Abstract
Lithographic scaling of periodic three-dimensional patterns is critical for advancing scalable nanomanufacturing. Current state-of-the-art quadruple patterning or extreme-ultraviolet lithography produce a line pitch down to around 30 nm, which might be further scaled to sub-20 nm through complex post-fabrication processes. Herein, we report the use of three-dimensional (3D) DNA nanostructures to scale the line pitch down to 16.2 nm, around 50% smaller than state-of-the-art results. We use a DNA modular epitaxy approach to fabricate 3D DNA masks with prescribed structural parameters (geometry, pitch and critical dimensions) along a designer assembly pathway. Single-run reactive ion etching then transfers the DNA patterns to a Si substrate at a lateral critical dimension of 7 nm and a vertical critical dimension of 2 nm. The nanolithography guided by DNA modular epitaxy achieves a smaller pitch than the projected values for advanced technology nodes in field-effect transistors, and provides a potential complement to the existing lithographic tools for advanced 3D nanomanufacturing.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available within the article and its Supplementary Information files and from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank J.D. Deng, L. Xie and S. Stoilova-McPhie at the Center for Nanoscale Systems of Harvard University for valuable discussion and help with cryo-EM work. This work is supported by NSF (CMMI-1333215, CMMI-1344915 and CBET-1729397), AFOSR (MURI FATE, FA9550–15–1–0514) and internal funding support from the Wyss Institute to P.Y. D.L. is supported by a Merck Fellowship of the Life Sciences Research Foundation.
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J.S. conceived, designed and conducted the lithography study and wrote the manuscript. W.S. conceived, designed and conducted the DNA modular epitaxy study and wrote the manuscript. D.L. performed cryo-EM analysis. D.L. and T.S. analysed the data and co-wrote the manuscript. P.Y. conceived and supervised the study and wrote the paper. All authors reviewed, edited and approved the manuscript.
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Extended data
Extended Data Fig. 1 Characterization of DNA mask 12H-grid.
a, SEM image section of DNA mask 12H-grid. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of mask taller-line width. d, The histogram of taller-line pitch. e, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the z axis. f, The histogram of mask lower-line width. g, The histogram of lower-line pitch. h, SEM images of randomly selected DNA mask 12H-grid.
Extended Data Fig. 2 Characterization of DNA mask 12H-b.
a, SEM image section of DNA mask 12H-b with labeled scan-lines. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of DNA line width. d, The histogram of DNA line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected DNA mask 12H-b.
Extended Data Fig. 3 Characterization of DNA mask 10H-b.
a, SEM image section of DNA mask 10H-b with labeled scan-lines. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of DNA line width. d, The histogram of DNA line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected DNA mask 10H-b.
Extended Data Fig. 4 Characterization of DNA mask 8H-b.
a, SEM image section of DNA mask 8H-b-0.5H2 with labeled scan-lines. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of DNA line width. d, The histogram of DNA line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected DNA mask 8H-b-0.5H2.
Extended Data Fig. 5 Characterization of DNA mask 6H-b.
a, SEM image section of DNA mask 6H-b with labeled scan-lines. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of DNA line width. d, The histogram of DNA line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected DNA mask 6H-b.
Extended Data Fig. 6 Characterization of silicon pattern Si-12H-b.
a, SEM image section of silicon pattern Si-12H-b with labeled scan-line profiles. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of silicon line width. d, The histogram of silicon line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected silicon pattern Si-12H-b.
Extended Data Fig. 7 Characterization of silicon pattern Si-10H-b.
a, SEM image section of silicon pattern Si-10H-b with labeled scan-line profiles. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of silicon line width. d, The histogram of silicon line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected silicon pattern Si-10H-b.
Extended Data Fig. 8 Characterization of silicon pattern Si-8H-b-0.5H2.
a, SEM image section of silicon pattern Si-8H-b-0.5H2 with labeled scan-line profiles. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of silicon line width. d, The histogram of silicon line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected silicon pattern Si-8H-b-0.5H2.
Extended Data Fig. 9 Characterization of silicon pattern Si-6H-b.
a, SEM image section of silicon pattern Si-6H-b with labeled scan-lines. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of silicon line width. d, The histogram of silicon line pitch. e, SEM images of randomly selected silicon pattern Si-6H-b.
Extended Data Fig. 10 Characterization of silicon pattern Si-12H-grid.
a, SEM image section of silicon pattern Si-12H-grid. b, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the x axis. c, The histogram of taller-Si-line width. d, The histogram of taller-Si-line pitch. e, The corresponding SEM line-scan profiles along the z axis. f, The histogram of lower-Si-line width. g, The histogram of lower-Si-line pitch. h, SEM images of randomly selected silicon pattern Si-12H-grid.
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Supplementary Information
Supplementary Methods, Figs. 1–24 and Tables 1–3.
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Shen, J., Sun, W., Liu, D. et al. Three-dimensional nanolithography guided by DNA modular epitaxy. Nat. Mater. 20, 683–690 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-00930-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-00930-7