The ability to impart multiple covarying properties into one material represents a grand challenge in manufacturing high-value materials and products. In designing block copolymers (BCPs) for directed self-assembly (DSA) and nanolithography for manufacturing, materials must balance often orthogonal properties to meet constraints related to processing, structure, and defectivity. Iterative synthetic strategies have led to BCPs with attractive properties, but gaps remain in identifying materials with all required attributes. Here we report a high throughput synthetic and characterization platform for BCPs with (A-block-(B-random-C)) architectures. Using one parent BCP and thiol-epoxy “click” chemistry, a library of BCPs were rapidly synthesized to cover a large and complex parameter space. Feature-size-dependent BCP chemistries were then readily identified for 8 to 20 nm pitch patterns, with blocks having similar surface energy for DSA, and control over the segregation strength (χN) to optimize structure (favored at high χN) and defectivity (favored at low χN).

High throughput platform to meet covarying materials manufacturing design criteria at multiple length scales for block copolymer nanolithography

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.