The authors present a study of the influence of temperature on hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) e-beam lithography during drying, developing, and postdevelopment baking. In accordance with the observation that tempering at relatively low temperatures can already lead to noticeable cross-linking, comparable to the effect of e-beam exposure, the authors find that decreasing the prebake temperature below 90 degrees C and drying the HSQ resist at room temperature in vacuum yields better resolution compared with resist that was dried in a furnace or on a hotplate at 90 degrees C or above. Developing the exposed resist not at room temperature (23 degrees C) but at 60 degrees C results in significant contrast enhancement. Further solidification of the developed resist is obtained by baking the material above 300 degrees C. Correlations between these findings and IR data are presented. (c) 2007 American Vacuum Society.