According to the present invention, a resin composition can be provided, comprising at least three components (a), (b) and (c), wherein component (a) is a polymer having a structure represented by the following formula (1), component (b) comprises thermal crosslinking agent (b1) and thermal crosslinking agent (b2), and component (c) is a photosensitizer, wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently selected from groups containing at least one atom other than hydrogen; and R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are independently selected from a hydrogen atom or an organic group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and n is an integer selected from 1 to 10. The use of the resin composition of the present invention can result in a better flatness and bending recovery performance.

Disclosed herein are via-trace structures with improved alignment, and related package substrates, packages, and computing device. For example, in some embodiments, a package substrate may include a conductive trace, and a conductive via in contact with the conductive trace. The alignment offset between the conductive trace and the conductive via may be less than 10 microns, and conductive trace may have a bell-shaped cross-section or the conductive via may have a flared shape.

Disclosed herein are via-trace structures with improved alignment, and related package substrates, packages, and computing device. For example, in some embodiments, a package substrate may include a conductive trace, and a conductive via in contact with the conductive trace. The alignment offset between the conductive trace and the conductive via may be less than 10 microns, and conductive trace may have a bell-shaped cross-section or the conductive via may have a flared shape.

A resist underlayer film forming composition capable of forming a flat film that exhibits high etching resistance, a good dry etching rate ratio and a good optical constant, while having good coverage even with respect to a so-called multileveled substrate and having a small difference in the film thickness after embedding. Also, a method for producing a polymer that is suitable for the resist underlayer film forming composition; a resist underlayer film which uses the resist underlayer film forming composition; and a method for producing a semiconductor device. This resist underlayer film forming composition contains: a reaction product of an aromatic compound (A) that has from 6 to 120 carbon atoms, and a compound that is represented by formula (1); and a solvent.

A method includes forming a first high-k dielectric layer over a first semiconductor region, forming a second high-k dielectric layer over a second semiconductor region, forming a first metal layer comprising a first portion over the first high-k dielectric layer and a second portion over the second high-k dielectric layer, forming an etching mask over the second portion of the first metal layer, and etching the first portion of the first metal layer. The etching mask protects the second portion of the first metal layer. The etching mask is ashed using meta stable plasma. A second metal layer is then formed over the first high-k dielectric layer.

A method includes forming a first high-k dielectric layer over a first semiconductor region, forming a second high-k dielectric layer over a second semiconductor region, forming a first metal layer comprising a first portion over the first high-k dielectric layer and a second portion over the second high-k dielectric layer, forming an etching mask over the second portion of the first metal layer, and etching the first portion of the first metal layer. The etching mask protects the second portion of the first metal layer. The etching mask is ashed using meta stable plasma. A second metal layer is then formed over the first high-k dielectric layer.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a conductive pattern forming member that is formed on a substrate and that has excellent resistance to ion migration between a conductive pattern and a photosensitive resin layer, while suppressing generation of residues in the dissolution and removal of unexposed portions. This method for manufacturing a conductive pattern forming member includes: a coating step of applying, onto surfaces of a layer A formed of a resin (a) having a carboxyl group, and a transparent electrode layer B, the layers A and B being formed over a substrate, a composition C containing conductive particles and a resin (c) having a double bond and a carboxyl group to obtain a coating film C; a drying step of drying the coating film C to obtain a dry film C; an exposure step of exposing the dry film C to light to obtain an exposed film C; a developing step of developing the exposed film C to obtain a pattern C; and a curing step of curing the pattern C to obtain a conductive pattern C, wherein particles having a particle diameter of 0.3 to 2.0 μm account for 80% or more of the conductive particles.

A photoresist layer is coated over a wafer. The photoresist layer includes a metal-containing material. An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography process is performed to the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist. The wafer is cleaned with a cleaning fluid to remove the metal-containing material. The cleaning fluid includes a solvent having Hansen solubility parameters of delta D in a range between 13 and 25, delta P in a range between 3 and 25, and delta H in a range between 4 and 30. The solvent contains an acid with an acid dissociation constant less than 4 or a base with an acid dissociation constant greater than 9.

A photoresist layer is coated over a wafer. The photoresist layer includes a metal-containing material. An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography process is performed to the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist. The wafer is cleaned with a cleaning fluid to remove the metal-containing material. The cleaning fluid includes a solvent having Hansen solubility parameters of delta D in a range between 13 and 25, delta P in a range between 3 and 25, and delta H in a range between 4 and 30. The solvent contains an acid with an acid dissociation constant less than 4 or a base with an acid dissociation constant greater than 9.

A patterning method according to one embodiment includes forming a ground layer on a processing target layer. The ground layer has higher affinity for one of a first segment and a second segment contained in a self-assembly material than for the other segment. The neutral layer is patterned on the ground layer. The neutral layer is neutral to the first segment and the second segment. Exposing surfaces of the ground layer and the neutral layer is irradiated with an energy ray. The self-assembly material is applied onto the ground layer and the neutral layer. The self-assembly material is phase-separated into a first domain including the first segment and a second domain including the second segment. One of the first domain and the second domain is selectively removed.