Sub‐5 nm Patterning by Directed Self‐Assembly of Oligo(Dimethylsiloxane) Liquid Crystal Thin Films

Nickmans, Koen; Murphy, Jeffrey J.; Waal, Bas de; Leclère, Philippe; Doise, Jan; Gronheid, Roel; Broer, Dirk J.; Schenning, Albertus P. H. J.

doi:10.1002/adma.201602891

Cited by 65 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The molecular structure of the employed ODMS liquid crystals is depicted in Scheme . The LCs consist of a photoresponsive trans ‐azobenzene containing rigid core flanked by flexible ODMS coils.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For most nanotechnology applications, the LC morphologies must be directed in sub‐micrometer thin films. Therefore, LC thin films were prepared by spin‐coating dilute solutions of liquid crystals in heptane onto quartz substrates modified with a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) brush layer . A 10 mg mL −1 solution of LC‐22Si resulted in films of 40 nm thickness, as determined by ellipsometry.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The film surface consists of multilayers of nanocylinders with a period of 4.3 nm (Figure S7, Supporting Information), corresponding to the room temperature Col Rec phase (Table ). Without an external driving force for alignment, the cylinders are planar oriented over arbitrary azimuthal angles in a multidomain fashion . For the thin‐film photoalignment experiments, the films were heated up close to the clearing temperature.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These findings suggest a strong competition between the photoinduced out‐of‐plane orientation and the thermodynamically stable in‐plane orientation. It shows that obtaining the out‐of‐plane orientation of cylinders is challenging due to the intrinsic surface energy mismatch between the mesogenic core and ODMS coils …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, we reported a series of monodispersed organic–inorganic Az LCs containing oligo(dimethylsiloxane) (ODMS) for etch contrast that form sub‐5 nm patterns, and showed that their self‐assembly can be directed in‐plane by graphoepitaxy in a manner analogous to BCPs. Here, we demonstrate by a variety of techniques that the LC self‐assembly can be directed both in‐plane and out‐of‐plane with light, and that the mobility of the LC phase is key to achieving a rapid alignment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3D Orientational Control in Self‐Assembled Thin Films with Sub‐5 nm Features by Light

Nickmans

Bögels

Sánchez‐Somolinos

et al. 2017

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While self‐assembled molecular building blocks could lead to many next‐generation functional organic nanomaterials, control over the thin‐film morphologies to yield monolithic sub‐5 nm patterns with 3D orientational control at macroscopic length scales remains a grand challenge. A series of photoresponsive hybrid oligo(dimethylsiloxane) liquid crystals that form periodic cylindrical nanostructures with periodicities between 3.8 and 5.1 nm is studied. The liquid crystals can be aligned in‐plane by exposure to actinic linearly polarized light and out‐of‐plane by exposure to actinic unpolarized light. The photoalignment is most efficient when performed just under the clearing point of the liquid crystal, at which the cylindrical nanostructures are reoriented within minutes. These results allow the generation of highly ordered sub‐5 nm patterns in thin films at macroscopic length scales, with control over the orientation in a noncontact fashion.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3D Orientational Control in Self‐Assembled Thin Films with Sub‐5 nm Features by Light

Nickmans

Bögels

Sánchez‐Somolinos

et al. 2017

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Sub‐5 nm Dendrimer Directed Self‐Assembly with Large‐Area Uniform Alignment by Graphoepitaxy

Park

Jung

Kwon

et al. 2019

Adv Funct Materials

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Directed self-assembly (DSA) using soft materials is an important method for producing periodic nanostructures because it is a simple, cost-effective process for fabricating high-resolution patterns. Most of the previously reported DSA methods exploit the self-assembly of block copolymers, which generates a wide range of nanostructures. In this study, cylinders obtained from supramolecular dendrimer films with a high resolution (<5 nm) exhibit planar ordering over a macroscopic area via guiding topographical templates with a high aspect ratio (>10) and high spatial resolution (≈20 nm) of guiding line patterns. Theoretical and experimental studies reveal that this property is related to geometrical anchoring on the meniscus region and physical surface anchoring on the sidewall. Furthermore, this DSA of dendrimer cylinders is demonstrated by the non-regular geometry of the patterned template. The macroscopic planar alignment of the dendrimer nanostructure reveals an extremely small feature size (≈4.7 nm) on the wafer scale (>16 cm 2 ). This study is expected to open avenues for the production of a large family of supramolecular dendrimers with different phases and feature dimensions oriented by the DSA approach.

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Directed Self‐Assembly of Liquid‐Crystalline Molecular Building Blocks for Sub‐5 nm Nanopatterning

Nickmans

Schenning

2017

Advanced Materials

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The thin‐film directed self‐assembly of molecular building blocks into oriented nanostructure arrays enables next‐generation lithography at the sub‐5 nm scale. Currently, the fabrication of inorganic arrays from molecular building blocks is restricted by the limited long‐range order and orientation of the materials, as well as suitable methodologies for creating lithographic templates at sub‐5 nm dimensions. In recent years, higher‐order liquid crystals have emerged as functional thin films for organic electronics, nanoporous membranes, and templated synthesis, which provide opportunities for their use as lithographic templates. By choosing examples from these fields, recent progress toward the design of molecular building blocks is highlighted, with an emphasis on liquid crystals, to access sub‐5 nm features, their directed self‐assembly into oriented thin films, and, importantly, the fabrication of inorganic arrays. Finally, future challenges regarding sub‐5 nm patterning with liquid crystals are discussed.

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Sub‐5 nm Patterning by Directed Self‐Assembly of Oligo(Dimethylsiloxane) Liquid Crystal Thin Films

Cited by 65 publications

References 48 publications

3D Orientational Control in Self‐Assembled Thin Films with Sub‐5 nm Features by Light

3D Orientational Control in Self‐Assembled Thin Films with Sub‐5 nm Features by Light

Sub‐5 nm Dendrimer Directed Self‐Assembly with Large‐Area Uniform Alignment by Graphoepitaxy

Directed Self‐Assembly of Liquid‐Crystalline Molecular Building Blocks for Sub‐5 nm Nanopatterning

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