Aromatic resins for underlayers

1. A process of forming a patterned layer comprising:

(a) coating on a substrate a layer of a composition comprising (i) a polyarylene resin comprising as polymerized units: one or more first monomers of formula (1)

wherein each Ar 1 and Ar 2 is independently a C 6-30 -aryl moiety; each R is independently H, C 6-30 -aryl, or substituted C 6-30 -aryl; each R 1 is independently —OH, C 1-6 -hydroxyalkyl, —C(═O)OR 3 , —C(═O)N(R 4 ) 2 , —O—C(═O)R 5 , —NR 4 C(═O)R 6 , —N(R 4 ) 3 + An − , —NO 2 ; S(═O) 2 —OR 7 , —O—S(═O) 2 —R 8 , —NR 4 —S(═O) 2 —R 6 , or S(═O) 2 —N(R 4 ) 2 ; each R 2 is independently C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -haloalkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxyalkyl, C 1-10 -alkoxy, CN, —N(R 4 ) 2 , or halogen; R 3 is H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxyalkyl, C 1-10 -aminoalkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, or M; each R 4 is independently H, C 6-30 -aryl or C 1-10 -alkyl; each R 5 is independently H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxyalkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, —O(C 1-10 -alkyl), —O(C 6-10 -aryl), or —N(R 4 ) 2 ; R 6 is H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxyalkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, —O(C 1-10 -alkyl), or —NH(C 1-10 -alkyl); R 7 is H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, or M; R 8 is C 6-30 -aryl, C 1-10 -alkyl, or C 1-10 -haloalkyl; M is an alkali metal ion, an alkaline earth metal ion, or an ammonium ion; An − is a halide anion or a C 1-20 -carboxylate anion; each Y is independently a single chemical bond or a divalent linking group which divalent linking group is —O—, —S—, —S(═O)—, —S(═O) 2 —, —C(═O)—, —(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z —, C 6-30 -aryl, or —(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z1 —(C 6-30 -aryl)-(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z2 —; each R 9 is independently H, hydroxy, halogen, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -haloalkyl, or C 6-30 -aryl; a1=0 to 3; a2=0 to 3; b1=1 to 4; b2=0 to 2; c1=0 to 2; c2=0 to 2; a1+a2=1 to 6; b1+b2=2 to 6; c1+c2=0 to 6; d=0 to 2; z=1 to 10; z1=0 to 10; z2=0 to 10; and z1+z2=1 to 10; and one or more second monomers comprising two or more cyclopentadienone moieties; and one or more organic solvents;

(b) removing organic solvent to form an aromatic resin layer;

(c) coating a layer of a photoresist on the aromatic resin layer;

(d) exposing the photoresist layer to actinic radiation through a mask;

(e) developing the exposed photoresist layer to form a resist pattern; and

(f) transferring the pattern to the aromatic resin layer to expose portions of the substrate.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of patterning the substrate; and then removing the patterned aromatic resin layer.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of coating a silicon-containing layer over the aromatic resin layer before step (c).

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of transferring the pattern to the silicon-containing layer after step (e) and before step (f).

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the polyarylene resin further comprises as polymerized units one or more third monomers of formula (13)

wherein Ar 5 is a C 6-30 -aromatic moiety; each Y 2 is independently a single chemical bond or a divalent linking group which divalent linking group is —O—, —S—, —S(═O)—, —S(═O) 2 —, —C(═O)—, —(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z —, C 6-30 -aryl, or —(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z1 —C 6-30 -aryl or —(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z2 —; each R 15 is independently C 1-4 -alkyl, C 1-4 -haloalkyl, C 1-4 -alkoxy, optionally substituted C 7-14 -aralkyl, or optionally substituted C 6-30 -aryl; b4=1 or 2; f=0 to 4; z is 1 to 10; z1 is 0 to 10; z2 is 0 to 10; and z1+z2=1 to 10.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein f=0.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein each R 1 is independently —OH, —C(═O)OR 3 , —C(═O)N(R 4 ) 2 , —O—C(═O)R 5 , —S(═O) 2 —OR 5 , and —S(=O) 2 —OR 7 , or S(O=) 2 —N(R 4 ) 2 .

