Provided is a resist underlayer film-forming composition that is used in a lithographic process in semiconductor manufacturing and has excellent storage stability. The resist underlayer film-forming composition contains: a polymer having a disulfide bond in a main chain; a radical trapping agent; and a solvent. The radical trapping agent is preferably a compound having a ring structure or a thioether structure. The ring structure is preferably an aromatic ring structure having 6-40 carbon atoms or a 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine structure.

A photoresist composition, including an acid-sensitive polymer and photoacid generator compound having Formula (I): ##STR00001##
wherein, EWG, Y, R, and M.sup.+ are the same as described in the specification.

An object of the present invention is to provide a light- or heat-curing method by which a cured product (crosslinked product or resin) can be prepared in a simple method even in a case where filler is contained in a large amount; a curable resin composition which is used in the curing method; and the like. The present invention provides a light- or heat-curing method containing a step 1 of obtaining (E) a condensate having constitutional units of Si—O—Al and/or Si—O—Si, obtained from aluminum derived from an aluminum alkoxide and a silane derived from a silane coupling agent having a mercapto group, from (A) a compound that is formed of a salt of a carboxylic acid and an amine and has a carbonyl group generating a radical and a carboxylate group generating a base through decarboxylation by irradiation with light or heating, the (B) aluminum alkoxide, the (C) silane coupling agent having a mercapto group, and (D) water, and a step 2 of performing a reaction among the (E) condensate, (H) a compound having two or more polymerizable unsaturated groups, and (I) filler under the conditions of irradiation with light or heating in the presence of the (A) compound; a curable resin composition which is used in the curing method; and the like.

A compound with enhanced etching resistance, gap-filling properties, and heat resistance includes a repeating unit represented by Formula 1.

##STR00001##

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a multilayer stack used as a mask in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and methods for forming a multilayer stack. In one embodiment, the method includes forming a carbon layer over a film stack, forming a metal rich oxide layer on the carbon layer by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, forming a metal oxide photoresist layer on the metal rich oxide layer, and patterning the metal oxide photoresist layer. The metal oxide photoresist layer is different from the metal rich oxide layer and is formed by a process different from the PVD process. The metal rich oxide layer formed by the PVD process improves adhesion of the metal oxide photoresist layer and increases the secondary electrons during EUV lithography, which leads to decreased EUV dose energies.

A method includes applying a composition for forming a resist underlayer film to a substrate having a recess in a surface, and baking the composition for forming a resist underlayer film to form a resist underlayer film for filling at least the recess. The composition for forming a resist underlayer film has a copolymer having a structural unit of following formula (1), a cross-linkable compound, a cross-linking catalyst, and a solvent: ##STR00001## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each independently a C.sub.1-3 alkylene group or a single bond, Z is an —O— group, a —S— group, or a —S—S— group, and Ar is an arylene group.

A processing method is disclosed that enables an improved directed self-assembly (DSA) processing scheme by allowing the formation of improved guide strips in the DSA template that may enable the formation of sub-30 nm features on a substrate. The improved guide strips may be formed by improving the selectivity of wet chemical processing between different organic layers or films. In one embodiment, treating the organic layers with one or more wavelengths of ultraviolet light may improve selectivity. The first wavelength of UV light may be less than 200 nm and the second wavelength of UV light may be greater than 200 mn.

Methods for making a semiconductor device using an improved BARC (bottom anti-reflective coating) are provided herein. The improved BARC comprises a polymer formed from at least a styrene monomer having at least one or two hydrophilic substituents. The monomer(s) and substituents can be varied as desired to obtain a balance between film adhesion and wet etch resistance. Also provided is a semiconductor device produced using such methods.

A resist underlayer film that exhibits removability and preferably solubility only in wet etching reagent solutions, while exhibiting good resistance to resist developers that are resist solvents or aqueous alkali solutions. The composition for forming a resist underlayer film includes a dicyanostyryl group-bearing polymer (P) or dicyanostyryl group-bearing compound (C) and includes solvent, and does not contain a protonic acid curing catalyst and does not contain an alkylated aminoplast crosslinking agent derived from melamine, urea, benzoguanamine, or glycoluril.

A photoresist underlayer composition, comprising: a first polymer comprising a crosslinkable group; a second polymer comprising: a first repeating unit comprising a repeating unit comprising a photoacid generator, and a second repeating unit comprising a hydroxy-substituted C.sub.1-30 alkyl group, a hydroxy-substituted C.sub.3-30 cycloalkyl group, or a hydroxy-substituted C.sub.6-30 aryl group; an acid catalyst; and a solvent.