Patent 7939244 was granted and assigned to Brewer Science on May, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
New hardmask compositions comprising non-polymeric, metal-containing nanoparticles dispersed or dissolved in a solvent system and methods of using those compositions as hardmask layers in microelectronic structures are provided. The compositions are photosensitive and capable of being rendered developer soluble upon exposure to radiation. The inventive hardmask layer is patterned simultaneously with the photoresist layer and provides plasma etch resistance for subsequent pattern transfer.