Process for forming thermally stable negative images on surfaces utilizing polyglutarimide polymer in photoresist composition

Claim 1

A process forming an image on a surface comprising depositing a negative acting photoresist film on said surface, said film comprising a polyglutarimide polymer and a negative-acting photosensitizer dissolved in a solvent wherein said polyglutarimide polymer comprises at least about 5 wt% glutarimide units of the formula: ##STR2## where R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 independently are hydrogen, unsubstituted and substituted alkyl, aryl, aralkyl or alkaryl hydrocarbons having from one to twenty carbon atoms or mixtures thereof, where at least about 20 mole percent of the R 3 substituents are hydrogen and where said negative-acting photosensitizer is selected from the group consisting of photosensitive azides and bisazides and is present in said photoresist at a sufficient quantity to enable the photoresist to become insoluble in an aqueous developer upon exposure of the photoresist to actinic radiation, softbaking said film, exposing a portion of said film to a source of actinic radiation that decreases the dissolution rate of said polyglutarimide in an aqueous developer, and removing the unexposed portion of said film with said aqueous developer to form said image.