Universal pattern transfer methods for metal nanostructures by block copolymer lithography

Abstract

A universal block copolymer pattern transfer method was demonstrated to produce Co nanostructures consisting of arrays of lines or dots from a polystyrene-block-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-b-PDMS) diblock copolymer. Three processes were used: liftoff, a damascene process, and ion beam etching using a hard mask of tungsten, including a sacrificial poly(methyl methacrylate) layer under the PS-b-PDMS for the etch and liftoff processes. The ion beam etch process produced the most uniform magnetic arrays. A structural and magnetic comparison in terms of uniformity, edge roughness and switching field distribution has been reported.

Photoluminescent Arrays of Nanopatterned Monolayer MoS2

“…Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is first spin‐coated over the entire substrate to act as a sacrificial layer for lift‐off in the final stages to remove any residual BCP. Next the substrate is coated with a polystyrene‐ block ‐polydimethylsiloxane (PS‐ b ‐PDMS) layer which self‐assembles into periodic arrays of PDMS spheres embedded in a PS matrix through a toluene vapor annealing process, as previously reported . PS‐ b ‐PDMS is chosen for the fabrication of a self‐organized nanotemplate because of its desirable etch selectivity, the formation of highly ordered features, and its scalability to small dimensions due to its high Flory–Huggins interaction parameter (χ) .…”

In situ GISAXS study of a Si-containing block copolymer under solvent vapor annealing: Effects of molecular weight and solvent vapor composition

“…PS-b-PDMS has Flory-Huggins parameter χ = 0.14 or 0.26 at room temperature, 41,42 sufficiently high that microphase separation can occur at room temperature even for M n below 10 kg/mol. 43 PS-b-PDMS has high etch resistance and etch selectivity in an oxygen plasma, which can remove the PS block and partially oxidize the PDMS block into rigid SiO x , 44 enabling the morphology to be imaged post-anneal. SD12 and SD16 were spin coated on silicon substrates from 5wt% solution in toluene to form films of 200-400 nm thickness.…”

Synthesis, molecular characterization and self-assembly of (PS-b-PDMS)n type linear (n = 1, 2) and star (n = 3, 4) block copolymers

“…Complex structures such as the ones exhibited by the star block copolymers in this study have potential for a variety of applications and especially as thin films in nanotechnology since controlled orientation is feasible, and therefore may minimize further the molecular weight limits towards nanotechnology applications and directed self-assembly features as already reported in previous studies for PS-b-PDMS diblock copolymers. 6,26,[44][45][46][47][48]…”