Advanced Design Methodologies for Directed Self-Assembly

Directed self-assembly (DSA), which uses the segregation nature after an annealing process of block co-polymer (BCP) to generate tiny feature shapes, becomes one of the most promising next generation lithography technologies. According to the different proportions of the two monomers in an adopted BCP, either cylinders or lamellae can be generated by removing one of the two monomers, which are respectively referred to as cylindrical DSA and lamellar DSA. In addition, guiding templates are required to produce trenches before filling BCP such that the additional forces from the trench walls regulate the generated cylinders/lamellae. Both the two DSA technologies can be used to generate contact/via patterns in circuit layouts, while the practices of designing guiding templates are quite different due to different manufacturing principles. This paper reviews the existing studies on the guiding template design problem for contact/via hole fabrication with the DSA technology. The design constraints are differentiated and the design methodologies are respectively introduced for cylindrical DSA and lamellar DSA. Possible future research directions are finally suggested to further enhance contact/via manufacturability and the feasibility of adopting DSA in semiconductor manufacturing.