Polymer blending is a powerful approach to expand the nanopatterning landscape for block copolymer (BCP) directed self-assembly, itself a promising route to enhance resolution in established lithography techniques. However, investigating the vast and complex parameter spaces associated with blend self-assembly remains a daunting challenge. This talk will highlight examples where blending BCPs with homopolymers can dramatically speed up self-assembly kinetics for potential applications from nanophotonics to membrane synthesis, while blending two BCPs enables registered, template-responsive pattern selection. I will further describe ongoing efforts to accelerate investigations of blend formulation and processing using new combinatorial and autonomous methods.

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Gregory S. Doerk, Aaron Stein, Suwon Bae, Marcus Noack, Masafumi Fukuto, Ashish A. Kulkarni, Kristof Toth, Chinedum Osuji, and Kevin Yager, "Advancing the capabilities of polymer blend directed self-assembly," Proc. SPIE PC12497, Novel Patterning Technologies 2023, PC124970I (Presented at SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning: March 02, 2023; Published: 30 April 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2660507.6325349837112.