A positive resist composition comprising a base polymer comprising recurring units having a nitrogen-containing tertiary ester structure exhibits a high sensitivity, high resolution, low edge roughness (LER, LWR) and small size variation, and forms a pattern of good profile after exposure and development.

A positive resist composition comprising a base polymer comprising recurring units having a nitrogen-containing tertiary ester structure exhibits a high sensitivity, high resolution, low edge roughness (LER, LWR) and small size variation, and forms a pattern of good profile after exposure and development.

An epoxy compound of formula (1) is provided. A resist composition comprising the epoxy compound is capable of adequately controlling the diffusion length of acid generated from an acid generator without sacrificing sensitivity. ##STR00001##

An epoxy compound of formula (1) is provided. A resist composition comprising the epoxy compound is capable of adequately controlling the diffusion length of acid generated from an acid generator without sacrificing sensitivity. ##STR00001##

A monomer has the structure ##STR00001##
wherein R is an organic group comprising a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond or carbon-carbon triple bond; X and Y are independently at each occurrence hydrogen or a non-hydrogen substituent; EWG1 and EWG2 are independently at each occurrence an electron-withdrawing group; p is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4; n is 1, 2, 3, or 4; and M.sup.+ is an organic cation. A polymer prepared from monomer is useful as a component of a photoresist composition.

A monomer has the structure ##STR00001##
wherein R is an organic group comprising a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond or carbon-carbon triple bond; X and Y are independently at each occurrence hydrogen or a non-hydrogen substituent; EWG1 and EWG2 are independently at each occurrence an electron-withdrawing group; p is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4; n is 1, 2, 3, or 4; and M.sup.+ is an organic cation. A polymer prepared from monomer is useful as a component of a photoresist composition.

A positive resist composition is provided comprising a base polymer comprising repeat units having a carboxy group whose hydrogen is substituted by a nitrobenzene ring-containing tertiary hydrocarbyl group. The resist composition has a high sensitivity and resolution and forms a pattern of good profile with reduced edge roughness and size variation after exposure.

A positive resist composition is provided comprising a base polymer comprising repeat units having a carboxy group whose hydrogen is substituted by a nitrobenzene ring-containing tertiary hydrocarbyl group. The resist composition has a high sensitivity and resolution and forms a pattern of good profile with reduced edge roughness and size variation after exposure.

Monomers and polymers are provided that comprise a carbon alicyclic group or heteroalicyclic group that comprises 1) one or more acid-labile ring substituents and 2) one or more ether or thioether ring substituents. Photoresists that comprise such polymers also are provided.

The present invention is a resist composition comprises a polymer compound having one or two repeating units selected from repeating units represented by the following general formulae (p-1), (p-2) and (p-3), a repeating unit represented by the following formula (a-1) and the formula (a-2) polarities of which are changed by an action of an acid, and a repeating unit represented by the following formula (b-1); a salt represented by the following general formula (B); and a solvent, wherein a difference of a C log P of the repeating unit (a-1) before and after changing the polarity is 3.0 to 4.5, and a difference of a C log P of the repeating unit (a-2) before and after changing the polarity is 2.5 to 3.2. This provides a resist composition which has high sensitivity, wide DOF and high resolution, reduces LER, LWR and CDU, and has good pattern shape after exposure and excellent etching resistance. ##STR00001##