Polymer self assembly in semiconductor microelectronics

TLDR

Self‑assembly, the spontaneous arrangement of elements into regular nanometer‑scale patterns, offers a nontraditional approach to patterning integrated circuit elements at dimensions and densities beyond traditional lithography, inspiring advances in semiconductor technology. We review IBM’s efforts to develop and integrate self‑assembly processes as high‑resolution patterning alternatives and demonstrate targeted semiconductor device applications. We provide a framework for understanding key requirements for adopting polymer self‑assembly into semiconductor technology and discuss its ultimate dimensional scalability.

Abstract

We are inspired by the beauty and simplicity of self-organizing materials and the promise they hold for enabling continued improvements in semiconductor technology. Self assembly is the spontaneous arrangement of individual elements into regular patterns; under suitable conditions, certain materials self organize into useful nanometer-scale patterns of importance to high-performance microelectronics applications. Polymer self assembly is a nontraditional approach to patterning integrated circuit elements at dimensions and densities inaccessible to traditional lithography methods. We review here our efforts in IBM to develop and integrate self-assembly processes as high-resolution patterning alternatives and to demonstrate targeted applications in semiconductor device fabrication. We also provide a framework for understanding key requirements for the adoption of polymer self-assembly processes into semiconductor technology, as well as a discussion of the ultimate dimensional scalability of the technique.