An object of the present invention is to provide a chemical liquid which exhibits excellent defect inhibition performance even after long-term preservation, a kit, a pattern forming method, a chemical liquid manufacturing method, and a chemical liquid storage body. The chemical liquid according to an embodiment of the present invention is a chemical liquid containing an organic solvent, an acid component, and a metal component. The content of the acid component is equal to or greater than 1 mass ppt and equal to or smaller than 15 mass ppm with respect to the total mass of the chemical liquid. The content of the metal component is 0.001 to 100 mass ppt with respect to the total mass of the chemical liquid.

The present invention relates to an apparatus (10) for developing printing precursors (11) comprising a developing station (20) comprising a rotating drum (22) having a fixation mechanism (24) for the precursor (11) and at least one brush (26). The apparatus (10) further comprises a pre-cleaning station (30) and a first transport mechanism (12), the first transport mechanism (12) being configured for transporting the precursor (11) through the pre-cleaning station (30) and, after the precursor (11) has passed the pre-cleaning station (30), to the developing station (20). Further aspects relate to a method for developing a printing precursor using such an apparatus.

A system for processing water washable flexo photopolymer printing plates, the system comprises a washing line including one or more brushes and a surface essentially facing said brushes, and a guiding means adapted to guide a water washable photopolymer printing plate through the washing line by pulling it from a vicinity of a downstream edge thereof and automatically dragging such water washable photopolymer printing plate on said surface. Said brushes are adapted to contact onto a side of such water washable photopolymer printing plate in a washing direction from the downstream edge towards an upstream edge thereof. The system further comprises one or more attachments adapted to be annexed to the vicinity of the upstream edge of a water washable photopolymer printing plate, the attachments being further adapted to exert friction onto the surface, said friction being greater than that between such water washable photopolymer printing plate and said surface.

A system is for processing a photosensitive flexographic printing plate having a latent image formed by image-wise exposure of an aqueous-processable photopolymer. The system can use a first aqueous processing solution with the latent image for cleaning and then washing a resulting relief image with a second aqueous processing solution, where the second aqueous processing solution is devoid of the photopolymer. A processing solution tank is configured to combine the first used aqueous processing solution with the second used aqueous processing solution to form a combined used aqueous processing solution. A processing solution removal can include: a holding tank configured for receiving the combined used aqueous processing solution; and a conduit from the processing solution tank to the holding tank. The processing solution tank includes the combined used aqueous processing solution at less than a predefined maximum volume and having the photopolymer at less than a predefined maximum concentration.

An apparatus for treating a substrate includes a developing chamber that performs a developing process on the substrate by supplying a developing solution, a supercritical chamber that treats the substrate by supplying a supercritical fluid, and a transfer chamber having a transfer unit that transfers the substrate W between the developing chamber and the supercritical chamber.

A system for processing water washable flexo photopolymer printing plates, the system comprises a washing line including one or more brushes and a surface essentially facing said brushes, and a guiding means adapted to guide a water washable photopolymer printing plate through the washing line by pulling it from a vicinity of a downstream edge thereof and automatically dragging such water washable photopolymer printing plate on said surface. Said brushes are adapted to contact onto a side of such water washable photopolymer printing plate in a washing direction from the downstream edge towards an upstream edge thereof. The system further comprises one or more attachments adapted to be annexed to the vicinity of the upstream edge of a water washable photopolymer printing plate, the attachments being further adapted to exert friction onto the surface, said friction being greater than that between such water washable photopolymer printing plate and said surface.

An object of the present invention is to provide a chemical liquid which has excellent defect inhibition performance and hardly breaks a transfer pipe line that a device for manufacturing the chemical liquid includes at the time of manufacturing the chemical liquid. Another object of the present invention is to provide a chemical liquid storage body, a manufacturing method of a chemical liquid, and a manufacturing method of a chemical liquid storage body. The chemical liquid according to an embodiment of the present invention is a chemical liquid containing an organic solvent and an ion of at least one kind of atom selected from the group consisting of an Fe atom, a Cr atom, a Ni atom, and a Pb atom, in which in a case where the chemical liquid contains one kind of the ion, a content of the metal ion is 0.1 to 100 mass ppt, in a case where the chemical liquid contains two or more kinds of the ions, a content of each of the metal ions is 0.1 to 100 mass ppt, and a charge potential is equal to or lower than 100 mV.

A photoresist layer is coated over a wafer. The photoresist layer includes a metal-containing material. An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography process is performed to the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist. The wafer is cleaned with a cleaning fluid to remove the metal-containing material. The cleaning fluid includes a solvent having Hansen solubility parameters of delta D in a range between 13 and 25, delta P in a range between 3 and 25, and delta H in a range between 4 and 30. The solvent contains an acid with an acid dissociation constant less than 4 or a base with an acid dissociation constant greater than 9.

A layer is formed over a wafer. The layer contains a material that is sensitive to an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. A first baking process is performed to the layer. The first baking process is performed with a first humidity level that is greater than about 44%. After the first baking process, the layer is exposed to EUV radiation. A second baking process is performed to the layer. The second baking process is performed with a second humidity level that is greater than about 44%. The layer is rinsed with a liquid that contains water before the second baking process or after the second baking process. After the exposing, the layer is developed with a developer solution that contains water.

This invention relates to a photoresist stripper composition. The photoresist stripper composition according to the present invention comprises at least one choline compound; at least one polar aprotic solvent; and water; the weight percentage of the choline compound is from 2.5 to 50%, preferably from 5 to 50%, more preferably from 7 to 30%, and most preferably from 9 to 18% by weight based on the total weight of the composition. The photoresist stripper composition according to the present invention exhibits excellent photoresist cleaning performance and low etching to the substrate.