6 research outputs found
Integration of a manufacturing grade, k = 2.0 spin-on material in a single damascene structure
International audienc
Recommended from our members
Additive Lithography-Organic Monolayer Patterning Coupled with an Area-Selective Deposition.
The combination of area-selective deposition (ASD) with a patternable organic monolayer provides a versatile additive lithography platform, enabling the generation of a variety of nanoscale feature geometries. Stearate hydroxamic acid self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were patterned with extreme ultraviolet (λ = 13.5 nm) or electron beam irradiation and developed with ASD to achieve line space patterns as small as 50 nm. Density functional theory was employed to aid in the synthesis of hydroxamic acid derivatives with optimized packing density to enhance the imaging contrast and improve dose sensitivity. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy reveal that the imaging mechanism is based on improved deposition inhibition provided by the cross-linking of the SAM to produce a more effective barrier during a subsequent deposition step. With patterned substrates composed of coplanar copper lines and silicon spacers, hydroxamic acids selectively formed monolayers on the metal portions and could undergo a pattern-wise exposure followed by ASD in the first combination of a patternable monolayer with ASD. This material system presents an additional capability compared to traditional ASD approaches that generally reflect a starting patterned surface. Furthermore, this bottoms-up additive approach to lithography may be a viable alternative to subtractive nanoscale feature generation
Orientation Control of Block Copolymers Using Surface Active, Phase-Preferential Additives
Orientation
control of thin film nanostructures derived from block
copolymers (BCPs) are of great interest for various emerging technologies
like separation membranes, nanopatterning, and energy storage. While
many BCP compositions have been developed for these applications,
perpendicular orientation of these BCP domains is still very challenging
to achieve. Herein we report on a new, integration-friendly approach
in which small amounts of a phase-preferential, surface active polymer
(SAP) was used as an additive to a polycarbonate-containing BCP formulation
to obtain perpendicularly oriented domains with 19 nm natural periodicity
upon thermal annealing. In this work, the vertically oriented BCP
domains were used to demonstrate next generation patterning applications
for advanced semiconductor nodes. Furthermore, these domains were
used to demonstrate pattern transfer into a hardmask layer via commonly
used etch techniques and graphoepitaxy-based directed self-assembly
using existing lithographic integration schemes. We believe that this
novel formulation-based approach can easily be extended to other applications
beyond nanopatterning
Reactive Vapor-Phase Inhibitors for Area-Selective Depositions at Tunable Critical Dimensions
Area-selective depositions (ASD)
take advantage of the chemical
contrast between material surfaces in device fabrication, where a
film can be selectively grown by chemical vapor deposition on metal
versus a dielectric, for instance, and can provide a path to nontraditional
device architectures as well as the potential to improve existing
device fabrication schemes. While ASD can be accessed through a variety
of methods, the incorporation of reactive moieties in inhibitors presents
several advantages, such as increasing thermal stability and limiting
precursor diffusion into the blocking layer. Alkyne-terminated small
molecule inhibitors (SMIs)propargyl, dipropargyl, and tripropargylaminewere
evaluated as metal-selective inhibitors. Modeling these SMIs provided
insight into the binding mechanism, influence of sterics, and complex
polymer network formed from the reaction between inhibitors consisting
of alkene, aromatic, and network branchpoints. While a significant
contrast in the binding of the SMIs on copper versus a dielectric
was observed, residual amounts were detected on the dielectric surfaces,
leading to variable ALD growth rates dependent on pattern-critical
dimensions. This behavior can be controlled and utilized to direct
film growth on patterns only above a critical threshold dimension;
below this threshold, both the dielectric and metal features are protected.
This method provides another design parameter for ASD processes and
may extend its application to broader-ranging device fabrication schemes