Provided is a substrate hydrophilizing agent that improves the wettability of a substrate surface with respect to a photoresist. A substrate hydrophilizing agent of the present invention is an agent for hydrophilizing a surface of a substrate on which a pattern is formed through photolithography, and contains at least the following Component (A) and Component (B). Component (A): a water-soluble oligomer having a weight average molecular weight from 100 to less than 10000. Component (B): water. The water-soluble oligomer of Component (A) is preferably a compound represented by the following Formula (a-1):
R.sup.a1O—(C.sub.3H.sub.6O.sub.2).sub.n—H  (a-1)
(where R.sup.a1 represents a hydrogen atom, a hydrocarbon group which may have a hydroxyl group, or an acyl group; and n is an integer from 2 to 60.)

A resist underlayer composition and a method of forming patterns using a resist underlayer composition, the resist underlayer composition including a polymer, the polymer including a structural unit that is a reaction product of an isocyanurate compound, the isocyanurate compound having at least one thiol group thereon, and a solvent.

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.

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

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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 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##

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##