Design rules for self-assembled block copolymer patterns using tiled templates

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 3305
• Main Authors: Chang, Jae-Byum, Choi, Hong Kyoon, Hannon, Adam F., Alexander-Katz, Alfredo, Ross, Caroline A., Berggren, Karl K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 17-02-2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 142/126; 639/301/923/1028; 639/301/930/1032; 639/925/357/341; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4305

Directed self-assembly of block copolymers has been used for fabricating various nanoscale patterns, ranging from periodic lines to simple bends. However, assemblies of dense bends, junctions and line segments in a single pattern have not been achieved by using sparse templates, because no systematic template design methods for achieving such complex patterns existed. To direct a complex pattern by using a sparse template, the template needs to encode the key information contained in the final pattern, without being a simple copy of the pattern. Here we develop a set of topographic template tiles consisting of square lattices of posts with a restricted range of geometric features. The block copolymer patterns resulting from all tile arrangements are determined. By combining tiles in different ways, it is possible to predict a relatively simple template that will direct the formation of non-trivial block copolymer patterns, providing a new template design method for a complex block copolymer pattern.
Sparse templates can be used to direct the assembly of block copolymers into patterned structures. Here the authors report a small set of template tiles that can be combined in different arrangements and orientations to form a variety of non-trivial patterns.