Directed self-assembly of supramolecular polymeric systems

• Grant number: 15/11355-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - General Physics
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cecília Barbosa da Silveira Salvadori
• Grantee: Antti Jaakko Juhani Nykanen
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Traditionally semiconductor industry has employed top-down methods such as photolithography to copy the IC-desing to the semiconductors. Photolithography, however, has its limits to thereduced structure sizes, because the size depends on the wavelength of the used electromagnetic radiation. The current manufacturing technology of electronics can produce repeating units with periodicity of 42 nm. To go beyond this, alternative technologies are needed. One alternative method is block copolymer self-assembly, which has been shown to be capable of producing smaller structures with stuctural defects within the tolerance of semiconductor industry. However, block copolymers also have aprincipal limit, around 6 nm, for the smallest possible structure size, due to the decreased enthalpy of mixing as the molecular weight of the block copolymer is diminished. To get even smaller structures using the concept of self-assembly, one can utilize supramolecular chemistry. In this research project, self-assembly of supramolecular complexes of selected block copolymers and small molecules are studied in thin films with a presence of chemicaland/or physical patterns on the substrate. One example of a supramolecular structure is poly(4-vinylpyridine) complexed with 3-pentadecylphenol, which has structural periodicity of around 3 nm. If we are able to align structure like this on a chemically or physically patterned silicon substrate, it will open up a possibility to use this structure as a mask to replicate the structure on the silicon directly.