Improved cost-effectiveness of the block co-polymer anneal process for DSA

Pathangi, Hari; Stokhof, Maarten; Knaepen, Werner; Vaid, Varun; Mallik, Arindam; Chan, Boon Teik; Vandenbroeck, Nadia; Maes, Jan Willem; Gronheid, Roel

doi:10.1117/12.2220043

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Further research is required to determine if the removal of polymer brushes and BCPs post pattern transfer is more or less harmful than conventional lithographic techniques that use photoresist. Reduced etch steps have been reported for DSA which suggests possible reduced environmental pollution from wastes [232]. Another important consideration is the environmental impact of synthesising polymers [13].…”

Section: Are There Environmental Incentives To Pursue the Alternative Lithography Strategies?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ASD and DSA techniques represent an opportunity to reduce the generation of pollutants and waste. The economic advantages of these techniques have been reported [4,36,232]. Further research is required however to determine exactly how advantageous bottom lithography techniques are environmentally and how feasible their implementation in industry is.…”

Section: Are There Environmental Incentives To Pursue the Alternative Lithography Strategies?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reduced etch steps have been reported for DSA [232]. Further research is required to evaluate environmental impact.…”

Section: Photoresists Photostrippers Bcp and Polymer Brush Wastesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green Nanofabrication Opportunities in the Semiconductor Industry: A Life Cycle Perspective

Mullen

Morris

2021

Nanomaterials

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The turn of the 21st century heralded in the semiconductor age alongside the Anthropocene epoch, characterised by the ever-increasing human impact on the environment. The ecological consequences of semiconductor chip manufacturing are the most predominant within the electronics industry. This is due to current reliance upon large amounts of solvents, acids and gases that have numerous toxicological impacts. Management and assessment of hazardous chemicals is complicated by trade secrets and continual rapid change in the electronic manufacturing process. Of the many subprocesses involved in chip manufacturing, lithographic processes are of particular concern. Current developments in bottom-up lithography, such as directed self-assembly (DSA) of block copolymers (BCPs), are being considered as a next-generation technology for semiconductor chip production. These nanofabrication techniques present a novel opportunity for improving the sustainability of lithography by reducing the number of processing steps, energy and chemical waste products involved. At present, to the extent of our knowledge, there is no published life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluating the environmental impact of new bottom-up lithography versus conventional lithographic techniques. Quantification of this impact is central to verifying whether these new nanofabrication routes can replace conventional deposition techniques in industry as a more environmentally friendly option.

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Section: Are There Environmental Incentives To Pursue the Alternative Lithography Strategies?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Are There Environmental Incentives To Pursue the Alternative Lithography Strategies?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green Nanofabrication Opportunities in the Semiconductor Industry: A Life Cycle Perspective

Mullen

Morris

2021

Nanomaterials

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“…The directed self-assembly (DSA) of the diblock copolymers utilizes a chemically or physically pre-patterned surface to control the orientation and position of the self-assembled domains [1]. The DSA may be a simple, costeffective patterning approach for fabricating very fine patterns (e.g., half pitch of ~15-20 nm), but it still needs to improve the defect level and the placement error for high-volume manufacturing of semiconductor devices [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct Self-Assembly for Non-Periodic Designs

Yoshimoto

Yoshida

Ohshima

et al. 2016

J. Photopol. Sci. Technol.

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Previously we investigated a directed self-assembly (DSA) process for fabricating a nonperiodic pattern (i.e., wide line) lying in between the periodic line/space patterns. A symmetric poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) was employed here, which formed a lamella morphology with the natural period (L 0 ) of 30 nm. Unlike the conventional DSA process, we used ArF resist patterns as the chemical guides, and generated a horizontal lamella on the non-periodic guide pattern as an etch template for fabricating the wide line. Our preliminary results showed that controlling the morphological defects around the boundary between the periodic and non-periodic regions would be crucial for this DSA flow. In this paper, we report on how the width of the non-periodic pattern, W, would affect on the overall self-assembled morphology of PS-b-PMMA on the pre-patterned surface. The experimental results showed that a transition from the perpendicular to horizontal lamella on the non-periodic pattern occurred at W=2.50 L0. It was also revealed from our simulations that at W=1.50 L 0 , the perpendicular PS-rich domain was not attached to the guide surface; it might be taken off after the removal of PMMA. For W>3.5 L 0 , the wide line was transferred to the underlying silicon (Si) substrate, but some large defects were observed in the non-periodic region, possibly due to some residues of the neutral materials on top of the ArF guide pattern.

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“…The self-assembly of BCPs into periodic domains (e.g., linespace patterns derived from lamellae) on the nanometer length scale, coupled with density multiplication using prepattern templates defined by photolithography, has the potential to significantly reduce fabrication costs compared to self-aligned multiplication processes. 3 To date, most progress in BCP lithography for line-space patterning has exploited readily available poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA), 4−11 but PS-b-PMMA faces a practical resolution limit of approximately 22 nm full pitch due to its relatively modest interaction parameter (χ). 12 Because the integration of BCP lithography into HVM is contingent on scalability down to 20 nm and below, BCPs with higher χ than PS-b-PMMA are clearly a prerequisite for commercialization.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Hybrid Chemo-/Grapho-Epitaxial Alignment Strategy for Defect Reduction in Sub-10 nm Directed Self-Assembly of Silicon-Containing Block Copolymers

et al. 2016

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The directed self-assembly (DSA) of a 20 nm full-pitch silicon-containing block copolymer (BCP), poly(4-methoxystyrene-b-4-trimethylsilylstyrene), was performed using a process that produces shallow topography for hybrid chemo-/grapho-epitaxy. This hybrid process produced DSA with fewer defects than the analogous conventional chemo-epitaxial process, and the resulting DSA was also more tolerant of variations in process parameters. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) confirmed that BCP features spanned the entire film thickness on hybrid process wafers. Both processes were implemented on 300 mm wafers initially prepatterned by 193 nm immersion lithography, which is necessary for economic viability in high-volume manufacturing. Computational analysis of DSA extracted from top-down SEM images demonstrates the influence of process parameters on DSA, facilitating the optimization of guide stripe width, guide stripe pitch, and prepattern surface energy. This work demonstrates the ability of a hybrid process to improve the DSA quality over a conventional chemo-epitaxial process and the potential for high-volume manufacturing with high-χ, silicon-containing BCPs.

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Improved cost-effectiveness of the block co-polymer anneal process for DSA

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

Green Nanofabrication Opportunities in the Semiconductor Industry: A Life Cycle Perspective

Green Nanofabrication Opportunities in the Semiconductor Industry: A Life Cycle Perspective

Direct Self-Assembly for Non-Periodic Designs

A Hybrid Chemo-/Grapho-Epitaxial Alignment Strategy for Defect Reduction in Sub-10 nm Directed Self-Assembly of Silicon-Containing Block Copolymers

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