Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Kaeko Kitamura

Hideki Yabe

Sunao Aya

Kei Sasaki

Koji Kise

Kenji Marumoto

Masamitsu Okamura

Masao Kouhashi

Shigeto Ami

An X-ray absorber is deposited on a membrane. A stress adjust step is applied so that the average film stress of the X-ray absorber is 0. After patterning the X-ray absorber, the position accuracy of the pattern is measured. Then, a stress adjust process is applied to the patterned X-ray mask. Accordingly, a stress adjustment method is used to acquire an X-ray mask that has no pattern position offset of the X-ray absorber.

Stress adjustment method of X-ray mask

X-ray mask provided with an alignment mark and method of manufacturing the same

An antireflection film formed on a membrane of an X-ray mask has an amorphous structure. A patterned X-ray absorber intercepting transmission of X-rays is formed to be in contact with the front surface of the antireflection film. Thus, an X-ray mask having excellent pattern positional accuracy and a method of fabricating the same are obtained.

X-ray mask and method of fabricating the same

A film-forming method and an apparatus for a X-ray mask and a film-forming apparatus which are able to diminish stress unevenness in the X-ray mask to zero when a X-ray absorber is formed on a mask substrate by sputtering a target 3 during rotation of the mask substrate. Firstly, a dummy mask substrate is prepared instead of a mask substrate. A dummy X-ray absorber 6 is formed on this dummy X-ray substrate 5 within a sputtering range. Secondly, a stress distribution is measured at every position along a straight line passing through a center of the dummy X-ray absorber 6 and then a desirable stress distribution range X is selected at such a location so as to have a good linear characteristic in a portion of a compressive stress curve which decreases toward an outer periphery of the dummy X-ray absorber 6 in the stress distribution. A center of the desirable stress distribution range X is selected as a rotation center, the mask substrate is placed within the desirable stress distribution range X, and the X-ray absorber is formed by this film-forming technology.

Film-forming method for X-ray mask

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Hyogo, Japan

Kaeko Kitamura