Disclosed herein are techniques for fabricating a straight or slanted surface-relief grating with a uniform or non-uniform grating depth. According to certain embodiments, a gray-tone photoresist includes a novolac resin, a diazonaphthoquinone (DNQ) dissolution inhibitor, and one or more crosslinking agents for crosslinking the novolac resin at an elevated temperature to increase a glass transition temperature of the gray-tone photoresist and/or lower an etch rate of the gray-tone photoresist. After gray-tone photo exposure and development, the gray-tone photoresist is baked at the elevated temperature to crosslink. The crosslinked gray-tone photoresist has a higher density and a higher glass transition temperature, and thus would not become flowable to cause ripples or other surface roughness during the etching.

An object of the present invention is to provide a compound exhibiting a cyan color having properties such as high chroma, high light fastness, and high solubility. The compound is represented by the following General Formula (1). ##STR00001##
In Formula (1), R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 each independently represent a linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl group having 6 or more and 12 or fewer carbon atoms, R.sub.3 represents a 4-alkylphenyl group, a 4-halogenated phenyl group, or a 3-alkoxyphenyl group, R.sub.4 represents a linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl group having 1 or more and 8 or fewer carbon atoms, and R.sub.5 represents a linear, branched, or cyclic alkyl group having 1 or more and 8 or fewer carbon atoms or a benzyl group.

There is provided a highly sensitive colorant-containing photosensitive resin composition for use in the formation of organic EL element barrier ribs. In one embodiment, the photosensitive resin composition for an organic EL element barrier rib comprises: (A) a binder resin; (B) at least one low molecular weight organic compound having a molar volume of 130 cm.sup.3/mol or less and being selected from the group consisting of aromatic carboxylic acids and compounds each having a plurality of phenolic hydroxyl groups; (C) a radiation sensitive compound; and (D) a colorant selected from the group consisting of black dyes and black pigments.

A positive photosensitive resin composition includes a polymer resin, a quinonediazide compound, and a solvent. The polymer resin includes (i) 5 to 95 wt. % of a polyimide precursor having a structural unit represented by Formula 1, ii) 5 to 95 wt. % of a polyimide precursor having a structural unit represented by Formula 2, and iii) 0 to 20 wt. % of a polyimide precursor having a structural unit represented by Formula 3. The quinonediazide compound is included in an amount of 5 to 50 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the polymer resin. The solvent is included in an amount of 100 to 2,000 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the polymer resin.

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.

The present invention is a positive photosensitive resin composition including: (A) an alkali-soluble resin containing at least one structure selected from a polyimide structure, a polyamide structure, a polybenzoxazole structure, a polyamide-imide structure, and a precursor structure thereof; (B) a polymer compound having a structural unit formed by cyclopolymerization; and (C) a compound having a quinonediazide structure for serving as a photosensitizer to generate an acid by light and increase a dissolution speed to an alkaline aqueous solution. An object of the present invention is to provide a positive photosensitive resin composition and a positive photosensitive dry film that are soluble in an alkaline aqueous solution, that can achieve high resolution without damaging excellent features such as the mechanical characteristics of a protective film, adhesiveness, etc., and that have excellent mechanical characteristics and adhesiveness to a substrate even when cured at low temperatures.

There is provided a highly sensitive colorant-containing photosensitive resin composition that can form an excellent crack resistant cured product for use in the formation of organic EL element barrier ribs. One embodiment of the photosensitive resin composition for use in organic EL element barrier ribs comprises: (A) a binder resin; (B) a phenolic hydroxyl group-containing compound having a molecular weight of 260 to 5,000 and a phenolic hydroxyl group equivalent of 80 to 155; (C) a radiation sensitive compound; and (D) a colorant selected from the group consisting of black dyes and black pigments.

The present specification relates to a binder resin, a photosensitive resin composition, an insulating film and a semiconductor device.

The present disclosure relates to novel negative-type photoresist composition and methods of their use. The disclosure further relates to multiple trigger photoresist processes which allow for the improvement in contrast, resolution, and/or line edges roughness in some systems without giving up sensitivity. The photoresist compositions and the methods of the current disclosure are ideal for fine patent processing using, for example, ultraviolet radiation, extreme ultraviolet radiation, beyond extreme ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and changed particle. The disclosure further relates to sensitivity enhancing materials useful in the disclosed compositions and methods.

A curable composition and a permanent resist film made using this curable composition are provided. The composition dissolves well in solvents, gives coatings superior in alkali developability, thermal decomposition resistance, light sensitivity, and resolution, and is particularly suitable for the formation of permanent resist films. Specifically, the composition is a curable composition for permanent resist films and contains a phenolic hydroxyl-containing compound (A) that has a molecular structure represented by structural formula (1):

##STR00001##

(where R.sup.1 is hydrogen, alkyl, or aryl, and n is an integer of 2 to 10; R.sup.2 is alkyl, alkoxy, aryl, aralkyl, or halogen, and m is an integer of 0 to 4; if m is 2 or more, the plurality of R.sup.2s may be the same or different from one another, and may be bonded to either of the two aromatic rings in the naphthylene structure) and a photosensitizer (B1) or curing agent (B2).