Simulation Study of Sub-10 nm Pattern Formation Using Diblock Polymer Directed Self-assembly

Because top-down approaches, such as the extreme ultraviolet technique and high-index fluidbased immersion ArF lithography, may cover one or two generations, lithography technology for scaling down feature size to sub-10-nm is becoming more complex. The directed self-assembly technology of block copolymers is one candidate for next-generation lithography. In this paper, a directed self-assembly lithography process for block copolymers is modeled and simulated on a molecular scale to solve the challenges associated with directed self-assembly technology. Sub-10nm patterns can be formed by using precise pattern placement of a conventional ‘top-down’ optical lithography with the well-defined nanostructure and self-healing properties of ‘bottom-up’ block copolymer self-assembly. Simulation results matched the experiment results.