Novel ester acetal polymers and their application for positive-tone chemically amplified i-line photoresists

Polyaddition reactions of N-hydroxy maleopimarimide with divinyl ether compounds were carried out to give novel polymers with ester acetal linkages in the main chain. The polymers have good solubility in common organic solvents and relatively high Tg temperatures. The number-average molecular weights of the polymers range from 4000 to 5500, with Mw/Mn of 1.7–2.3. The thermal decomposition temperatures of the polymers are above 220 °C. The film of the obtained polymers showed excellent transparency to UV light above 230 nm. The ester acetal linkage of the polymer chain can be cleaved in the presence of strong acid under mild heating. Making use of the high acidolytic activity of the polymers, positive-tone chemically amplified i-line photoresists can be formed from them and 2,1-diazonaphthoquinone-4-sulfonate, in which the well known photoactive compound can also function as a photoacid generator. The photolithographic performance of the photoresists was evaluated using an i-line exposure system with high photosensitivity and resolution.