Imec demonstrates 18nm pitch line/space patterning with a high-chi directed self-assembly process

This week, at the 2021 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, imec demonstrates for the first time the capability of directed self-assembly (DSA) to pattern line/spaces with a pitch as small as 18 nm, using a high-chi block copolymer (high-χ BCP) based process under high volume manufacturing (HVM) conditions. An optimized dry-etch chemistry was used to successfully transfer the pattern into an underlying thick SiN layer—which will enable further defectivity inspection. These results confirm the potential of DSA to complement traditional top-down patterning for the industrial fabrication of sub-2 nm technology nodes.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-imec-18nm-pitch-linespace-patterning.html