Due to their thermal, chemical, physical, and electrical properties, polyimides are used as protective films for electronic materials and insulating bases. Among polyimides, alicyclic polyimides have been used in liquid crystal display (LCD) due to their high transparency and low electrical conductivity. The photoresponsive alicyclic polyimides have also contributed to widespread use in thin-film transistors (TFT) and integrated circuits (IC) due to their high workability.

Choi et al. have succeeded in obtaining photoresponsive polymer 2 by reacting 1 with a methacrylic acid derivative.¹⁾ This polymer exhibits high transmittance of 85% at 400 nm and a high degree of planarization of 70%. Polyimide can be obtained from this polymer after pattern formation by photoirradiation followed by heating to promote a dehydration reaction. The resulting polyimide is reported to be a suitable material for thin-film transistors.