Resist composition and patterning process

1. A pattern forming process comprising the steps of coating a non-chemically amplified negative resist composition onto a substrate to form a resist film, baking, exposing to high-energy radiation, and developing with a developer, whereby the resist film in the exposed area is not dissolved in the developer whereas the resist film in the unexposed area is dissolved to form a negative pattern,

wherein said non-chemically amplified negative resist composition consists essentially of

a metal complex of a β-diketone, the metal being selected from the group consisting of magnesium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, silver, cadmium, indium, tin, antimony, cesium, zirconium, and hafnium,

at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of water, methanol, ethanol, n -propanol, isopropyl alcohol, 1-butyl alcohol, 2-butyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, tert-butyl alcohol, 1-pentanol, 2-pentanol, 3-pentanol, tert-amyl alcohol, neopentyl alcohol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1 -butanol, 3-methyl-2-butanol, 3 -methyl-3 -pentanol, cyclop entanol, 1 -hexanol, 2-hexanol, 3 -hexanol, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol, 3,3 -dimethyl-1 -butanol, 3,3 -dimethyl-2-butanol, 2-ethyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-l-pentanol, 2-methyl-2-pentanol, 2-methyl-3-pentanol, 3-methyl-l-pentanol, 3-methyl-2-pentanol, 3-methyl-3-pentanol, 4-methyl-1-pentanol, 4-methyl-2-pentanol, 4-methyl-3-pentanol, 1-heptanol, cyclohexanol, octanol, methyl lactate, ethyl lactate, propyl lactate, butyl lactate, propylene glycol, butanediol monomethyl ether, propylene glycol monomethyl ether, butanediol monoethyl ether, propylene glycol monoethyl ether, butanediol monopropyl ether, propylene glycol monopropyl ether, propylene glycol monomethoxymethyl ether, propylene glycol monoacetate, diacetone alcohol, allyl alcohol, propargyl alcohol, 3-methyl-1-pentyn-3-ol, 3-methyl -1-butyn-3-ol, furfuryl alcohol, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, and glycidol, and

a resin having a weight-average molecular weight of 200 to 20,000 by GPC versus polystyrene standard and selected from the group consisting of phenolic resins, silicon oxide base resins, zirconium oxide base resins, zinc oxide base resins, titanium oxide base resins, hafnium oxide base resins, silsesquioxane-titanium oxide resins, silsesquioxane-zirconium oxide resins, and silsesquioxane-hafnium oxide resins,

wherein the metal complex of a β-diketone is contained in an amount of at least 30 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the resin.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the metal complex of a β-diketone is selected from complexes of the following general formulae:

Mg 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2

Cr 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2 Cr 3+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 3

Mn 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2 Mn 3+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 3

Fe 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2 Fe 3+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 3

Co 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2

Ni 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2

Cu + (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − Cu 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2

Zn 4+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − Zn 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2

Ag + (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) −

Cd 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2

In 3+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 3

Sn 2+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 2 Sn 4+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 4

Sb 3+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 3

Cs + (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) −

Zr 4+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 4

Hf 4+ (R 1 COCH 2 COR 2 ) − 4

wherein R 1 and R 2 are each independently a straight, branched or cyclic C 1 -C 20 alkyl group, C 2 -C 20 alkenyl group, C 2 -C 20 alkynyl group, or C 6 -C 20 aryl group, which may contain a hydroxyl, alkoxy, ether, ester, amino, amide, sulfonic acid ester, halogen, cyano, nitro, carbonate, carbamate, thiol, sulfide, thioketone radical, or hetero-aromatic ring.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the developer is alkaline water.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein the developer is an aqueous solution of at least one hydroxide selected from the group consisting of tetramethylammonium hydroxide, tetraethylammonium hydroxide, tetrapropylammonium hydroxide, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, choline hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein the high-energy radiation is EUV radiation having a wavelength of 3 to 15 nm.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein the high-energy radiation is EB at an accelerating voltage of 1 to 150 keV.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein the phenolic resin is one selected from the group consisting of polyhydroxystyrene, polyhydroxynaphthalene, poly(hydroxyphenyl methacrylate), poly(hydroxynaphthyl methacrylate), copolymers thereof with styrene, vinylnaphthalene, vinylanthracene, vinylbiphenyl, vinylcarbazole, indene, acenaphthylene, nortricyclene derivatives, norbornene derivatives, maleic anhydride, maleimide derivatives, methacrylate derivatives, novolac resins, calixarene resins, and calix-resorcin resins.