FuSe: Precise Sequence Specific Block Copolymers for Directed Self-Assembly - Co-Design of Lithographic Materials for Pattern Quality, Scaling, and Manufacturing

With the support of the Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) Program, Professors Paul Nealey and Juan de Pablo at the University of Chicago, Professor Christopher Ober at Cornell University, and Professor Whitney Loo at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will design, synthesize and investigate new materials and processes for high-volume high-resolution patterning in the context of semiconductor manufacturing. Lithography or patterning is the enabling technology for semiconductor manufacturing. Recently the light used for the highest resolution lithography has changed from a wavelength of 193 nano meter to a more energetic extreme ultra-violet (EUV) light with a wavelength of 13.5 nano meter. This disruptive advance enabled patterning at smaller dimensions to manufacture ever more powerful and faster semiconductor devices. This project will capitalize on the concept of co-design of materials and processes to enhance the EUV lithographic process through a strategy known as EUV plus directed self-assembly (DSA). Tools that were developed in the biological and medical sciences will be used here to synthesize polypeptoid containing BCPs for high precision and uniformity of augmented material properties for EUV plus DSA applications. Coupled to the advancement of patterning science and US semiconductor manufacturing competitiveness, an internship program will provide hands-on training in cleanroom operations to 2-year community college students in university cleanrooms in order to propel them into careers as high-level semiconductor manufacturing technicians . The project is focused on the design and synthesis of new block copolymer (BCP) materials and their use for high-volume high-resolution EUV-based patterning for semiconductor manufacturing. The research team will capitalize on the concept of co-design of materials and processes to enhance the EUV lithographic process through a strategy known as EUV plus directed self-assembly (DSA). An issue in designing BCPs for EUV plus DSA is the need for a comprehensive materials platform to: 1) understand the fundamental new physics governing high chi low N systems, 2) engineer multiple optimized covarying attributes into different BCP chemistries at each target resolution, and 3) ensure a robust materials supply chain for commercialization. A-block-(B-random-C) architectures will be employed to decouple thermodynamic properties (chi, chiN) from surface and interfacial properties and to allow for optimized or engineered covarying properties such as BCP lamellar period (resolution), block surface energies (perpendicular orientation of through film domains), sharp interfaces between domains (low line edge roughness), and pattern transfer capabilities. The research is focused on the development of BCPs based on polypeptoids. Importantly, polypeptoid-based block copolymers provide opportunities to engineer sequence specificity in the B-r-C block to co-design key EUV plus DSA properties, surface energy, width of interfaces between blocks, and pattern transfer. High chi and low N systems do not obey traditional BCP theory and scaling laws, and new physics of the polypeptoid systems will be discovered and exploited to optimize materials for the lithographic applications. The polypeptoid platform is ideally suited for machine learning approaches to optimize properties and to understand the new physics of these systems. Sequence and composition specific BCPs with zero dispersity made in quantity using solid-phase synthesis will enable unprecedented integration of experiment, theory, and computation, including machine learning to understand and exploit emergent behavior for patterning. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.