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4667518 
Journal Article 
The SMART (TM) Process for Directed Block Co-Polymer Self-Assembly 
Kim, J; Wan, J; Miyazaki, S; Yin, J; Cao, Yi; Her, Y; Wu, H; Shan, J; Kurosawa, K; Lin, G 
2013 
0 
Journal of Photopolymer Science and Technology
ISSN: 0914-9244 
26 
5 
573-579 
WOS:000322504000001 
A new process for directed block co-polymer self-assembly (DSA), AZ (R) SMART (TM), for high resolution line and space patterning was introduced. The SMART process started with photoresist trench patterns generated through common photolithographic processes on top of a thin crosslinked neutral layer. A reactive ion etching (RIE) process removed the neutral layer at bottom of the resist trenches and followed by a resist stripping step which completely removed the resist material and uncovered the neutral surface protected by the resist film during etching step. DSA performances of the resultant SMART chemical pre-patterns without or with extra pinning material brushing step were compared. Results indicated that pinning material enhanced chemical pre-pattern directing power for DSA performance. The chemical pre-pattern without pinning material provided well aligned DSA performance for some specific pre-pattern structure and DSA multiplication factor, but it lacked general performance stability. On the other hand, process with added pinning material was demonstrated with stable performance for variable pre-pattern pitches with different DSA multiplication factors. SMART DSA pattern profile and its pattern etching transfer into hard masks were investigated. 
block co-polymer; directed self-assembly; BCP; DSA; poly(styrene-b-methylmethacrylate); PS-b-PMMA; AZ SMART