A method for producing flexographic printing plates. The method has the following steps: (a) producing a mask by imaging the digitally imagable layer, (b) exposing the photopolymerizable, relief-forming layer through the mask with actinic light, and photopolymerizing the image regions of the layer, and (c) developing the photopolymerized layer by washing out the unphotopolymerized regions of the relief-forming layer with an organic solvent, or by thermal development, wherein
step (b) contains at least two exposure cycles with actinic light with an intensity of 100 to 5000 mW/cm.sup.2 from a plurality of UV-LEDs, the energy input into the photopolymerizable, relief-forming layer per exposure cycle being 0.1 to 5 J/cm.sup.2.

A surfactant or photoacid generator (PAG) that forms a self-assembled monolayer is deposited on a substrate surface. Application of electron beam (e-beam) and/or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation to the substrate surface forms a negative or positive tone pattern on the monolayer. A hydroxamic acid may be used to form a negative tone self-assembled monolayer and a silane or PAG may be used to form a positive tone self-assembled monolayer. Area selective deposition of an EUV absorbing material on the negative or positive tone patterned monolayer forms a negative or positive tone EUV absorbing mask, respectively.

A method for forming a flexographic plate for an image pattern including image features. The image pattern includes an array of image pixels, wherein the image pixels include printing pixels corresponding to portions of the image pattern where ink is to be printed on a substrate by the flexographic plate. Edge regions and interior regions of the image features are identified, which are separated by gap regions. A fine texture pattern is applied to the edge regions and a coarse texture pattern is applied to the interior regions to form a textured image pattern which is used to form the flexographic plate. No texture pattern is applied to the gap regions thereby leaving gaps between the edge regions and the interior regions of the image features.

A method for forming a flexographic plate for an image pattern including image features. The image pattern includes an array of image pixels, wherein the image pixels include printing pixels corresponding to portions of the image pattern where ink is to be printed on a substrate by the flexographic plate. Edge regions and interior regions of the image features are identified, which are separated by gap regions. A fine texture pattern is applied to the edge regions and a coarse texture pattern is applied to the interior regions to form a textured image pattern which is used to form the flexographic plate. No texture pattern is applied to the gap regions thereby leaving gaps between the edge regions and the interior regions of the image features.

The present invention is a composition for forming a silicon-containing resist underlayer film, containing a condensation reaction-type thermosetting silicon-containing material (Sx), being a polysiloxane resin, where the material has a non-condensation reactive organic group that reacts with a radical chemical species, the resin includes more than 0 and 70 mol % or less of one or more of a repeating unit represented by the following general formula (Sx-4) and a repeating unit represented by the general formula (Sx-5), and the organic group remains unreacted after a heat-curing reaction of the polysiloxane resin. This provides: a composition for forming a resist underlayer film containing a thermosetting silicon-containing material in photolithography using a high-energy beam, the material improving sensitivity, LWR, and resolution of an upper layer resist and further contributing to the prevention of pattern collapse; and a patterning process using the composition for forming a resist underlayer film.

##STR00001##

Compounds having three or more alkynyl moieties substituted with an aromatic moiety having one or more of certain substituents are useful in forming underlayers useful in semiconductor manufacturing processes.

The present invention is a material for forming an adhesive film for an adhesive film formed directly under a resist upper layer film, includes: (A) a resin having a structural unit containing an acid-dissociable group and having two or more units represented by the formula (1) where R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and R.sup.2 represents a group selected from the formulae (I-1) to (I-3); and (C) an organic solvent, and the material comprises (B) a photo-acid generator and/or the resin (A) having the photo-acid generating unit. This provides a material for forming an adhesive film in a fine patterning process by a multilayer resist method, where the material gives an adhesive film with high adhesiveness to a resist upper layer film, suppresses fine pattern collapse, and can form an excellent pattern profile; a patterning process using the material; and a method for forming the adhesive film.

##STR00001##

A metal circuit structure based on a flexible printed circuit (FPC) contains: a substrate, a first metal layer attached on the substrate, a second metal layer formed on the first metal layer, and an intermediate layer defined between the first metal layer and the second metal layer. A first surface of the intermediate layer is connected with the first metal layer, and a second surface of the intermediate layer is connected with the second metal layer. The intermediate layer is made of a first material, the second metal layer is made of a second material, and the first material of the intermediate layer does not act with the second material of the second metal layer.

A method for fabricating an electrowetting display may include depositing a first material layer on a support plate; placing a first mask on the first material layer, wherein the first mask covers first portions of the first material layer and does not cover second portions of the first photoresist layer; exposing second portions of the first material layer to electromagnetic radiation; depositing a second material layer on the first mask and the exposed second portions of the first material layer; placing a second mask on the second material layer; and etching to remove portions of the second material layer and the second portions of the first material layer. Portions of the first and second material layers that remain subsequent to the etching form spacers and a grid of pixel wall extensions.

A method for producing a flexible printed wiring board using a photoresist includes placing the photoresist, including a first region and a second region, on a substrate, placing a first photomask including a first light-transmitting portion such that the first light-transmitting portion faces the first region to expose the photoresist through the first light-transmitting portion, and placing a second photomask including a second light-transmitting portion such that the second light-transmitting portion faces the second region to expose the photoresist through the second light-transmitting portion. The first region is adjacent to the second region such that an edge portion of the first region overlaps an edge portion of the second region. The first light-transmitting portion has a linear shape including a first tip having a tapered shape.