Towards an all-track 300 mm process for directed self-assembly

This study modifies the authors' previously reported directed self-assembly (DSA) process of polystyrene-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) in order to meet the throughput and material-related requirements of a semiconductor manufacturing environment. It is demonstrated that all of the bottleneck steps in the authors' DSA process, including the deposition of the cross-linkable mat and the deposition of the brush layer, can be done in minutes on a hot plate in an N-2 atmosphere, which simulates the processing environment of a lithography track module. A 25-nm-pitch pattern resulting from a 4:1 density multiplication was demonstrated with a manufacturing-compatible organic solvent. A preliminary uniformity study on 300 mm wafers was also presented. The modified DSA process presents a viable solution to some of the anticipated throughput-related challenges to DSA commercialization and thus, brings integration of DSA within reach of the semiconductor manufacturing industry. (C) 2011 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3644341]