A method of forming a cured layer on a substrate can include applying on the exterior surface of the substrate a first liquid film and subjecting the first liquid film to actinic radiation in at least one first region of the film. The actinic radiated region can modify the substrate surface such that the drop spreading of a region not subjected to actinic radiation is larger than the drop spreading in a region subjected to actinic radiation.

A method of making an adhesion layer of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) stack is presented. The method includes grafting an ultraviolet (UV) sensitive polymer brush on a hardmask, the polymer brush including a UV cleavable unit, depositing EUV resist over the polymer brush, exposing the EUV resist to remove the EUV resist in exposed areas by applying a developer, and flooding the exposed area with a UV light and a solvent developer to remove exposed portions of the polymer brush.

What is provided is a pattern forming method for forming a pattern on a surface to be processed of an object, the method including: a first layer forming step of forming a first layer containing a compound having a protective group that is decomposable by an acid and also decomposable by light, on the surface to be processed; a second layer forming step of forming a second layer containing a photoacid generator that is configured to generate an acid by exposure, on the first layer; an exposure step of exposing the first layer and the second layer to form a latent image including an exposed region and an unexposed region, on the first layer; and a disposition step of disposing a pattern forming material in the exposed region or the unexposed region.

A method of making an adhesion layer of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) stack is presented. The method includes grafting an ultraviolet (UV) sensitive polymer brush on a hardmask, the polymer brush including a UV cleavable unit, depositing EUV resist over the polymer brush, exposing the EUV resist to remove the EUV resist in exposed areas by applying a developer, and flooding the exposed area with a UV light and a solvent developer to remove exposed portions of the polymer brush.

A display device and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The display device includes a display area and a non-display area. The display device includes a substrate, an element layer, an electrode pattern layer, a photoresist pattern layer, and a light-emitting element. The element layer is disposed on the substrate. The electrode pattern layer is disposed on the element layer, and the electrode pattern layer includes multiple electrodes. The photoresist pattern layer is disposed on the electrode pattern layer, and the photoresist pattern layer includes a first photoresist pattern disposed corresponding to the display area and corresponding to the electrodes; a second photoresist pattern disposed corresponding to the non-display area and between the electrodes. The light-emitting element is disposed on the photoresist pattern layer and is electrically connected to the electrodes of the electrode pattern layer.

A patterning process, including: forming the first resist film from first resist material containing an acid generator and thermosetting compound having a hydroxy group and/or carboxy group protected by an acid-labile group; forming the second resist film on first resist film from a second resist material containing a metal compound (A) and a sensitizer; irradiating the first and second resist film with a high energy beam or an electron beam to perform pattern exposure to deprotect the hydroxy group and/or carboxy group in a pattern exposed portion of first resist film and to form a crosslinked portion of the component (A) with the deprotected hydroxy and/or carboxy group on the pattern exposed portion; and developing the second resist film with a developer to give a metal film pattern composed of the crosslinked portion. This provides a method for forming a thin film resist pattern with higher resolution and higher sensitivity.

A method includes providing a layered structure on a substrate, the layered structure including a bottom layer formed over the substrate, a hard mask layer formed over the bottom layer, a material layer formed over the hard mask layer, and a photoresist layer formed over the material layer, exposing the photoresist layer to a radiation source, developing the photoresist layer, where the developing removes portions of the photoresist layer and the material layer in a single step without substantially removing portions of the hard mask layer, and etching the hard mask layer using the photoresist layer as an etch mask. The material layer may include acidic moieties and/or acid-generating molecules. The material layer may also include photo-sensitive moieties and crosslinking agents.

Techniques herein include processes and systems by which a reproducible CD variation pattern can be mitigated or corrected to yield desirable CDs from microfabrication patterning processes, via resolution enhancement. A repeatable portion of CD variation across a set of wafers is identified, and then a correction exposure pattern is generated. A direct-write projection system exposes this correction pattern on a substrate as a component exposure, augmentation exposure, or partial exposure. A conventional mask-based photolithographic system executes a primary patterning exposure as a second or main component exposure. The two component exposures when combined enhance resolution of the patterning exposure to improve CDs on the substrate being processed without measure each wafer.

Techniques herein include processes and systems by which a reproducible CD variation pattern can be mitigated or corrected to yield desirable CDs from microfabrication patterning processes, via resolution enhancement. A repeatable portion of CD variation across a set of wafers is identified, and then a correction exposure pattern is generated. A direct-write projection system exposes this correction pattern on a substrate as a component exposure, augmentation exposure, or partial exposure. A conventional mask-based photolithographic system executes a primary patterning exposure as a second or main component exposure. The two component exposures when combined enhance resolution of the patterning exposure to improve CDs on the substrate being processed without measure each wafer.

A method of simulating a resist pattern according to an exemplary embodiment includes a step (A) of calculating a latent image of a concentration of an active species in a resist film that has been radiated by a radioactive ray along a target pattern with respect to a radiation position of the radioactive ray, a step (B) of calculating a change rate of the concentration with respect to the radiation position at an edge of the target pattern on the basis of the latent image, a step (C) of calculating a probabilistic variation at the edge of the target pattern, and a step (D) of calculating a variation in pattern edge roughness from the change rate of the concentration and the probabilistic variation.