Method of controlling line edge roughness in resist films

The present invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuit manufacture and, more particularly, to a method of reducing the prominence of line edge roughness in a photo resist line and then, subsequently, in a layer to be etched that underlies the photo resist line. Disclosed is a method of forming an integrated circuit line on a wafer using a lithographic technique. The method can include forming a photo resist line having a line width smaller than a desired line width of the integrated circuit line. The photo resist line can be reacted with a coating to form a mask line having a line width corresponding to the desired line width of the integrated circuit line and with a smaller line edge roughness (LER) than of the photo resist line.