Self-organization of FePt nanoparticles on photochemically modified diblock copolymer templates

A cylindrical-phase diblock copolymer ultrathin film is modified with vacuum UV light to selectively remove one of the surface domain components. The corrugated film then serves as a template for the self-organization of colloidal magnetic nanoparticles (see Figure). This hierarchical methodology is a general route to the nanoscale assembly of functional materials. This work has ramifications for potential future bit-patterned magnetic-storage media.