Abstract: The present invention is directed to a process for device fabrication and resist materials that are used in the process. The resist material contains a polymer that contains monomeric units that contain alicyclic formate moieties, and at least one other type of monomeric unit. The polymer may be formed by polymerization or by polymer modification of an existing polymer, and the resulting polymer either has alicyclic moieties incorporated into the polymer backbone or pendant to the polymer backbone via saturated hydrocarbon linkages. A preferred polymerization process is free radical polymerization, in which other monomers are selected for polymerization with the alicyclic moiety-containing monomer on the basis of the ability of the monomer to copolymerize by free radical polymerization.