The present disclosure describes a method for improving post-photolithography critical dimension (CD) uniformity for features printed on a photoresist. A layer can be formed on one or more printed features and subsequently etched to improve overall CD uniformity across the features. For example the method includes a material layer disposed over a substrate and a photoresist over the material layer. The photoresist is patterned to form a first feature with a first critical dimension (CD) and a second feature with a second CD that is larger than the first CD. Further, a layer is formed with one or more deposition/etch cycles in the second feature to form a modified second CD that is nominally equal to the first CD.

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a high-density neural probe including needles having various forms. The method, in which only a photolithography process and an etching process are used, simplifies a manufacturing process of the neural probe, minimizes changes in the characteristics of the neural probe depending on process equipment or conditions, and may thus ensure a high yield, thereby being advantageous in terms of commercialization. In addition, various forms of needles may be manufactured depending on the shape of patterns included in a mask, the height of the needles may be controlled by adjusting the size of the patterns and the gap between the patterns, and thereby, a neural probe having a plurality of needles having different heights may be manufactured.

A hardmask composition, a hardmask layer, and a method of forming patterns, the hardmask composition including a polymer including a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 1; and a solvent,

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An object of the present invention is to provide a compound and the like that are applicable to a wet process and are useful for forming a photoresist and an underlayer film for photoresists excellent in heat resistance, solubility, and etching resistance. A compound represented by the following formula (1) can solve the problem described above.

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A curable composition for imprinting according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a monofunctional polymerizable compound having the following structure, a photopolymerization initiator, and a release agent represented by the following Formula (I) or Formula (II).

The monofunctional polymerizable compound has the following structure: a linear or branched alkyl group, or an alicyclic ring, an aromatic ring, or an aromatic heterocycle that is substituted with a linear or branched alkyl group.
The release agent is represented by the following Formula (I) or Formula (II).

A.sup.1-(B.sup.1).sub.x1-(D.sup.1).sub.y1-(E.sup.1).sub.z1-F.sup.1Formula (I),

A.sup.2-(B.sup.2).sub.x2-(D.sup.2).sub.y2-(E.sup.2).sub.z2-F.sup.2Formula (II),

A.sup.1 and A.sup.2 represent a linear aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 4 to 11 carbon atoms, D.sup.1 and D.sup.2 represent an alkylene oxide structure, F.sup.1 represents a polar functional group, and F.sup.2 represents a hydrogen atom, or a linear, branched, or cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 4 to 11 carbon atoms. Further, the present invention relates to a release agent, a cured product, a pattern forming method, and a lithography method that relate to the curable composition for imprinting.

A virtual fabrication environment for semiconductor device fabrication that determines a lowest lithography exposure dose range in which one or more defects are still reparable by deposition and etch operations is discussed. Further techniques for repairing line edge roughness caused by lithography are described.

A method for figure correction of an optical element includes forming a masking layer on a surface of the optical element. The optical element has thinning regions and non-thinning regions. The masking layer is patterned to form masking regions and non-masking regions, and the masking layer is positioned relative to the optical element in such a manner that the masking regions corresponds to the non-thinning regions of the optical element and the non-masking regions corresponds to the thinning regions of the optical element. The method further includes performing reactive ion etching on the optical element provided with the masking layer so as to etch the thinning regions of the optical element to reduce a thickness of the thinning region.

A method and a system for etching of semiconductor substrates, and particularly, wet etching of wafers. The etch rate of liquid solutions applied on the wafer is adjusted by irradiating the liquid solutions with spatially varied light intensity. Photo-reactive agents are added to the liquid solutions, the agents including photo acids, photo bases and photo-oxidizers. Illumination of the photo-reactive agents causes increase/decrease of the pH value and oxidation potential value of the liquid solutions.

Provided herein are encoded microcarriers for analyte detection in multiplex assays. The microcarriers are encoded with an analog code for identification and include a capture agent for analyte detection. Also provided are methods of making the encoded microcarriers disclosed herein. Further provided are methods and kits for conducting a multiplex assay using the microcarriers described herein.

A photoresist composition, including a polymer having a C.sub.6-30 hydroxyaromatic group, a solvent, and a sulfonium salt having Formula (I):

##STR00001## wherein, in Formula (I), R, R.sup.1 to R.sup.8, X, n, and R.sub.f are the same as described in the specification.