Pattern forming method

1. A pattern forming method comprising:

forming an under-layer on a substrate including a semiconductor substrate;

forming a resist film on the under-layer;

forming a resist pattern by patterning the resist film,

forming a recessed portion in the under-layer by etching the under-layer using the resist pattern as a mask;

slimming the resist pattern after forming the recessed portion in the under-layer;

forming a neutral layer having an affinity for a first polymer and an affinity for a second polymer on a region of the under-layer not covered with the slimmed resist pattern;

forming a block copolymer film containing the first polymer and the second polymer on the slimmed resist pattern and the neutral layer;

forming a microphase separation pattern comprising a first portion formed of the first polymer and a second portion formed of the second polymer by applying microphase separation processing to the block copolymer film; and

removing one of the first portion and the second portion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the first portion and the second portion are arranged in an alternating manner.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first portion is provided on the slimmed resist pattern.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a surface of the slimmed resist pattern has a higher affinity for the first polymer than the second polymer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein slimming the resist pattern is performed using a gas containing at least one of an oxygen gas, a nitrogen gas, a hydrogen gas, an argon gas, a helium gas and a hydrogen bromide gas.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein slimming the resist pattern is performed using a gaseous mixture of an oxygen gas and at least one of a nitrogen gas, a hydrogen gas, an argon gas, a helium gas and a hydrogen bromide gas.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising applying processing which increases an affinity for the first polymer to a surface of the slimmed resist pattern.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the processing includes depositing a predetermined substance on the surface of the slimmed resist pattern.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined substance contains carbon and fluorine.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first polymer is polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and the second polymer is polystyrene (PS).

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming the microphase separation pattern includes applying thermal processing to the block copolymer film.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resist pattern is formed of a negative resist.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the one of the first portion and the second portion includes forming a line-and-space pattern.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resist pattern is a line-and-space pattern.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein a pitch of the resist pattern is two or more integral multiple of a pitch of a block copolymer constituting the block copolymer film.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein a line width of the slimmed resist pattern is an integral multiple of a half-pitch of a block copolymer constituting the block copolymer film.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein a line width of the resist pattern is two or more integral multiple of a half-pitch of a block copolymer constituting the block copolymer film.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein a space width of the resist pattern is two or more integral multiple of a half-pitch of a block copolymer constituting the block copolymer film.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein a line width of the resist pattern is three or more odd multiple of a half-pitch of a block copolymer constituting the block copolymer film.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein a line width of the resist pattern is two or more even multiple of a half-pitch of a block copolymer constituting the block copolymer film.