Nanopatterns with a Square Symmetry from an Orthogonal Lamellar Assembly of Block Copolymers

A nanosquare array is an indispensable element for the integrated circuit design of electronic devices. Block copolymer (BCP) lithography, a promising bottom-up approach for sub-10 nm patterning, has revealed a generic difficulty in the production of square symmetry because of the thermodynamically favored hexagonal packing of self-assembled sphere or cylinder arrays in thin-film geometry. Here, we demonstrate a simple route to square arrays via the orthogonal self-assembly of two lamellar layers on topographically patterned substrates. While bottom lamellar layers within a topographic trench are aligned parallel to the sidewalls, top layers above the trench are perpendicularly oriented to relieve the interfacial energy between grain boundaries. The size and period of the square symmetry are readily controllable with the molecular weight of BCPs. Moreover, such an orthogonal self-assembly can be applied to the formation of complex nanopatterns for advanced applications, including metal nanodot square arrays.