A method for producing an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition having a viscosity of 10 mPa.Math.s or more, the method containing a step 1 of charging at least a resin of which polarity increases by an action of an acid, a photoacid generator, and a solvent as raw materials into a stirring tank, and a step 2 of stirring the raw materials in the stirring tank. A liquid temperature in the stirring tank is controlled to be equal to or lower than a 3.0° C. higher temperature than a liquid temperature at a start of the step 2 throughout the entire step 2, and the control of the liquid temperature in the stirring tank in the step 2 is performed by passing an inert gas through the stirring tank.

A manufacturing method for a cured substance includes a film forming step of applying a specific photosensitive resin composition onto a base material to form a film, an exposure step of selectively exposing the film, a development step of developing the exposed film with a developer to form a pattern, a treatment step of bringing a treatment liquid into contact with the pattern, and a heating step of heating the pattern after the treatment step, in which at least one of the developer or the treatment liquid contains at least one compound selected from the group consisting of a base and a base generator.

A manufacturing method for a cured substance includes a film forming step of applying a specific photosensitive resin composition onto a base material to form a film, an exposure step of selectively exposing the film, a development step of developing the exposed film with a developer to form a pattern, a treatment step of bringing a treatment liquid into contact with the pattern, and a heating step of heating the pattern after the treatment step, in which at least one of the developer or the treatment liquid contains at least one compound selected from the group consisting of a base and a base generator.

A negative resist composition comprising a polymer comprising recurring units having at least two acid-eliminatable hydroxyl or alkoxy groups in the molecule is effective for forming a resist pattern having a high resolution and minimal LER while minimizing defects.

A negative resist composition comprising a polymer comprising recurring units having at least two acid-eliminatable hydroxyl or alkoxy groups in the molecule is effective for forming a resist pattern having a high resolution and minimal LER while minimizing defects.

The present invention relates to a positive-type photosensitive resin composition and to a cured film prepared therefrom. The positive-type photosensitive resin composition may have excellent storage stability as it comprises an orthoester, and a cured film prepared therefrom may have excellent adhesion and chemical resistance.

A photosensitive resin composition comprising (A) a vinyl ether compound, (B) an epoxy-containing silicone resin, and (C) a photoacid generator is provided. The composition enables pattern formation using radiation of widely varying wavelength, and the patterned film has high transparency, light resistance, and heat resistance.

A photosensitive resin composition comprising (A) a vinyl ether compound, (B) an epoxy-containing silicone resin, and (C) a photoacid generator is provided. The composition enables pattern formation using radiation of widely varying wavelength, and the patterned film has high transparency, light resistance, and heat resistance.

A method of forming a pattern in a photoresist includes forming a photoresist layer over a substrate, and selectively exposing the photoresist layer to actinic radiation to form a latent pattern. The latent pattern is developed by applying a developer composition to the selectively exposed photoresist layer to form a pattern. The developer composition includes a first solvent having Hansen solubility parameters of 15<δ.sub.d<25, 10<δ.sub.p<25, and 6<δ.sub.h<30; an acid having an acid dissociation constant, pKa, of −15<pKa<5, or a base having a pKa of 40>pKa>9.5; and a second solvent having a dielectric constant greater than 18. The first solvent and the second solvent are different solvents.

A resist composition containing: (A) a resin containing a repeating unit having an acid-labile group; (B) a photo-acid generator shown by a general formula (B-1); and (C) a solvent, where W.sub.1 represents a cyclic divalent hydrocarbon group having 4 to 12 carbon atoms and containing a heteroatom; W.sub.2 represents a cyclic monovalent hydrocarbon group having 4 to 14 carbon atoms and not containing a heteroatom; Rf represents a divalent organic group shown by the following general formula; and M.sup.+ represents an onium cation. This provides a resist composition and a patterning process that uses the resist composition that show a particularly favorable mask dimension dependency (mask error factor: MEF), LWR, and critical dimension uniformity (CDU) particularly in photolithography where a high-energy beam such as an ArF excimer laser beam is used as a light source. ##STR00001##