Block Copolymer Nanopatterning for Nonsemiconductor Device Applications

Abstract

Block copolymer (BCP) nanopatterning has emerged as a versatile nanoscale fabrication tool for semiconductor devices and other applications, because of its ability to organize well-defined, periodic nanostructures with a critical dimension of 5–100 nm. While the most promising application field of BCP nanopatterning has been semiconductor devices, the versatility of BCPs has also led to enormous interest from a broad spectrum of other application areas. In particular, the intrinsically low cost and straightforward processing of BCP nanopatterning have been widely recognized for their large-area parallel formation of dense nanoscale features, which clearly contrasts that of sophisticated processing steps of the typical photolithographic process, including EUV lithography. In this Review, we highlight the recent progress in the field of BCP nanopatterning for various nonsemiconductor applications. Notable examples relying on BCP nanopatterning, including nanocatalysts, sensors, optics, energy devices, membranes, surface modifications and other emerging applications, are summarized. We further discuss the current limitations of BCP nanopatterning and suggest future research directions to open up new potential application fields.

Porous but Mechanically Robust All-Inorganic Antireflective Coatings Synthesized using Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity

“…Upon water exposure in the second half of the SIS cycle, the aluminum oxide clusters are formed and become unbonded from the C≡N bonds still forming a porous scaffold of AlOx. This mechanism is different from the mechanism reported for SIS when BCP polymer templates are used. − After deposition of BCP polymer, polar and nonpolar parts of BCP molecules phase-segregate forming patterns determined by the characteristics of the BCP molecules. , Note that in the case of BCPs templates, the peak positions corresponding to, for example, C=O and −C–O–R groups in polar domains of BCPs were found to shift upon BCPs exposure to the vapors of TMA or other metal precursors indicating the formation of chemical bonds with TMA. , For example, in the case of PS(79)-PVP(36.5) during the infiltration cycles, the TMA precursors interact mainly with functional groups of polar domains formed by P4VP, while no infiltration into PS domains occurs, leading to selective infiltration of polar domains of PS(79)-PVP(36.5) used in our study. Since the size of polar and nonpolar parts of selected for our application BCP molecules is in the nanometer range, further polymer removal leads to the formation of nanoporous AlO x structures, as shown in our previous study .…”

“…39−41 After deposition of BCP polymer, polar and nonpolar parts of BCP molecules phase-segregate forming patterns determined by the characteristics of the BCP molecules. 42,43 Note that in the case of BCPs templates, the peak positions corresponding to, for example, C=O and −C−O−R groups in polar domains of BCPs were found to shift upon BCPs exposure to the vapors of TMA or other metal precursors indicating the formation of chemical bonds with TMA. 41,44 For example, in the case of PS(79)-PVP(36.5) during the infiltration cycles, the TMA precursors interact mainly with functional groups of polar domains formed by P4VP, while no infiltration into PS domains occurs, leading to selective infiltration of polar domains of PS(79)-PVP(36.5) used in our study.…”

Highly Ordered Porous Inorganic Structures via Block Copolymer Lithography: An Application of the Versatile and Selective Infiltration of the “Inverse” P2VP-b-PS System

“…By decreasing the BCP film thickness to scale consistently with the natural period of the polymer ( L 0 ), it is possible to generate a range of structures. These morphologies can be utilized in several industrial applications, such as lithographic masks, membranes, and photonics . Moreover, the BCP can act as an engineered template for inclusion of inorganic species. , The confinement of a polymer in a thin film (typically <100 nm) changes its behavior compared to the bulk counterpart: thin films are subjected to interactions with the interfaces, for example, substrate and air.…”

“…By decreasing the BCP film thickness to scale consistently with the natural period of the polymer (L 0 ), it is possible to generate a range of structures. These morphologies can be utilized in several industrial applications, such as lithographic masks, 13 membranes, 14 and photonics. 15 Moreover, the BCP can act as an engineered template for inclusion of inorganic species.…”

Liquid Phase Infiltration of Block Copolymers

“…In the literature, many different terminologies have been used to describe this process, such as LPI [ 16 , 17 ], ion adsorption [ 18 ], aqueous metal reduction [ 19 ], metal ion loading [ 15 ], metal inclusion [ 20 ] and metal incorporation [ 21 ]. Although each one might indicate a different interaction mechanism between the metal precursor and the polymeric template (complexation or electrostatic) or different process conditions (neutral or acidic), they all can be referred to as a liquid phase route to selectively localise metal salt precursors into one of the BCP nanodomains.…”