Enhancement of photoresist plasma etch resistance via electron beam surface cure

A process for producing a microelectronic device which comprises

• (a) coating and drying a photoresist composition layer onto a substrate;
• (b) imagewise exposing the photoresist composition layer to sufficient activating energy to produce a latent pattern on the photoresist composition layer, which photoresist composition layer has a full depth extending from a top surface of the layer to the substrate;
• (c) developing the photoresist composition layer to thereby remove the nonimage areas thereof and leaving the image areas thereof in the form of a pattern;
• (d) overall irradiating the image areas of the layer to electron beam radiation for substantially the full depth of the layer;
• and
• (e) overall irradiating the image areas of the layer to electron beam radiation one or more additional times at a depth extending from the top surface of the layer to a depth less than the full depth of the layer;
• and
• (e) etching a surface of the substrate under the removed nonimage areas of the photographic composition layer in the absence of any additional development of the photographic composition layer after step (d) but before etching.

A process for producing a photographic image which comprises:

• (a) imagewise exposing a photographic composition layer on a substrate to sufficient activating energy to produce a latent pattern on the photographic composition layer;
• which photographic composition layer has a full depth extending from a top surface of the layer to the substrate;
• (b) developing the photographic composition layer to thereby remove the nonimage areas thereof and leaving the image areas thereof in the form of a pattern on the substrate;
• (c) overall irradiating the image areas of the layer to electron beam radiation for substantially the full depth of the layer;
• (d) overall irradiating the image areas of the layer to electron beam radiation through the surface of the layer to the depth of an intermediate plane which is less than the full thickness of the layer;
• (e) overall irradiating the image areas of the layer to electron beam radiation one or more additional times through the surface of the layer to the depth of another plane whose depth is less than that of the prior plane;
• and
• (f) etching a surface of the substrate under the removed nonimage areas of the photographic composition layer in the absence of any additional development of the photographic composition layer after step (e) but before etching.