Methods for reducing line width roughness and/or critical dimension nonuniformity in a photoresist pattern are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of reducing line width roughness along a sidewall of a patterned photoresist layer disposed atop a substrate includes: (a) depositing a first layer atop the sidewall of the patterned photoresist layer; (b) etching the first layer and the sidewall after depositing the first layer to reduce the line width roughness of the patterned photoresist layer. In some embodiments, (a)-(b) may be repeated until the line width roughness is substantially smooth.