Field-theoretic simulations of directed self-assembly in cylindrical confinement: placement and rectification aspects

Nabil Laachi; Tatsuhiro Iwama; Kris T. Delaney; Bongkeun Kim; Robert Bristol; David Shykind; Corey J. Weinheimer; Glenn H. Fredrickson

doi:10.1117/12.2046472

28 March 2014 Field-theoretic simulations of directed self-assembly in cylindrical confinement: placement and rectification aspects

Nabil Laachi, Tatsuhiro Iwama, Kris T. Delaney, Bongkeun Kim, Robert Bristol, David Shykind, Corey J. Weinheimer, Glenn H. Fredrickson

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9049, Alternative Lithographic Technologies VI; 90491M (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2046472
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2014, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

We have investigated the directed self-assembly (DSA) of cylinder-forming block copolymers inside cylindrical guiding templates. To complement and corroborate our experimental study, we use field-theoretic simulations to examine the fluctuations-induced variations in the size and position of the cylindrical microdomain that forms in the middle of the guiding hole. Our study goes beyond the usual mean-field approximation and self-consistent field theory simulations (SCFT) and incorporates the effects of thermal fluctuations in the description of the self-assembly process using complex Langevin (CL) dynamics. In both our experimental and modeling efforts, we focus on minor-block-attractive sidewalls and bottom substrates and neutral top surfaces and explore the properties of the formed cylinders, including fluctuations in the center position and the size of the domain, for various prepattern conditions. Our results indicate robust critical dimensions (CD) of the DSA cylinders relative to the incoming CD, with a sigma CD < 0.9nm. Likewise, we find that the DSA cylinders are accurately registered in the center of the guiding hole, with deviations in the hole-inhole distance on the order of ≈ 0.7-1nm, translating to errors in the hole-to-hole distance of ≈ 1-1.5nm.

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Nabil Laachi, Tatsuhiro Iwama, Kris T. Delaney, Bongkeun Kim, Robert Bristol, David Shykind, Corey J. Weinheimer, and Glenn H. Fredrickson "Field-theoretic simulations of directed self-assembly in cylindrical confinement: placement and rectification aspects", Proc. SPIE 9049, Alternative Lithographic Technologies VI, 90491M (28 March 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2046472

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