Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.

Masahide Iwakata

Hiroki Yoshikawa

Satoshi Okazaki

Takashi Haraguchi

Yuichi Fukushima

Yukio Inazuki

Tadashi Saga

Mikio Takagi

Yoshinori Kinase

Toshinobu Ishihara

Kimihiro Okada

Tamotsu Maruyama

Hiroshi Kubota

Yoshinori c/o Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd Kinase

Satoshi c/o Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd Okazaki

Yukio c/o Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd Inazuki

Hiroki c/o Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd Yoshikawa

A photomask blank to be used as a material for a photomask is provided with a mask pattern having a transparent area and an effectively opaque area to exposure light on a transparent substrate. On the transparent board, one or more layers of light shielding films are formed with or without other film (A) in between, at least one layer (B) which constitutes the light shielding film includes silicon and a transition metal as main component, and a molar ratio of silicon to the transition metal is silicon:metal=4-15:1 (atomic ratio). The photomask provided with the mask pattern having the transparent area and the effectively opaque area to exposure light on the transparent board is also provided.

Photomask blank and photomask

A light-shielding film for exposure light is formed on one principal plane of a transparent substrate made of quartz or the like that serves as a photomask substrate. The light-shielding film can serve not only as the so-called 'light-shielding film' but also as an anti-reflection film. In addition, the light-shielding film has a total thickness of 100 nm or less, 70% or more of which is accounted for by the thickness of a chromium compound that has an optical density (OD) per unit thickness of 0.025 nmfor light having a wavelength of 450 nm. In the case where the photomask blank is used for fabricating a mask designed for ArF exposure, the thickness and composition of the light-shielding film are selected in such a manner that the OD of the light-shielding film is 1.2 to 2.3 for 193 or 248 nm wavelength light.

Photomask blank, photomask and fabrication method thereof

A light-shieldable film is formed on one principal plane of an optically transparent substrate, and the light-shieldable film has a first light-shieldable film and a second light-shieldable film overlying the first light-shieldable film. The first light-shieldable film is a film that is not substantially etched by fluorine-based (F-based) dry etching and is primarily composed of chromium oxide, chromium nitride, chromium oxynitride or the like. The second light-shieldable film is a film that is primarily composed of a silicon-containing compound that can be etched by F-based dry etching, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon/transition-metal oxide, silicon/transition-metal nitride or silicon/transition-metal oxynitride.

A metal film is provided as a light shielding layer on one principle surface of a photomask substrate. The metal film cannot be substantially etched by chlorine-based dry etching containing oxygen ((Cl+O)-based dry etching) and can be etched by chlorine-based dry etching not containing oxygen (Cl-based dry etching) and fluorine-based dry etching (F-based dry etching). On the light shielding layer, a metal compound film as an antireflective layer. The metal compound film cannot be substantially etched by chlorine-based dry etching not containing oxygen (Cl based) and can be etched by at least one of chlorine-based dry etching containing oxygen ((Cl+O) based) and fluorine-based dry etching (F based).

Photomask blank, photomask and method for producing those

For the manufacture of a halftone phase shift mask blank comprising a transparent substrate and a translucent film of one or more layers having a controlled phase and transmittance, at least one layer of the translucent film comprising Si, Mo and Zr at the same time, a target comprising at least Zr and Mo in a molar ratio Zr/Mo between 0.05 and 5 is useful.

Film-depositing target and preparation of phase shift mask blank

In a halftone phase shift mask blank comprising a substrate, a light absorbing film, and a phase shifter film, the light absorbing film contains a metal element of Group 4A in a distribution having a higher metal element content in an upper region than in a lower region. Also provided is a halftone phase shift mask blank comprising a transparent substrate and a halftone phase shift film of a single layer or multiple layers having a preselected phase difference and transmittance, wherein at least one layer of the halftone phase shift film contains at least 90 atom % of silicon and a plurality of metal elements, typically Mo and Zr or Hf.

Halftone phase shift mask blank, halftone phase shift mask, and pattern transfer method

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Masahide Iwakata