An apparatus for processing a substrate includes a process chamber; a support which is placed inside the process chamber and supports the substrate; a fluid supplier which supplies fluid into the process chamber; and a controller configured to perform a compressing step to bring the fluid into a supercritical phase inside the process chamber, in which the compressing step includes a continuous first section and second section, the fluid supplier includes a first portion and a second portion, and the controller supplies the fluid into the process chamber at a first speed during the first section using the first portion, and supplies the fluid into the process chamber at a second speed higher than the first speed during the second section using the second portion.

The present disclosure is directed to organotin cluster compounds having formula (I) and their use as photoresists in extreme ultraviolet lithography processes. ##STR00001##

A negative-working photosensitive resin composition including an epoxy group-containing resin, a metal oxide, and a cationic polymerization initiator, in which a photosensitive resin film having a film thickness of 20 μm obtained by applying the negative-working photosensitive resin composition onto a silicon wafer and performing a bake treatment at 90° C. for 5 minutes has a Martens hardness of less than 235 [N/mm.sup.2], and when a viscoelasticity of a cured film, which is obtained by exposing the photosensitive resin film to i-rays at an irradiation amount of 200 mJ/cm.sup.2, performing a bake treatment after the exposure at 90° C. for 5 minutes, and then performing a bake treatment at 200° C. for 1 hour to cure the photosensitive resin film, is measured at a frequency of 1.0 Hz, a tensile elastic modulus (E*) of the cured film at a temperature of 175° C. is 2.1 [GPa] or more.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pattern forming method with which a pattern having excellent resolution performance and LER performance can be formed. In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an electronic device, an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition, and a resist film.

A pattern forming method of the present invention includes a resist film forming step of forming a resist film on a substrate using an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition, an exposing step of exposing the resist film, and a developing step of positively developing the exposed resist film using an organic solvent-based developer, in which the actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition includes a resin having a polar group, a compound including two or more ion pairs which are decomposed by an irradiation with an actinic ray or a radiation and having a molecular weight of 5,000 or less, and a solvent.

A photosensitive material includes: a compound A having a carboxy group, in which the compound A includes a polymer including a repeating unit derived from (meth)acrylic acid, and a content of the carboxy group in a photosensitive layer which is formed from the photosensitive material is reduced by irradiation with an actinic ray or a radiation.

A metal-containing photoresist developer composition, and a method of forming patterns including a step of developing using the same are provided. The metal-containing photoresist developer composition includes an organic solvent, and a heptagonal ring compound substituted with at least one hydroxy group (—OH). The heptagonal ring compound has at least two double bonds in the ring.

A method is provided for subtractively processing a layer of etchable material formed over an electrically conductive surface region of a workpiece. The workpiece is immersed in a liquid solution, generally but not exclusively a conductive solution, that comprises an etchant for the etchable material, so that etching of the etchable material is initiated. An electric circuit is connected to include a control electrode, a reference electrode, and the electrically conductive surface region of the workpiece. The electric circuit is used to monitor the development process dynamically at each of a plurality of intervals during the etching. The etching is terminated when the electrochemical signal satisfies a criterion indicating that the etching is complete.

A siloxane polymer comprising polysiloxane, silphenylene, isocyanuric acid, and polyether skeletons in a backbone and having an epoxy group in a side chain is provided. A photosensitive resin composition comprising the siloxane polymer and a photoacid generator is coated to form a film which can be patterned using radiation of widely varying wavelength. The patterned film has high transparency and light resistance.

A method for producing flexographic printing plates, using as starting material a photopolymerizable flexographic printing element which at least comprises, arranged one atop another, a dimensionally stable support, and at least one photopolymerizable, relief-forming layer, at least comprising an elastomeric binding, an ethylenically unsaturated compound, and a photoinitiator, a digitally imagable layer, and the method comprises at least 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, characterized in that step (b) comprises two or more exposure cycles (b 1) to (b n) 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.

The present invention provides a silicone skeleton-containing polymer including a silicone skeleton shown by the following formula (1) and having a weight average molecular weight of 3,000 to 500,000.

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This can provide a silicone skeleton-containing polymer that can easily form a fine pattern with a large film thickness, and can form a cured material layer (cured film) that is excellent in various film properties such as crack resistance and adhesion properties to a substrate, electronic parts, and a semiconductor device, particularly a base material used for a circuit board, and has high reliability as a film to protect electric and electronic parts and a film for bonding substrates; and a photo-curable resin composition that contains the polymer, a photo-curable dry film thereof, a laminate using these materials, and a patterning process.