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Rapid area deactivation for blocking atomic layer deposition processes using polystyrene brush layers

McFeely, Caitlin orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-0447-8250, Snelgrove, Matthew orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-0344-1146, Shiel, Kyle, Hughes, Greg orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1310-8961, Yadav, Pravind orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-7267-9142, Lundy, Ross orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-1329-8614, Morris, Michael A. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-8756-4068, McGlynn, Enda orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-3412-9035 and O'Connor, Robert orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-5794-6188 (2022) Rapid area deactivation for blocking atomic layer deposition processes using polystyrene brush layers. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 10 . pp. 7476-7484. ISSN 2050-7526

Abstract
Research into the fabrication of polymer brushes for use in Area Selective Deposition (ASD) is vital for the understanding of ‘bottom up’ lithographic techniques such as block copolymer (BCP) lithography. Polystyrene has been extensively studied as a blocking material and has been shown to reject both liquid and vapour phase precursors in block copolymer structures. In this work, we demonstrate that thin polystyrene brushes can effectively block atomic layer deposition processes (ALD), offering a route to area deactivation. The effect of varying the molecular weight and fabricating solution concentration of polystyrene (PS) on the overall brush thickness using the grafting-to method is presented in detail. Ellipsometry shows that an increase in molecular weight and solution concentration yields an increase in brush thickness. We demonstarte that PS brush thickness has a significant impact on the blocking efficacy of a HfO2 ALD process, using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy as the primary characterisation technique. Results show that the thickest brushes fabricated in this work successfully blocked a process that would result in 19 nm of HfO2 on native oxide covered Si. Due to the significantly faster fabrication times of PS brushes, this process is deemed a highly competitive alternative to the more widely used ASD methodologies such as self-assembled monolayers (SAMs).
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Polymer; Brush; Layer
Subjects:Physical Sciences > Chemistry
Physical Sciences > Nanotechnology
Physical Sciences > Semiconductors
Physical Sciences > Spectrum analysis
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Physical Sciences
Research Initiatives and Centres > National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology (NCPST)
Publisher:Royal Society of Chemistry
Official URL:https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2tc00577h
Copyright Information:© 2021 The Authors.
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
Funders:Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Nos. 12/RC/2278 and 16/SP/3809
ID Code:27244
Deposited On:23 May 2022 09:17 by Enda Mcglynn . Last Modified 28 Nov 2023 12:04
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