title: Solvent vapor annealing of block copolymers in confined topographies: commensurability considerations for nanolithography.
abstract: The directed self-assembly of block copolymer (BCP) materials in topographically patterned substrates (i.e., graphoepitaxy) is a potential methodology for the continued scaling of nanoelectronic device technologies. In this Communication, an unusual feature size variation in BCP nanodomains under confinement with graphoepitaxially aligned cylinder-forming poly(styrene)-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) BCP is reported. Graphoepitaxy of PS-b-P4VP BCP line patterns (CII ) is accomplished via topo-graphy in hydrogen silsequioxane (HSQ) modified substrates and solvent vapor annealing (SVA). Interestingly, reduced domain sizes in features close to the HSQ guiding features are observed. The feature size reduction is evident after inclusion of alumina into the P4VP domains followed by pattern transfer to the silicon substrate. It is suggested that this nano-domain size perturbation is due to solvent swelling effects during SVA. It is proposed that using a commensurability value close to the solvent vapor annealed periodicity will alleviate this issue leading to uniform nanofins.
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Cian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cummins
authors.forename: Roisin A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Anushka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gangnaik
authors.forename: Yordan M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Georgiev
authors.forename: Nikolay
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petkov
authors.forename: Justin D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D055615:Electrical Equipment and Supplies; D004595:Electroplating / Q000379:methods; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D017646:Organosilicon Compounds / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D058105:Polymerization; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D017646:Organosilicon Compounds; D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents; D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D012825:Silicon
keywords: block copolymers; commensurability; directed self-assembly; graphoepitaxy; pattern transfer; solvent vapor annealing