Patent ID: 7045274

Claim:
A process for amplifying a structured resist, which comprises the following steps: applying a chemically amplified photoresist to a substrate, the photoresist including a film-forming polymer, a photo-acid generator, and a solvent, the film-forming polymer including acid-labile groups eliminatable by acid to liberate groups increasing solubility of the polymer in aqueous alkaline developers and anchor groups for linking amplification agents; drying the photoresist to give a photoresist film; structuring the resist film to give a structured resist; applying an amplification agent to the structured resist in a non-polar solvent, the amplification agent being a compound having an alicyclic hydrocarbon group, and the amplification agent having a linkage group for linking the amplification agent to one of the anchor groups of the polymer to form a chemical bond and link the amplification agent to the polymer by a covalent bond; the amplification agent being mixed with a reaction accelerator being a tertiary amine selected from the group consisting of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-ene (DBN), 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO), tetramethylguanidine (TMG), N-dimethylaminopropyl ethyl ether, bis(N-dimethylaminoethyl)methylamine, N-dimethylbenzylamine, N-methyl-N-dimethylaminoethylpiperazine, and N-methylmorpholine; and removing excess amplification agent; the linkage group and the anchor group forming a pair, (a) either one linkage group or one anchor group having a structure —N═C═X, with X being selected from the group consisting of O and S, and the other of these groups having (b) a nucleophilic group.