New negative tone resists for sub-quarter micron lithography

A new acid amplified negative tone resist system is described which utilizes the formation of tetrahydropyranyl ether group for the crosslinking reaction. In a three component system, the phenolic groups of the matrix resin add to the dihydropyranyl groups of the crosslinker in the imaged areas. N-sulfonyloxy triflate or triphenyl sulfonium triflate are used as photoacid generators. The resist has excellent sensitivity to DUV, E-Beam, and X-Ray and is also used for positive tone surface imaging.