DSA process optimization for high volume manufacturing

Direct Self-Assembly (DSA) is expected to be applied to patterns below 20 nm, and many applications have been proposed along with several lithography techniques. The advantage of DSA is that the molecular weight of the polymer can control the pattern size and achieve a fixed pattern pitch. On the other hand, the DSA process faces the technical challenges of pattern defects, line edge roughness (LER), and pattern transfer to the underlying layer. Tokyo Electron has reported the results of these improvements in the past SPIE. This report introduces each optimization method and shows you the next steps.