A top anti-reflective coating material (TARC) and barrier layer, and the use thereof in lithography processes, is disclosed. The TARC/barrier layer may be especially useful for immersion lithography using water as the imaging medium. The TARC/barrier layer comprises a polymer which comprises at least one silicon-containing moiety and at least one aqueous base soluble moiety. Suitable polymers include polymers having a silsesquioxane (ladder or network) structure, such as polymers containing monomers having the structure: