A reflective mask includes a substrate, a lower reflective multilayer disposed over the substrate, an intermediate layer disposed over the lower reflective multilayer, an upper reflective multilayer disposed over the intermediate layer, a capping layer disposed over the upper reflective multilayer, and an absorber layer disposed in a trench formed in the upper reflective layers and over the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer includes a metal other than Cr, Ru, Si, Si compound and carbon.

A chemically-amplified negative resist composition includes: (A) an acid generator containing an onium salt (s) shown by the following formula(e) (A-1) and/or (A-2); and (B) a base polymer containing repeating units shown by the following formulae (B1) and (B2). Thus, the present invention provides: a chemically-amplified negative resist composition which provides a pattern with high sensitivity, low LWR and CDU, and favorable profile; and a resist patterning process using the composition. ##STR00001##

A layered structure including a luminescent layer including a quantum dot polymer composite pattern; an inorganic layer disposed on the luminescent layer, the inorganic layer including a metal oxide, a metal nitride, a metal oxynitride, a metal sulfide, or a combination thereof; and an organic layer being disposed between the luminescent layer and the inorganic layer, the organic layer including an organic polymer, a method of producing the same, and a liquid crystal display including the same. The quantum dot polymer composite pattern includes a repeating section including a polymer matrix; and a plurality of quantum dots (e.g., dispersed) in the polymer matrix, the repeating unit including a first section configured to emit light of a first light, and wherein the inorganic layer is disposed on at least a portion of a surface of the repeating section.

The present invention relates to a composition comprising i) at least one polythiophene comprising monomer units of structure (Ia) or (Ib)

##STR00001## in which *, X, Z, R, and R.sup.1-R.sup.6 are as defined herein; ii) at least one organic compound carrying one or two inorganic acid group(s), preferably one or two sulfonic acid group(s), one or two sulfuric acid group(s), one or two phosphonic acid group(s) or one or two phosphoric acid group(s), or a salt of said organic compound, wherein the molecular weight of the organic compound or the salt thereof is less than 1,000 g/mol; and iii) at least one organic solvent. A method of preparing such compounds is also provided.

Disclosed are a salt represented by formula (I), an acid generator, and a resist composition including the same:

##STR00001## wherein R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 each represent a hydroxy group, *—O—R.sup.10, *—O—CO—O—R.sup.10, etc.; L.sup.10 represents an alkanediyl group; R.sup.10 represents an acid-labile group; R.sup.4, R.sup.5, R.sup.6, R.sup.7, R.sup.8 and R.sup.9 each represent a halogen atom, a haloalkyl group or a hydrocarbon group; A.sup.1, A.sup.2 and A.sup.3 each represent a hydrocarbon group which may have a substituent, and —CH.sub.2— included in the hydrocarbon group may be replaced by —O—, —CO—, —S— or —SO.sub.2—; m1 represents an integer of 1 to 5, m2, m3, m8 and m9 represent an integer of 0 to 5, m4 to m7 represent an integer of 0 to 4, 1≤m1+m7≤5, 0≤m2+m8≤5, 0≤m3+m9≤5; and AI.sup.− represents an organic anion.

The present invention provides a method for forming a patterned polyimide layer with the use of a positive photoresist composition. The composition comprises a cresol-type novolac resin, a diazonaphthoquinone-based sensitizer and an organic solvent; based on the cresol-type novolac resin with a total amount of 100 parts by weight, the amount of the diazonaphthoquinone-based sensitizer ranges from 40 parts to 60 parts by weight, the amount of the free cresol in the cresol-type novolac resin is lower than 2 parts by weight, and the alkaline dissolution rate (ADR) of the cresol-type novolac resin in an aqueous solution of 3.5 wt % to 7 wt % tetramethylammonium hydroxide is lower than 285 Å/s. The positive photoresist composition has excellent chemical resistance to the polyimide stripper, and can specifically improve the protective ability of the photoresist layer to the low-dielectric polyimide layer, thereby optimizing the manufacturing process and quality of the patterned polyimide layer.

Example embodiments may provide methods for determining a quality of a film in spin coating process. The methods may include capturing images of portions of the film using an imaging device while coating the film on a substrate using a spinner. The imaging device may include SPCs and lens and/or SLMs. The methods may also include determining whether a characteristic of the film matches to a standard based on the images of the portions of the film. The method may further include performing detecting that the quality of the film is optimal in response to determining that the characteristic of the film matches to the standard or detecting that the quality of the film is not optimal in response to determining that the characteristic of the film does not match to the standard.

A photolithography method includes dispensing a first liquid toward a target layer through a nozzle at a first distance from the target layer; moving the nozzle such that the nozzle is at a second distance from the target layer, wherein the second distance is different from the first distance; dispensing a second liquid toward the target layer through the nozzle at the second distance from the target layer; and patterning the target layer after dispensing the first liquid and the second liquid.

In one preferred embodiment, polymers are provided that comprise a structure of the following Formula (I): ##STR00001##
Photoresists that comprises such polymers also are provided.

A method for producing an optical waveguide by: (a) depositing a first composition: (i) a polysiloxane comprising epoxy and alkenyl groups with refractive index no greater than 1.50, (ii) a compound comprising at least one epoxy group and refractive index no greater than 1.49, and (iii) a polysiloxane having refractive index at least 1.50; (iv) a photo acid generator; (v) a hydrosilylation catalyst, (vi) an inhibitor for hydrosilylation; (b) curing by exposure to ultraviolet light; (c) removing the uncured portion to produce a patterned core layer; (d) after a time from 20 to 300 hours depositing a second composition comprising: (i) a polysiloxane comprising epoxy groups with refractive index no greater than 1.49, and (ii) a compound comprising at least two epoxy groups with a refractive index no greater than 1.49 and an alcohol having refractive index no more than 1.45 (iii) at least one photo acid generator.