Sphere-patterned ultrathin block copolymer films are potentially interesting for a variety of applications in nanotechnology. We use self-consistent field theory to investigate the elastic response of sphere monolayer films with respect to in-plane shear, in-plane extension, compression deformations, and bending. The relations between the in-plane elastic moduli are roughly compatible with the expectations for two-dimensional elastic systems with hexagonal symmetry, with one notable exception: The pure shear and the simple shear moduli differ from each other by roughly 20%. Even more importantly, the bending constants are found to be negative, indicating that free-standing block copolymer membranes made of only a sphere monolayer are inherently unstable above the glass transition. Our results are discussed in view of the experimental findings.

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超薄球形图案嵌段共聚物薄膜的稳定性和弹性

球形图案超薄嵌段共聚物薄膜对于纳米技术的各种应用具有潜在的吸引力。我们使用自洽场理论来研究球体单层薄膜在面内剪切、面内延伸、压缩变形和弯曲方面的弹性响应。面内弹性模量之间的关系与六角对称二维弹性系统的预期大致一致，但有一个值得注意的例外：纯剪切模量和简单剪切模量彼此相差大约 20%。更重要的是，发现弯曲常数为负，表明仅由球体单层制成的独立式嵌段共聚物膜在玻璃化转变温度以上本质上不稳定。我们的结果是根据实验结果进行讨论的。