Imprint Directed Self-Assembly Of Cylinder-Forming Si-Containing Block Copolymer For 6 Nm Half-Pitch Line Patterning

A new imprint directed self-assembly (DSA) route is developed for creating high resolution line patterns consisting of in-plane polystyrene-block-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-b-PDMS) cylinders. Resist line prepatterns are prepared by nanoimprint and trimmed by oxygen plasma to proper feature geometry and dimension. Registered block copolymer line patterns with exceptional long-range order are generated after DSA then, with the smallest half-pitch of 6 nm or so. Excellent stretching capability of PS-b-PDMS polymer chains indicates a broad process window for DSA. Initial pattern transfer results at 16.5 nm pitch imply the potential of this approach for future nanodevice fabrication at ultra-high pattern resolution.