Arkema And Brewer Pursue Directed Self-Assembly

Arkema and Brewer Science have formed a partnership to produce directed self-assembly (DSA) materials for use in next-generation semiconductor lithography. Today, features are created on silicon wafers through a multistep process of photoresist application, exposure with ultraviolet light shone through a patterning mask, and etching of exposed resist. In DSA, patterns are created directly on a wafer to guide blocks of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate into assembling themselves. The partners say their goal is to provide a “turnkey” DSA process with all materials and process knowledge. Mark Thirsk, a managing partner of the electronic materials consulting firm Linx Consulting, calls the partnership a good match. Arkema has been researching DSA block copolymers for a year or two, and Brewer already supplies antireflective coatings for lithography, Thirsk says. But they face competition from Merck KGaA, JSR, and Dow Chemical. And DSA has yet to be adopted in a semiconductor manufacturing plant, he notes.