Abstract
Block copolymer self-assembly is a candidate resolution enhancement technique for patterning at future technology nodes. The technology is based on the micro-phase separation of chemically immiscible (eg polar/apolar) block copolymers that contain etch contrast (eg. organic/inorganic) into regular patterns (eg. lamellar or cylindrical) with periodicities between 10 - 100 nm. One of the challenges that remain for the implementation of self-assembly in nanopatterning is extendibility of the technology to smaller features. In contrast to block copolymers, liquid crystals are able to self-assemble at the molecular length scale (1-10 nm). The current work reports on a liquid crystal with inherent etch contrast and its self-assembly behavior. A monodisperse oligo(dimethylsiloxane) liquid crystal is synthesized via hydrosilylation and characterized. The formation of a temperature dependent tilted smectic phase with a periodicity of approximately 3.0 nm is demonstrated via differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The director tilt is highly dependent on temperature (20° - 70°), while the layer spacing is relatively temperature independent (2.99 - 3.03 nm). Finally, we show that the liquid crystal forms lamellar sheets in thin films.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies XII 2017 |
Place of Publication | Bellingham |
Publisher | SPIE |
Number of pages | 9 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781510606913 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-5106-0692-0 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2017 |
Event | 12th Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies Conference (ELCT 2017) - San Francisco, United States Duration: 31 Jan 2017 → 2 Feb 2017 Conference number: 12 |
Publication series
Name | Proceedings of SPIE |
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Volume | 10125 |
Conference
Conference | 12th Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies Conference (ELCT 2017) |
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Abbreviated title | ELCT 2017 |
Country/Territory | United States |
City | San Francisco |
Period | 31/01/17 → 2/02/17 |
Keywords
- high-χ
- lamellar
- liquid crystal
- Nanopatterning
- ODMS
- PDMS
- phase transition
- smectic
- thermotropic
- thin film