Triblock Terpolymers for Self-assembled Nanolithography

自组装提供了创建具有电子或化学功能的良好控制的纳米结构的能力，并使各种有用器件的合成成为可能。双嵌段共聚物自组装成微畴的周期性阵列，特征尺寸通常为10-50纳米，并已被用作自组装的“电阻”，以定义在制造各种器件（如硅电容器和晶体管，光子晶体和图图化磁介质）中有用的周期性图案。然而，双嵌段共聚物中的层状、圆柱形或球形微畴通常形成光栅图案，或具有六边形对称的紧密排列结构。模式几何形状的这种限制限制了它们的设备应用，因此需要创建具有更广泛几何形状和应用程序的自组装模式。这一建议的智力优点是发展三嵌段三元聚合物，形成具有多种几何形状的薄膜。工作包括设计三嵌段三元聚合物，以形成具有特定几何形状的薄膜，例如宽间距或紧密间距的线条，具有特定边缘调制的线条，结或弯曲，或非紧密排列的圆柱体或球体阵列；具有适当的嵌段化学、相互作用和体积分数的聚合物的合成；了解加工效果，包括衬底处理和退火工艺；自组装建模；并在一个块内产生磁性纳米颗粒，直接形成功能纳米结构。这项工作的核心是利用衬底化学和地形对三嵌段三元聚合物的模板化进行研究，以便将自组装引导到纳米级精度。这项工作是由英国布里斯托尔的一个在三嵌段共聚物合成化学方面有经验的小组和麻省理工学院的一个在嵌段共聚物光刻和模板方面有经验的小组合作完成的。

Self-assembly provides the ability to create well-controlled nanostructures with electronic or chemical functionality and enables the synthesis of a wide range of useful devices. Diblock copolymers self-assemble into periodic arrays of microdomains with feature sizes of typically 10-50 nm, and have been used as self-assembled 'resists' to define periodic patterns useful in making a wide range of devices such as silicon capacitors and transistors, photonic crystals, and patterned magnetic media. However, the lamellar, cylindrical or spherical microdomains in diblock copolymers generally form grating patterns, or close packed structures with hexagonal symmetry. This limitation in pattern geometries restricts their device applications, making it desirable to create self-assembled patterns with a wider range of geometries and applications. The intellectual merit of this proposal is the development of triblock terpolymers which form thin films with a diverse range of geometries. The work includes design of triblock terpolymers to form films with specific geometries such as widely or closely-spaced lines, lines with specific edge modulations, junctions, or bends, or arrays of cylinders or spheres in non-close-packed arrangements; synthesis of polymers with appropriate block chemistry, interactions and volume fractions; understanding processing effects including substrate treatment and annealing processes; modeling the self-assembly; and generation of magnetic nanoparticles within one block to form functional nanostructures directly. Central to this work is an investigation of templating of triblock terpolymers using substrate chemistry and topography, so that the self-assembly can be guided to nanoscale precision. The work is a collaboration between a group in Bristol, UK, with experience in the synthetic chemistry of triblock terpolymers, and a group in MIT, Cambridge MA, with experience in block copolymer lithography and templating.