The reaction mechanism of poly[4-hydroxystyrene-co-4-(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-hydroxypropyl)-styrene]

Abstract

It is a well-known strategy for the improvement of resist performance to halogenate resist materials especially in electron beam and X-ray resists. However, the halogenation of polymers requires special caution for chemically amplified resists, because it may interfere with acid generation. In this work, the acid generation in poly[4-hydroxystyrene-co-4-(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-hydroxypropyl)-styrene] films was investigated. Acid yields decrease as the ratio of hexafluoroalcohol units increases. This study showed that the reactivity of the polymers with low energy electrons (~0eV) correlates to the decrease of acid yields.