Photoresist Underlayer & Hardmask Patents: Leaders, Trends 2026
- Filing has cooled since its 2024 peak. 108 families published that year against 57 in 2017, but the two most recent full years show growth flattening rather than accelerating.
- Momentum has swung to near zero across the largest holders. Several of the biggest assignees, including Shin-Etsu, JSR and Samsung SDI, show 0 filings and -100% year-on-year in the latest data.
- Claims cluster tightly in photolithography and polymer chemistry. G03F and H01L together dominate the IPC mix, while C07F organometallic chemistry sits far behind at only 73 records.
Filing growth compares 2021 (92 records) with 2024 (108) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,282 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks patent families addressing hardmask materials, spin-on carbon and resist underlayer chemistries, filtered to documents that make specific claims around etch selectivity, planarization, outgassing, pattern collapse or adhesion. The scope spans IPC classes H01L21, G03F7 and C08G61, capturing both the semiconductor-process side and the underlying polymer chemistry.
Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend chart will always look thinner than the underlying filing activity actually was.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trend and technology composition
1,282 patent families sit in this dataset, drawn overwhelmingly from US, European and Taiwanese filings, with meaningful activity in WIPO, Japan and China.
A peak in 2024, then a pullback
Filings rose from 57 in 2017 to a peak of 108 in 2024, passing through 83 at the 2022 midpoint. The trajectory is flat-to-declining rather than a steady climb, consistent with a technology where core claim space is already well occupied.
Photolithography and semiconductor devices dominate
G03F (1,059 records) and H01L (789) anchor the dataset, with C08G condensation-polymer chemistry a distant third at 417. C09D coatings and C08L polymer compositions form a mid tier, while C08F addition polymers and C07F organometallic chemistry sit at the thin edge of the distribution — a signal of where formulation-level claims are sparser.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,282 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Semiconductor Photoresist Underlayers and Hardmasks with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about semiconductor photoresist underlayers and hardmasks and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe documents shaping this space
Additive for resist underlayer film-forming composition and resist underlayer film-forming composition containing the same
The filing describes an additive that modifies the surface state of a resist underlayer film into a hydrophobic condition, intended to improve adhesion between the underlayer and the resist pattern formed on top of it. The additive is a polymer built from a defined structural unit combining an aliphatic, alicyclic or heterocyclic group with a linking group.Filed by Nissan Chemical Industries, published 2016-05-26.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US9916980B1 | Method of forming a structure on a substrate | 483 |
| 2 | WO2018109554A1 | Method of forming a structure on a substrate | 463 |
| 3 | US20060003182A1 | Method for forming controlled geometry hardmasks including subresolution elements and resulting structures | 175 |
| 4 | JP2008158002A | Composition for resist underlayer film, and its manufacturing method | 152 |
| 5 | US5240878A | Method for forming patterned films on a substrate | 141 |
| 6 | US20090208880A1 | Process sequence for formation of patterned hard mask film (RFP) without need for photoresist or dry etch | 105 |
| 7 | US6492222B1 | Method of dry etching PZT capacitor stack to form high-density ferroelectric memory devices | 91 |
| 8 | WO2010061774A1 | Composition for forming resist underlayer film with reduced outgassing | 85 |
| 9 | WO2006093057A1 | Composition for underlayer film of resist and process for producing the same | 84 |
| 10 | US20090311624A1 | Resist underlayer film forming composition containing liquid additive | 80 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a map of prior art density, not a ranking of current importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern tells you
Reading the trend and the IPC mix together points to a field where the chemistry claims are dense but the filing pace itself has stopped accelerating.
Growth has plateaued
The climb from 57 filings in 2017 to a 2024 peak of 108 was not sustained; the 2026 figure is a partial year, but the two years either side of the peak already show flattening, not fresh acceleration.
Claims concentrate in lithography chemistry
G03F photolithography and H01L semiconductor-device claims dominate the corpus. Organometallic chemistry (C07F) and vinyl-type addition polymers (C08F) trail well behind, suggesting formulation routes outside mainstream condensation polymers are comparatively under-claimed.
