This annealing procedure allows the polymer chains to achieve equilibrium heights for each polymer layer. Island and hole height profiles in the core region are not shown. The inset shows a 7 m 7 m AFM image to demonstrate that height quantization has occurred in the rim region after annealing. Using this procedure, microdomain alignment is achieved without the application of any externally applied guiding fields. Two rim images taken at different locations of the same ring which demonstrate radial alignment.
Radial alignment persists around the entire rim.