Quinonediazide/novolak positive electron beam resist developer

A quinonediazide/novolak positive electron beam resist developer comprising alkali metal ions, weak acid ions and a water soluble organic compound subject to the following conditions:

• 0.05.ltoreq.a.ltoreq.0.5, 0.07.ltoreq.bn.ltoreq.1.5 and a<bn or a>bn, wherein a is the concentration of the alkali metal in mol/kg, b is the concentration of the weak acid in mol/kg and n is the valence of the weak acid ions, and the concentration of the water soluble organic compound is 0.5 to 10 wt % based on the total weight of the developer;
• said water soluble organic compound being at least one compound selected from the group consisting of compounds represented by the following general formulae (I), (II), (III), dimethyl sulfoxide, acetonitrile, pyridine and morpholine:
• ##STR8## (where R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 stand for, respectively independently, one selected from a group consisting of hydrogen atom, alkyl group and hydroxyalkyl group;
• R.sup.1 and R.sup.4 may also be combined to form a closed ring;
• and the number of carbon atoms is 1 to 6) ##STR9## (where R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 stand for, respectively independently, one selected from a group consisting of hydrogen atom, alkyl group and hydroxyalkyl group;
• R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 may also be combined to form a closed ring;
• and the number of carbon atoms is 1 to 9) ##STR10## (where R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 stand for, respectively independently, one selected from a group consisting of hydrogen atom, alkyl group and hydroxyalkyl group;
• R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 may also be combined to form a closed ring;
• and the number of carbon atoms is 1 to 9).