Block copolymers and conventional lithography

The lithographic process is arguably the key enabling technology for the digital age. Hundreds of millions of devices can be fabricated on a single chip because patterns with features as small as 50 nm can be written with a remarkable level of perfection, in registration with the underlying substrate, and with complex geometries. As the drive to pattern at ever shrinking length scales continues, however, new imaging materials may be required to meet manufacturing constraints. We highlight some of the recent advances in integrating self-assembling block copolymers into the conventional lithographic process to address issues of resolution and process control.