Block Copolymer Self-Assembly for Post AI-Era

Block Copolymer (BCP) self-assembly can generate dense, periodic nanopatterns with sub-10-nm scale pattern precision, which has long been of interest in the semiconductor nanolithography. Directed self-assembly (DSA) of BCPs exploiting nanoscale epitaxy principle may offer highly aligned periodic nanopattern with minimal defects, widely investigated for the reduced energy penalty of EUV lithography as well as the pattern density multiplication of traditional photolithography. Moreover, BCP self-assemble can provide valuable nanofabrication routes widely useful for various IoT devices, including environmental sensing, energy harvesting, mechanical actuation and display applications. Recently, my research group and coworkers have reported an interesting IoT security application of BCP self-assembly by applying the nondeterministic defective fingerprint nanopatterns to physically unclonable function (PUF). Taking advantage of the nanoscale dimensions and diverse material options, our PUF labels are intrinsically difficult to replicate, robust for authentication and resistant to external disturbance, while enabling independently operating multiple keys with millisecond-level validation speeds. Furthermore, our miniature PUF labels can be ubiquitous implemented and hidden on various different surfaces including dollar bills, human hair and microscopic bacteria.