In accordance with the present invention, a method is provided for converting a layer of polymeric material which lacks permeability to a more permeable form. The method can also be used to create or enhance patterned differential permeability within a given polymeric film or layer. It has been discovered that compounds/materials can be added to the polymeric material formulation and subsequently be leached from a film or layer cast from the formulation, to provide increased permeability of the layer as a whole, or to create or enhance permeability differentials within the polymeric layer. The additive used to alter permeability can be a photoactive compound or sensitizer such as the type of materials typically used in photoresists (for example, aryl azides, diazoquinones, and diazo homotetraminic acids), or can be a non-photosensitive or a nonphotoactive material. A photoactive material being a material which undergoes chemical change upon exposure to photons, electrons or ions. The additive used to alter permeability can be a compound/material which is leachable from the film in the same form in which it is added to the formulation, or it may be a compound/material which becomes leachable after treatment of the film with heat or radiation. The method of creating enhanced differential permeability in a resist film comprises:
a) adding a compound/material to the polymeric resist formulation, wherein said compound/material or an altered derivative thereof can be subsequently leached from a film prepared using the polymeric resist formulation; b) applying the resist formulation to a substrate to provide a resist film; c) patternwise irradiating the resist film to create a latent image within the resist film, whereby the ability of the leachable material to be leached from the resist film is altered in the patternwise irradiated areas. This method of increasing permeability within a polymeric layer or enhancing the differential in permeability within a latent pattern in a polymeric layer is particularly useful in photolithographic processes used in the fabrication of electronic devices.