Annealing process to enable nanoscale features
Researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed an annealing process that may make practical the use of block copolymer (bcp) thin films for patterning nanoscale features in next generation chips and data storage devices.
According to NIST, bcp thin films are highly desired by semiconductor manufacturers as patterns for laying down very fine features on chips, such as arrays of tightly spaced, nanoscale lines.
Annealing certain bcp films – a controlled heating process – causes one of the two polymer components to segregate into regular patterns of nanocylinder lines separated by distances as small as 5nm or equally regular arrays of nanoscale dots. Removing the other polymer chemically leaves the pattern behind as a template for building structures on the microchip.
