Motivated by Moore's law, hybrid nanoparticle photoresists composed of metal oxide (ZrO2 and HfO2) and carboxylic acid ligands have been developed as a novel resist for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. This thesis consists of two parts: a study of oxide nanoparticles made with substituted benzoate ligands and a study of dual tone patterning by some of the oxide nanoparticles. In order to investigate the influence of substituents on the patternability of aromatic-acid-based nanoparticles, nanoparticles with ZrO2 or HfO2 cores and a variety of benzoate ligands with a range of pKa's have been synthesized via a sol-gel reaction. After physical characterization of the product, lithographic tests were conducted with both deep UV and EUV radiation exposures. The thesis also investigated the dual-tone patternability of methacrylic acid bound ZrO2 which has been assessed by deep UV and electron beam lithography. By studying the lithographic process conditions and the tone-switch behavior, a better understanding of the working mechanism has been made possible. An update of the current thoughts on the solubility change mechanism is provided based on these studies.