Vapor-Phase Infiltration (VPI)—An Emerging Hybrid Synthesis and Nanopatterning Method Derived from Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) for Microelectronics Applications

Vapor-phase infiltration (VPI), a material hybridization method derived from atomic layer deposition (ALD), infuses gaseous inorganic precursors into the matrix of organic templates in a sequential and cyclic manner, generating organic-inorganic hybrids with unique material properties. A following, selective removal of organic matrix also leads to a generation of inorganic nanostructures inheriting the morphology and positional registry of starting organic templates. Combined with structured organic templates such as lithographically patterned photoresists or self-assembled block copolymer (BCP) thin films, VPI can be used as an inorganic nanopatterning technique. Especially, the block-selective VPI in self-assembled BCP films features an analogy to area-selective ALD in term of self-aligned material deposition within a specific reactive polymer domain. In this talk, I will showcase our recent progresses on utilizing VPI for microelectronics applications, including patterning and wafer-scale integration of metal oxide nanowire array photodetectors, hybrid resistive memory devices with controlled switching stochastics, hybrid nanopillars with ultrahigh elastic energy storage capacity for potential applications as micro/nanoelectromechanical system (MEMS/NEMS) components, and hybrid extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photoresists for next-generation semiconductor manufacturing.