POSITIVE RESIST COMPOSITION

摘要

A positive resist composition which is used in a process for forming a resist pattern involving the steps of alkali developing, replacing a liquid present on a substrate with a liquid for use in the critical drying, and then drying the liquid for use in the critical drying via a critical state, in a lithography technology, which comprises a resin component (A) containing an alkali-soluble unit in an mount less than 20 mol % and having an acid-dissociative group inhibiting the dissolution thereof in an alkali and thus exhibiting the enhancement in the solubility in an alkaline solution by the action of an acid, a component (B) generating an acid by the exposure to a light, and an organic solvent (C) capable of dissolving (A) and (B) components, wherein the (A) component comprises (a1) a constituting unit containing acid-dissociative group inhibiting the dissolution thereof in an alkali, (a2) a constituting unit containing a lactone unit and (a3) a constituting unit containing a polycyclic group having an alcoholic hydroxyl group. The positive resist composition can be used for preventing a fine resist pattern from falling down in a drying step after developing.