Chemi-epitaxy in directed self-assembly applications using photo-decomposable agents

A method of forming a layered substrate comprising a self-assembled material, comprising:

• forming a first layer of material on a substrate;
• forming a layer of a radiation sensitive material on the first layer of material, the radiation sensitive material comprising a photo-sensitive component selected from (a) a photo-decomposable cross-linking agent (b) a photo-base generator, or (c) a photo-decomposable base;
• and a cross-linkable polymer, or a combination thereof;
• imaging the layer of the radiation sensitive material with patterned light to form a pattern in the layer of the radiation sensitive material, wherein the pattern is defined by a first region having substantial portions of the photo-sensitive component decomposed, and a second region having substantial portions of the photo-sensitive component intact;
• heating the layer of the radiation sensitive material to a temperature at or above the cross-linking reaction temperature to cross-link the cross-linkable polymer in one of the first or second regions to form a cross-linked region, while the other one of the first or second regions remains as a non-crosslinked region;
• developing the imaged layer to remove the non-crosslinked region;
• and
• forming a block copolymer pattern comprising the self-assembled material derived from a block copolymer.