Geometric strong segregation theory for compositionally asymmetric diblock copolymer melts

We have identified the effect of the Wigner-Seitz cell geometry in the strong segregation limit of diblock copolymer melts with strong composition asymmetry. A variational problem is proposed describing the distortions of the chain paths due to the geometric constraints imposed by the cell shape. We computed the geometric excess energies for cylindrical phases arranged into hexagonal, square, and triangular lattices and explicitly demonstrated that the hexagonal lattice has the lowest energy for a fixed cell area.