Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Hayato Ohno

Toshimasa Nakayama

Hidekatsu Kohara

Shinichi Kono

Nobuo Tokutake

Satoshi Niikura

Atsushi Sawano

Taku Nakao

Shinichi Hidesaka

Yasuo Masuda

Hisanobu Harada

Phenolic compound (a) is polycondensed with mixed aldehyde (b) consisting essentially of 5-30 mol % of unsaturated aliphatic aldehyde (b-1) and 70-95 mol % of saturated aliphatic aldehyde (b-2) to give alkali-soluble novolak resin (A) as the product of polycondensation reaction. The alkali-soluble novolak resin (A) is used with quinonediazido group containing compound (B) to produce a positive photoresist composition. According to the present invention, there are specifically provided a positive photoresist composition that has high feature integrity in spite of high sensitivity and which yet provides a great depth of focus, a process for producing such positive photoresist composition, as well as an alkali-soluble novolak resin that can advantageously be used in such composition, and a method of forming patterns with high reproducibility using such positive photoresist composition.

Positive photoresist compositions and a process for producing the same

A positive photoresist coating solution comprising (a) an alkali-soluble resin, (b) a quinone diazide group-containing compound, and (c) an organic solvent in an amount sufficient for dissolving said (a) and (b) components, wherein said organic solvent contains (i) propylene glycol monopropyl ether and (ii) 2-heptanone. The solution of the present invention exhibits excellent coating ability, sensitivity, thermostability, focal depth range, shape-profiling ability, and the like.

Positive photoresist coating solution comprising a mixed solvent of

Proposed is an improved positive-working photoresist composition for use in the photolithographic patterning works for the manufacture of semiconductor devices, which is capable of giving a patterned resist layer on a substrate surface having excellent resolution and heat resistance without formation of scum in the development treatment. The photoresist composition comprises: (a) an alkali-soluble novolac resin as a film-forming ingredient and (b) a naphthoquinone diazide group-containing compound as a photosensitizing ingredient, of which the novolac resin is a condensation product of a phenolic compound and an aldehyde compound, the condensation reaction being undertaken in a solvent system containing, in addition to water, .gamma.-butyrolactone or a combination of .gamma.-butyrolactone and a propyleneglycol monoalkyl ether in a limited proportion.

Positive-working photoresist composition comprising a novolac resin made

A positive-working photosensitive resin composition useful as a photoresist material in the fine patterning work for the manufacture of semiconductor devices is proposed. The composition is excellent in the storage stability and capable of giving a patterned resist layer having good film thickness retention, cross sectional profile of line patterns, resolution and heat resistance. The composition comprises, in addition to a conventional alkali-soluble novolac resin as a film-forming agent and a quinone diazide group containing compound as a photosensitizing agent, a specific isocyanurate compound substituted at each nitrogen atom with a hydroxy- and ter-butyl-substituted benzyl group.

Positive-working quinone diazide composition containing

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Kanagawa-ken, Japan

Hayato Ohno