Advances in semiconductor patterning: New block copolymer achieves 7.6 nm line width – Uplaza

A lately developed block copolymer may assist push the bounds of integration and miniaturization in semiconductor manufacturing, report scientists at Tokyo Institute of Expertise (Tokyo Tech) and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK). Chemically tailor-made for dependable directed self-assembly, the proposed compound can organize itself into perpendicular lamellar constructions whose half-pitch width is lower than 10 nanometers, outperforming standard and extensively used block copolymers.

Miniaturization is among the elementary qualities of contemporary electronics and is essentially accountable for the unimaginable increments in efficiency witnessed over the previous many years. To maintain this momentum going, it’s needed to attain circuit patterns finer than the prevailing ones on semiconductor chips, that are an important a part of all digital gadgets.

Some consultants estimate that, by 2037, the smallest distance between options in semiconductor gadgets, referred to as “half-pitch,” will must be as small as 8 nm to assist next-generation electronics, emphasizing the necessity for developments in lithographic processes (technique of making extremely advanced circuit patterns on semiconductor elements).

As one would anticipate, creating such finely detailed constructions on any type of materials is an enormous enterprise. One promising avenue to attain this feat is named directed self-assembly (DSA) with block copolymers (BCPs).

Merely put, BCPs are lengthy chain-like molecules comprised of two or extra distinct sections—or blocks— of polymers. The method of DSA includes exploiting the interactions between completely different blocks in BCPs in order that they spontaneously and persistently organize themselves into ordered constructions and patterns.

Whereas this technique is definitely highly effective, producing options smaller than 10 nanometers (sub-10 nm) utilizing DSA stays difficult.

In a research revealed on 6 July 2024 in Nature Communications, researchers from Tokyo Tech and TOK managed to push the envelope of the chances on this subject.

Led by Professor Teruaki Hayakawa, the analysis group developed a novel BCP that was fastidiously tailored to create extremely small line patterns on a substrate within the type of lamellar domains (a construction composed of positive and different layers). These tiny patterns may pave the best way for brand spanking new superior semiconductor gadgets.

The newly developed BCP was created from polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (or PS-b-PMMA), a consultant and extensively studied BCP for DSA. First, the researchers launched an applicable quantity of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) into PS-b-PMMA, acquiring PS-b-(PGMA-r-PMMA).

Subsequent, they modified the PGMA phase with completely different thiols, aiming to refine the repulsive interactions between the completely different blocks within the ensuing polymer, named PS-b-PG_FM. The PS and PMMA segments additionally managed the affinity of the completely different elements of the molecule for air, which performs an necessary position in its self-alignment course of throughout DSA.

The tailor-made BCP reliably self-assembled into exceptionally small nanometric lamellar constructions when utilized as a skinny movie, as confirmed by atomic pressure microscopy. Furthermore, this new compound displayed spectacular efficiency on a substrate with parallel polystyrene chemical guides.

“Thin-film aligned lamellar domains with a vertical orientation could be reliably and reproducibly obtained via directed self-assembly, yielding parallel line patterns that correspond to a half-pitch size of 7.6 nm,” says Hayakawa. It’s value mentioning that this is among the smallest half-pitch sizes reported worldwide for thin-film lamellar constructions with no prime coating.

General, these thrilling findings have the potential to advance cutting-edge applied sciences in semiconductor manufacturing.

“PS-b-PG_FM BCPs are promising templates for use in lithography because they can produce fine patterns in DSA processes similar to the ones used for conventional PS-b-PMMA, with the potential to outperform them,” concludes Hayakawa.

“Studies aimed at optimizing the pattern-transfer processes using line patterns in PS-b-PG_FM thin films as templates will be investigated in the future,” he provides.