Practical approaches towards building nanoscale architechtures

纳米结构一直是激烈研究的焦点，因为它们的迷人特性可以明显不同于它们的体积对应物，因此显示出巨大的应用前景。例如，在纳米级电子、磁性、光子和生物传感器件中，复杂的金属和有机结构正在成为片上互连和有源元件的重要构建块。这些未来应用所需的关键要素之一是能够通过组装、图像化和在技术相关的固体支撑（如半导体表面）上对齐来集成众多可寻址纳米结构。挑战在于以经济可行的方式制造大面积的高密度纳米结构，其特征尺寸远低于100纳米。虽然在半导体工业协会（SIA）的路线图中，光刻技术仍将是即将到来的45纳米以下一代的核心技术，但大规模生产的成本考虑将是一个关键的制约因素。因此，人们有兴趣开发涉及大规模自组装的互补模式策略，作为纳米结构开发的软有机模板。虽然SIA路线图建议嵌段共聚物模板是一种潜在的45纳米以下特征图案的“创新技术”，但它们与硅和其他表面的集成仍然存在许多挑战。

Nanostructures continue to be the focus of intense research because of their fascinating properties that can be distinctly different form their bulk counterparts, and thus show great promise for a range of applications. Complex metallic and organic architectures are emerging as important building blocks for on-chip interconnects and active components in nanoscale electronic, magnetic, photonic, and biosensing devices, for instance. One of the key ingredients required for these future applications is the ability to integrate numerous addressable nanostructures through assembly, patterning, and alignment on technologically relevant solid supports, such as semiconductor surfaces. The challenge lies in fabricating large areas of high density nanostructures, with feature sizes well below 100 nm, in an economically feasible manner. While photolithography will justifiably remain a core technology with respect to the upcoming sub-45 nm generations on the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Roadmap, cost considerations for mass manufacturing will be one critical constraint. As a result, there is interest in the development of complementary patterning strategies that involve large scale self-assembly, for use as a soft organic template for nanostructure development. While block copolymer templating is suggested on the SIA Roadmap to be a potentially "innovative technology" for sub-45 nm feature patterning, there are still many challenges associated with their integration with silicon and other surfaces.