Helium ion microscopy (HIM) has been used to study nanopatterns formed in block copolymer (BCP) thin films. Owing to its’ small spot size, minimal forward scattering of the incident ion and reduced velocity compared to electrons of comparable energy, HIM has considerable advantages and provides pattern information and resolution not attainable with other commercial microscopic techniques.
In order to realize the full potential of BCP nanolithography in producing high density ultra-small features, the dimensions and geometry of these BCP materials will need to be accurately characterized through pattern formation, development and pattern transfer processes. The preferred BCP pattern inspection techniques (to date) are principally atomic force microscopy (AFM) and secondary electron microscopy (SEM) but suffer disadvantages in poor lateral resolution (AFM) and the ability to discriminate individual polymer domains (SEM). SEM suffers from reduced resolution when a more surface sensitive low accelerating voltage is used and low surface signal when a high accelerating voltage is used. In addition to these drawbacks, SEM can require the use of a conductive coating on these insulating materials and this reduces surface detail as well as increasing the dimensions of coated features. AFM is limited by the dimensions of the probe tip and a skewing of lateral dimension results. This can be eliminated through basic geometry for large sparse features, but when dense small features need to be characterized AFM lacks reliability. With this in mind, BCP inspection by HIM can offer greater insight into block ordering, critical dimensions and, critically, line edge roughness (LER) a critical parameter whose measurement is well suited to HIM because of its’ enhanced edge contrast.
In this work we demonstrate the resolution capabilities of HIM using various BCP systems (lamellar and cylinder structures). Imaging of BCP patterns of low molecular weight (MW)/low feature size which challenges the resolution of HIM technique. Further, studies of BCP patterns with domains of similar chemistry will be presented demonstrating the superior chemical contrast compared to SEM. From the data, HIM excels as a BCP inspection tool in four distinct areas. Firstly, HIM offers higher resolution at standard imaging conditions than SEM. Secondly, the signal generated from He+ is more surface sensitive and enables visualization of features that cannot be resolved using SEM. Thirdly; superior chemical contrast enables the imaging of un etched samples with almost identical chemical composition. Finally, dimensional measurement accuracy is high and consistent with requirements for advanced lithographic masks.
The nanometer range structure produced by thin films of diblock copolymers makes them a great of interest as templates
for the microelectronics industry. We investigated the effect of annealing solvents and/or mixture of the solvents in case
of symmetric Poly (styrene-block-4vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) diblock copolymer to get the desired line patterns. In this
paper, we used different molecular weights PS-b-P4VP to demonstrate the scalability of such high χ BCP system which
requires precise fine-tuning of interfacial energies achieved by surface treatment and that improves the wetting property,
ordering, and minimizes defect densities. Bare Silicon Substrates were also modified with polystyrene brush and ethylene
glycol self-assembled monolayer in a simple quick reproducible way. Also, a novel and simple in situ hard mask technique
was used to generate sub-7nm Iron oxide nanowires with a high aspect ratio on Silicon substrate, which can be used to
develop silicon nanowires post pattern transfer.
We report a simple technique to fabricate horizontal, uniform Si nanowire arrays with controlled orientation and density
at spatially well defined locations on substrate based on insitu hard mask pattern formation approach by microphase
separated polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) block copolymer (BCP) thin films. The methodology may be
applicable to large scale production. Ordered microphase separated patterns of the BCP were defined by solvent
annealing and the orientation was controlled by film thickness and annealing time. Films of PEO cylinders with parallel
orientation (to the surface plane) were applied to create ‘frames’ for the generation of inorganic oxide nanowire arrays.
These PEO cylinders were subject to selective metal ion inclusion and subsequent processing was used to create iron
oxide nanowire arrays. The oxide nanowires were isolated, of uniform diameter and their structure a mimic of the
original BCP nanopatterns. The phase purity, crystallinity and thermal stability of the nanowires coupled to the ease of
large scale production may make them useful in technological applications. Here, we demonstrate that the oxide
nanowire arrays could be used as a resist mask to fabricate densely packed, identical ordered, good fidelity silicon
nanowire arrays on the substrate. The techniques may have significant application in the manufacture of transistor
circuitry.
Eugene Kennedy, John Costello, Jean-Paul Mosnier, Attilio Cafolla, Martin Collins, Laurence Kiernan, Ulrich Koeble, Muhammad Sayyad, Matthew Shaw, Bernd Sonntag, Robert Barchewitz
A new multilaser multichannel spectrometer system has been developed that allows a wide range of investigations of the interaction of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) photons with matter in the form of free atoms or ions, e.g., in gases or plasmas or bound as in solids. The EUV photons are generated by a laser-produced plasma. Applications to the study of photoabsorption by thin foils, gases, and ground- and excited-state atoms and ions are described. The design and performance of a collimated, quasi-monochromatic, intense source of EUV radiation based on the combination of a laser-produced plasma with a EUV multilayer mirror is also reported.
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