Wet processes are gaining a renewed interest for removal of high dose ion implanted photoresist (II-PR) in front-end-of-line semiconductor manufacturing because of their excellent selectivity towards the wafer substrate and gate materials. The selection of wet chemistries is supported by an insight into the resist degradation by ion implantation. In this work, different analytical techniques have been applied for in-depth characterization of the chemical changes in 248 nm DUV PR after arsenic implantation. A radical mechanism of resist degradation is proposed involving cross-linking and chain scission reactions. The cross-linking of the resist is dominant especially for high doses and energies. It leads to significant depletion of hydrogen and formation of carbon macroradicals that recombine to form C-C cross-linked crust. Moreover, formation of ab-unsaturated ketonic and/or quinonoid structures by cross-linking reactions is suggested. In addition, the dopant species may provide rigid points in the PR matrix by chemical bonding with the resist. For higher doses and energies further dehydrogenation occurs, which leads to formation of triple bonds in the crust. Different p-conjugated structures are formed in the crust by cross-linking and dehydrogenation reactions. No presence of amorphous carbon in the crust is revealed. (C) 2011 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3597176] All rights reserved.