Directed self-assembly of topcoat-free, integration-friendly high-<sub>x</sub>block copolymers

Hirahara, Eri; Paunescu, Margareta; Polishchuk, Orest; Jeong, EunJeong; Ng, Edward W.; Shan, Jianhui; Kim, Jihoon; Hong, Sung-Eun; Baskaran, Durairaj; Lin, Guanyang; Vora, Ankit; Tjio, Melia; Arellano, Noel; Rettner, Charles; Lofano, Elizabeth; Liu, Chi‐Chun; Tsai, Hsinyu; Chunder, Anindarupa; Nguyen, K.; Friz, Alexander; Bowers, A. N.; Balakrishnan, S.; Cheng, Joy Y.; Sanders, Daniel P.

doi:10.1117/12.2087398

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…SVA and triblock DSA are examples of the growing arsenal of materials and processes that enable sub-10 nm DSA patterning; this arsenal also includes top-coat DSA and high-χ, top-coat-free materials . While each method has specific parameters that influence the BCP assembly, in all of these methods, the BCP interaction with the BCP–guiding pattern interface is crucial for successful directed assembly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SVA and triblock DSA are examples of the growing arsenal of materials and processes that enable sub-10 nm DSA patterning; 27 this arsenal also includes top-coat DSA 51 and high-χ, top-coat-free materials. 52 While each method has specific parameters that influence the BCP assembly, in all of these methods, the BCP interaction with the BCP−guiding pattern interface is crucial for successful directed assembly. Therefore, probing the BCP structure and its fluctuations at the BCP−guiding pattern interface is necessary to fully describe high-χ DSA assembly and enable better understanding of the assembly processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantitative Three-Dimensional Characterization of Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly on Combined Chemical and Topographical Prepatterned Templates

et al. 2017

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Characterization of the three-dimensional (3D) structure in directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers is crucial for understanding the complex relationships between the guiding template and the resulting polymer structure so DSA could be successfully implemented for advanced lithography applications. Here, we combined scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) tomography and coarse-grain simulations to probe the 3D structure of P2VP-b-PS-b-P2VP assembled on prepatterned templates using solvent vapor annealing. The templates consisted of nonpreferential background and raised guiding stripes that had PS-preferential top surfaces and P2VP-preferential sidewalls. The full 3D characterization allowed us to quantify the shape of the polymer domains and the interface between domains as a function of depth in the film and template geometry and offered important insights that were not accessible with 2D metrology. Sidewall guiding was advantageous in promoting the alignment and lowering the roughness of the P2VP domains over the sidewalls, but incommensurate confinement from the increased topography could cause roughness and intermittent dislocations in domains over the background region at the bottom of the film. The 3D characterization of bridge structures between domains over the background and breaks within domains on guiding lines sheds light on possible origins of common DSA defects. The positional fluctuations of the PS/P2VP interface between domains showed a depth-dependent behavior, with high levels of fluctuations near both the free surface of the film and the substrate and lower fluctuation levels in the middle of the film. This research demonstrates how 3D characterization offers a better understanding of DSA processes, leading to better design and fabrication of directing templates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative Three-Dimensional Characterization of Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly on Combined Chemical and Topographical Prepatterned Templates

et al. 2017

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“…With domain sizes reaching the sub-10 nm scale, dry plasma etching becomes extremely challenging due to strong aspect ratio dependent etching phenomena that considerably limit the efficiency of etching in such confined environments. Recent successes notwithstanding, , this will generally require new approaches to create arrays of ultrasmall features with controlled shape from self-assembled block polymer templates. Specific inclusion of inorganic precursors in preformed block-polymer systems followed by the elimination of the polymer scaffold presents attractive opportunities.…”

Section: Perspective Going Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

High χ–Low N Block Polymers: How Far Can We Go?

Sinturel

Bates²,

Hillmyer³

2015

ACS Macro Lett.

392

484

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Block polymers incorporating highly incompatible segments are termed "high χ" polymers, where χ is the Flory−Huggins interaction parameter. These materials have attracted a great deal of interest because low molar mass versions allow for the formation of microphase-separated domains with very small (<10 nm) feature sizes useful for nanopatterning at these extreme dimensions. Given that wellestablished photolithographic techniques now face difficult challenges of implementation at scales of 10 nm and below, the drive to further develop high χ block polymers is motivated by trends in the microelectronics industry. This Viewpoint highlights our perspective on this niche of block polymer self-assembly. We first briefly review the relevant recent literature, exploring the various block polymer compositions that have been specifically designed for small feature size patterning. We then overview the now standard method for the benchmarking χ values between different pairs of polymers and the consequences of low N and high χ on the thermodynamic aspects of microphase separation. Finally, we comment on restrictions going forward and offer our perspective on the future of this exciting area of block polymer self-assembly.

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“…In our paper of SPIE 2015, we introduced high quality organic lamellae-forming high- block copolymers of HC series offering an L/S patterning platform for feature size ranging from 8.5 nm to 13 nm [5]. Vertically oriented nanodomains of the HC series were produced by simple thermal annealing process (Temp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Directed Self-Assembly Materials for High Resolution beyond PS-<i>b</i>-PMMA

Hirahara

Cao

Paunescu

et al. 2016

J. Photopol. Sci. Technol.

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To extend directed self-assembly (DSA) of poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate), PS-b-PMMA, for higher resolution and potentially improving pattern line edge roughness (LER) and placement accuracy, we have developed a next generation material platform of organic high- block copolymers ("HC series", AZEMBLY™ EXP PME-3000 series). The polymer platform has a built-in orientation control mechanism which results in convenient morphology orientation control without involving topcoat/additive or delicate solvent vapor annealing. Sub-10 nm node lines and spaces (L/S) patterning with two major chemoepitaxy DSA, LiNe and SMART™ processes, was successfully implemented on 300 mm wafer substrates using the PME-3000 lamellar series.

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Directed self-assembly of topcoat-free, integration-friendly high-_xblock copolymers

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Quantitative Three-Dimensional Characterization of Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly on Combined Chemical and Topographical Prepatterned Templates

Quantitative Three-Dimensional Characterization of Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly on Combined Chemical and Topographical Prepatterned Templates

High χ–Low N Block Polymers: How Far Can We Go?

Directed Self-Assembly Materials for High Resolution beyond PS-<i>b</i>-PMMA

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Directed self-assembly of topcoat-free, integration-friendly high-xblock copolymers

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Quantitative Three-Dimensional Characterization of Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly on Combined Chemical and Topographical Prepatterned Templates

Quantitative Three-Dimensional Characterization of Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly on Combined Chemical and Topographical Prepatterned Templates

High χ–Low N Block Polymers: How Far Can We Go?

Directed Self-Assembly Materials for High Resolution beyond PS-<i>b</i>-PMMA

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Product

Resources

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Directed self-assembly of topcoat-free, integration-friendly high-_xblock copolymers