8. The method of claim 7 wherein R 3 is H, C 1-6 -alkyl, C 1-6 -hydroxyalkyl, or M; each R 4 is independently H or C 1-6 -alkyl; each R 5 is H, C 1-6 -alkyl.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein each R 1 is independently —OH or —C(═O)OR 3 .

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more first monomers have the formula (2):

wherein Ar 1 , R, R 1 , a1 and b1 are as defined in claim 1 .

11. The method of claim 1 wherein Ar 1 and Ar 2 are independently phenyl, naphthyl, anthracenyl, phenanthryl, pyrenyl, coronenyl, tetracenyl, pentacenyl, triphenylenyl, or perylenyl.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more second monomers are chosen from one or more monomers of formula (9)

wherein each R 10 is independently H, phenyl, or substituted phenyl; and Ar 3 is an aromatic moiety.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more organic solvents are propylene glycol methyl ether, propylene glycol methyl ether acetate, methyl 3-methoxypropionate, ethyl lactate, n-butyl acetate, anisole, N-methyl pyrrolidone, gamma-butyrolactone, ethoxybenzene, benzyl propionate, benzyl benzoate, propylene carbonate, methyl 2-hydroxyisobutyrate, cyclohexanone, or a mixture thereof.

14. A process for filling a gap, comprising: (a) providing a semiconductor substrate having a relief image on a surface of the substrate, the relief image comprising a plurality of gaps to be filled; (b) applying a gap-fill composition over the relief image, wherein the gap-fill composition comprises a composition comprising (i) a polyarylene resin comprising as polymerized units: one or more first monomers of formula (1) and one or more second monomers comprising two or more cyclopentadienone moieties;

wherein each Ar 1 and Ar 2 is independently a C 6-30 -aryl moiety; each R is independently H, C 6-30 -aryl, or substituted C 6-30 -aryl; each R 1 is independently —OH, C 1-6 -hydroxyalkyl, —C(═O)OR 3 , —C(═O)N(R 4 ) 2 , —O—C(═O)R 5 , —NR 4 C(═O)R 6 , —N(R 4 ) 3 + An − , —NO 2 ; —S(═O) 2 —OR 7 , —O—S(═O) 2 —R 8 , —NR 4 —S(═O) 2 —R 6 , or S(═O) 2 —N(R 4 ) 2 ; each R 2 is independently C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -haloalkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxyalkyl, C 1-10 -alkoxy, CN, —N(R 4 ) 2 , or halogen R 3 is H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxyalkyl, C 1-10 -aminoalkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, or M; each R 4 is independently H, C 6-30 -aryl, or C 1-10 -alkyl; each R 5 is independently H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxyalkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, —O(C 1-10 -alkyl), —O(C 6-10 -aryl), or —N(R 4 ) 2 ; R 6 is H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -hydroxy alkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, —O(C 1-10 -alkyl), or —NH(C 1-10 -alkyl); R 7 is H, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 6-30 -aryl, or M; R 8 is C 6-30 -aryl, C 1-10 -alkyl, or C 1-10 -haloalkyl; M is an alkali metal ion, an alkaline earth metal ion, or an ammonium ion; An − is a halide anion or a C 1-20 -carboxylate anion; each Y is independently a single chemical bond or a divalent linking group which divalent linking group is —O—, —S—, —S(═O)—, —S(═O) 2 —, —C(═O)—, —(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z —, C 6-30 -aryl, or —(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z1 —(C 6-30 -aryl)-(C(R 9 ) 2 ) z2 —; each R 9 is independently chosen from H, hydroxy, halo, C 1-10 -alkyl, C 1-10 -haloalkyl, and C 6-30 -aryl; a1=0 to 3; a2=0 to 3; b1=1 to 4; b2=0 to 2; a=0 to 2; c2=0 to 2; a1+a2=1 to 6; b1+b2=2 to 6; c1+c2=0 to 6; d=0 to 2; z=1 to 10; z1=0 to 10; z2=0 to 10; and z1+z2=1 to 10; and (ii) one or more organic solvents; and (c) heating the gap-fill composition at a temperature to cure the polyarylene resin.