Convection patterns trapped in the solid state by UV-induced polymerization

A novel approach to producing ordered patterns in polymeric films was devel oped, which employs (i) the generation of nonequilibrium periodic convectio n patterns in thin liquid layers of monomers and (ii) UV-induced polymeriza tion of convecting fluids under controlled conditions that preserve the per iodicity of the pattern. We established the conditions under which an order ed structure induced by buoyancy-driven convection in a layer of methacrylo xypropyl-terminated dimethylsiloxane can be trapped in the solid state and analyzed the characteristic length scales of the solidified film.