Patent ID: 8398868
Filing Date: 2013-03-19
Classification: B81C,H01L

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: providing a substrate having a surface with an opening therein, the opening having a boundary that includes convex, contoured sidewalls, the sidewalls defining protrusions where they adjoin, the sidewalls having a cross section at the surface of the substrate given by respective segments each of whose average radius of curvature is less than 100 nm, wherein the protrusions are designed to control placement of a plurality of discrete, segregated domains inside the opening, and wherein the number of the protrusions is greater than the number of the domains; applying, over the surface, a layer of polymer that includes a block copolymer, wherein components of the copolymer are immiscible with one another; allowing the polymer to form the plurality of discrete, segregated domains inside the opening, wherein: i) the position of each of the discrete, segregated domains is predetermined by at least one of the sidewalls and a protrusion that forms at least part of said at least one sidewall, such that for all discrete, segregated domains inside the opening, their positions and relative spacing are predetermined, and ii) the domains have respective geometric centers, and for any given domain, its center and the center of the given domain's nearest neighbor are separated by a distance that is less than the sum of a) the average radius of curvature of the segment (or the mean of the average radii of curvature of the segments) corresponding to said at least one sidewall that predetermines the position of the given domain and b) the average radius of curvature of the segment (or the mean of the average radii of curvature of the segments) corresponding to said at least one sidewall that predetermines the position of the given domain's nearest neighbor.