Energy-sensitive resist material and a process for device fabrication using an energy-sensitive resist material

A process for device fabrication comprising:

• forming a layer of an energy sensitive resist material on a substrate wherein the energy sensitive resist material comprises a radiation sensitive material and a polymer which is the polymerization product of monomers, wherein about 25 mole percent to about 50 mole percent of the monomers incorporated into the polymer have an alicyclic hydrocarbon moiety that is either incorporated into the polymer backbone or pendant to the polymer backbone via a saturated hydrocarbon linkage and about 25 mole percent to about 50 mole percent of the monomers incorporated into the polymer are a maleic anhydride monomer and wherein the polymer has at least one substituent that is selected from the group consisting of acid labile substituents, free acid substituents or both;
• exposing the layer of energy sensitive resist material to patterned radiation selected from the group consisting of ultraviolet radiation, x-ray radiation, and electron beam radiation thereby introducing an image of the pattern into the resist material;
• developing the image into a pattern;
• and
• transferring the pattern into the underlying substrate.