The largest assignees have gone quiet
Shin-Etsu, JSR, Samsung SDI, IBM and Applied Materials all show zero filings in the latest year, each a -100% swing from the prior year. Nissan Chemical is the one major holder still filing, though flat at 2.
Filing activity still centres on the US
The United States receives more than four times the filings of the next-largest office (Europe, 171), with Taiwan, WIPO, Japan and China each contributing a smaller, roughly comparable share.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to semiconductor photoresist underlayers and hardmasks, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the ground, and who has stopped moving
The assignee list is long-tailed, with a handful of chemical and semiconductor majors accounting for the bulk of activity and most of that activity now cooling.
Nissan Chemical is the one still filing
Among the assignees tracked for recent-year momentum, Nissan Chemical is the only one with filings in the latest year and flat rather than negative year-on-year change, a contrast to the near-total pullback elsewhere.
Shin-Etsu, JSR, Samsung SDI, IBM and Applied Materials
Each of these shows zero filings in the latest year and a -100% year-on-year change, a pattern consistent across chemical suppliers and semiconductor-equipment makers alike rather than isolated to one sector.
Co-filing is limited and concentrated
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, and the strongest links all involve the same Korean corporate filer paired with different named inventors, rather than cross-company joint filings.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Nissan Chemical Corporation | 2 | 0% |
| Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| JSR Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) | 0 | — |
| Applied Materials, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Intel Corporation | 0 | — |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this analysis
The trend and assignee data point to specific follow-up questions rather than a single conclusion.
Test freedom-to-operate against the cited core
The most-cited records, including US9916980B1 and its WO counterpart, sit at the centre of prior art for structure-forming methods; any new filing in that area should be checked against them first.
Explore claim chartsWatch whether incumbents resume filing
A -100% swing at five major holders in one year could mark saturation or a temporary lull; the next 12-18 months of publications will clarify which, given typical filing-to-publication lag.
Track assignee activityProbe the thinner IPC branches
C07F and C08F carry far fewer records than G03F or H01L; that gap may reflect either limited technical viability or genuine white space worth testing with a first claim.
Run a white space searchCommon questions about this landscape
Records are pulled using a search across titles and abstracts for hardmask materials, spin-on carbon and resist underlayer terms, combined with claims text mentioning etch selectivity, planarization, outgassing, pattern collapse or adhesion. The IPC filter restricts results to H01L21 (semiconductor devices), G03F7 (photolithography) and C08G61 (condensation polymers). This combination captures both process-integration claims and the underlying material chemistry, rather than just one side of the field.
The 2024 figure of 108 families is the highest in the dataset, up from 57 in 2017, but the following year shows a decline and the 2026 count of 2 is a partial year still filling in. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, part of the apparent 2025-2026 drop is a reporting artefact rather than a real stop in filing activity. The flat trajectory around the 2022 midpoint of 83, though, suggests the slowdown began before the peak, not just after it.
Of the assignees tracked for recent-year momentum, Nissan Chemical is the one showing filings in the latest year, holding flat at 2 with 0% year-on-year change. Shin-Etsu, JSR, Samsung SDI, IBM and Applied Materials all show zero filings in the latest year and a -100% swing from the prior year. That does not necessarily mean these companies have exited the field, since recent filings may not yet be published, but it does mark a visible pause in the public record.
The IPC composition shows G03F and H01L carrying the bulk of records, with C08G condensation polymers a distant third. C07F organometallic chemistry and C08F vinyl-type addition polymers sit at the thin edge, with far fewer filings than the dense core classes. That imbalance points to organometallic hardmask precursors and addition-polymer underlayer formulations as areas with comparatively less claim coverage, worth checking against the cited prior art before filing.
The dataset spans 1,282 patent families with activity concentrated in a handful of major chemical and semiconductor-equipment assignees, but co-filing is limited: only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the whole set. The strongest of those pairs all involve one Korean corporate filer paired with individual named inventors rather than joint filings between separate companies. That pattern suggests most invention here is filed independently rather than through formal cross-company collaboration.
Research Semiconductor Photoresist Underlayers and Hardmasks in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole semiconductor photoresist underlayers and hardmasks corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.