Block copolymers of poly(pentafluorostyrene) (PFS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (PFS-b-PMMA) have been synthesized using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Then, nanoporous fluoropolymer films have been prepared via selective UV decomposition of the PMMA blocks in the PFS-b-PMMA copolymer films. The chemical composition and structure of the PFS homopolymers and copolymers have been characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and molecular-weight measurements. The cross-sectional and surface morphologies of the PFS-b-PMMA copolymer films before and after selective UV decomposition of the PMMA blocks have been studied using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The nanoporous fluoropolymer films with pore sizes in the range 30-50 nm and porosity in the range 15-40% have been obtained from the PFS-b-PMMA copolymers of different PMMA content. Dielectric constants approaching 1.8 have been achieved in the nanoporous fluoropolymer films which contain almost completely decomposed PMMA blocks.