Negative photoresist compositions

1. A negative photoresist composition comprising;

a) at least one alkali-soluble polymer, where the polymer comprises at least one unit of structure 1,

 where, R′ is selected independently from hydrogen, (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, chlorine and bromine, and m is an integer from 1 to 4;

b) at least one monomer of structure 4;

 where, W is a multivalent linking group, R 1 to R 6 are independently selected from hydrogen, hydroxy, (C 1 -C 20 ) alkyl and chlorine, X 1 and X 2 are independently oxygen and n is an integer equal to or greater than 1; and,

c) at least one photoinitiator,

 and, further where the monomer of structure 4 comprises an acid-cleavable group and the alkali-soluble polymer further comprises an acid-cleavable group.

2. The composition according to claim 1 , where the unit of structure 1 is derived from a monomer selected from 3-hydroxystyrene, 4-hydroxystyrene, 3-methyl-4-hydroxystyrene, 3,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxystyrene, and 3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxystyrene.

3. The composition according to claim 1 , where the alkali soluble polymer further comprises at least one additional monomeric unit.

4. The composition of claim 3 , where the additional monomeric unit is derived from a monomer selected from methyl(meth)acrylate, n-butyl (methacrylate), phenyl(methacrylate), benzyl(methacrylate), styrene, hydroxystyrene with an acid cleavable group, an ethylene comonomer with an acid cleavable group, and norbornene derivative with an acid cleavable group.

5. The composition of claim 1 , where the acid cleavable group of the monomer isselected from C(O)—O—C, C—O—C and C—O—Si.

6. The composition of claim 1 , where the multivalent linking group, W, is selected from at least one of a polymer, (C 1 -C 20 ) alkylene and (C 2 -C 3 ) alkoxylated (C 1 -C 20 ) alkylene.

7. The composition of claim 1 , where in structure 4, n ranges from 1 to 7.

8. The composition of claim 1 , where the compound of structure 4 is a di(meth)acrylate monomer.

9. The composition of claim 1 , where the photoinitiator is at least one of 1-hydroxy cyclohexyl phenyl ketone, 2,2-dimethoxy-1,2-diphenylethan-1-one, bis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phenylphosphineoxide, 1-[4-(2-hydroxyethoxy)phenyl]-2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-propane-1-one, 2-benzyl-2-dimethylamino-1-(4-morpholinophenyl)butanone, 2-methyl-1-[4-(methylthio)phenyl]-2-morpholinopropan-1-one, and 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-phenyl propan-1-one.

10. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising a secondary polymer.

11. The composition of claim 10 , where the secondary polymer is selected from unsubstituted or substituted (meth)acrylic acid containing polymers or copolymers, unsubstituted or substituted (meth)acrylate containing polymers or copolymers, unsubstituted or substituted vinyl ester containing polymers or copolymers, unsubstituted or substituted vinyl aromatic containing polymers or copolymers, (meth)acrylic acid-styrene copolymers and novolak polymers.

12. The composition of claim 1 , capable of forming a film with a thickness in the range of about 2 microns to about 200 microns.

13. A process for imaging a negative photoresist comprising the steps of,

a) forming a layer of photoresist coating from the composition of claim 1 on a substrate;

b) imagewise exposing the photoresist with an exposure equipment; and,

d) developing the coating with a developer.

14. The process of claim 13 , where the photoresist coating has a film thickness in the range of about 2 microns to about 200 microns.

15. The process according to claim 13 where radiation for imagewise exposure has wavelength(s) greater than 200 nm.

16. The process of claim 13 , further comprising a step of removing the photoresist coating from the substrate.

17. The process of claim 16 , where the removing step comprises heating the photoresist coating after the developing step, and removing the photoresist coating from the substrate in an aqueous alkaline solution.

18. The process of claim 13 , further comprising exposing the photoresist coating after the developing step.

19. The process of claim 13 , where the developer comprises an aqueous solution comprising at least one compound selected from tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide.

20. The composition of claim 1 , where the acid cleavable group of the monomer comprises a tertiary carbon atom adjacent to X 1 and/or X 2 .

21. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising a thermal acid generator and/or a photoacid generator.

22. A negative photoresist composition comprising:

a) at least one alkali-soluble polymer, where the polymer comprises at least one unit of structure 1 ,

where, R′ is selected independently from hydrogen, (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, chlorine and bromine, and m is an integer from 1 to 4;

b) at least one monomer selected from 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-hexanediol di(methacrylate) and 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-hex-3-yne-diol di(methacrylate) and c) at least one photoinitiator.

23. A negative photoresist composition comprising:

a) at least one alkali-soluble polymer, where the polymer comprises at least one unit of structure 1,

where, R′ is selected independently from hydrogen, (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, chlorine and bromine, and m is an integer from 1 to 4;

b) at least one monomer of structure 4;

where, W is a multivalent linking group, R 1 to R 6 are independently selected from hydrogen, hydroxy, (C 1 -C 20 ) alkyl and chlorine, X 1 and X 2 are independently oxygen and n is an integer equal to or greater than 1; and,

c) at least one photoinitiator,

and, further where the alkali-soluble polymer further comprises an acid-cleavable group, and/or the monomer of structure 4 comprises an acid-cleavable group, and further where the composition comprises a thermal acid generator and/or a photoacid generator.