A novel methacrylate polymer for a 193-nm resist has been developed. The goal was to enhance the adhesion to Si substrates while ensuring compatibility with a TMAH developer for our methacrylate-based resist. We used two acid-cleavable compounds for the carboxylic acid protective groups: mevalonic lactone and 2-methyl-2-adamantanol. The strong hydrophilicity of mevalonic lactone ester affords good adhesion of the formulated resist patterns to Si substrates. Alicyclic 2-methyl-2-adamantanol provides dry-etch resistance. The acid-catalyzed deprotection of both protective groups generate a large polarity change in the exposed region of the resist films. This allows for high-contrast patterning with high sensitivity using a 2.38% TMAH developer. Using an ArF excimer laser exposure system, 0.17-μm L/S patterns have been resolved.