Hoya Corporation

Mitsuhiro Kureishi

Osamu Nozawa

Tsutomu Shoki

Morio Hosoya

Yuki Shiota

Shinichi Ishibashi

Hideo Kobayashi

Toshiaki Sonehara

Michiyori Miura

Takashi Sato

Provided is a method of manufacturing an imprint mold formed with a highly accurate fine pattern by the use of a mask blank. In a mask blank having a thin film for forming a pattern on a transparent substrate, the thin film comprises an upper layer formed of a material containing Cr and nitrogen and a lower layer formed of a material containing a compound mainly composed of Ta and capable of being etched by dry etching using a chlorine-based gas. The upper layer and the lower layer of the thin film are etched by dry etching using a chlorine-based gas substantially free of oxygen and then the substrate is etched by dry etching using a fluorine-based gas, thereby obtaining an imprint mold.

Mask blank and method of manufacturing an imprint mold

A polarization element has a polarizer with an aggregate of metal pieces: Plasmon resonance frequency of a metal piece varies according to the polarization direction of a irradiated on it. In the polarization element, the plasmon resonance frequency in a predetermined direction of a metal piece is substantially equal to the frequency of light irradiated on the polarization element. The real part and the imaginary part of permittivity at the plasmon resonance frequency of a metal piece's constituent material and the refractive index (na) of a dielectric layer satisfy a particular relation.

Polarization element

A reflective mask blank has a substrate () on which a reflective layer () for reflecting exposure light in a short-wavelength region including an extreme ultraviolet region and an absorber layer () for absorbing the exposure light are successively formed. The absorber layer () has an at least two-layer structure including as a lower layer an exposure light absorbing layer () formed by an absorber for the exposure light in the short-wavelength region including the extreme ultraviolet region and as an upper layer a low-reflectivity layer () formed by an absorber for inspection light used in inspection of a mask pattern. The upper layer is made of a material containing tantalum (Ta), boron (B), and nitrogen (N). The content of B is 5 at % to 30 at %. The ratio of Ta and N (Ta:N) falls within a range of 8:1 to 2:7. Alternatively, the reflective mask blank has a substrate on which a multilayer reflective film and an absorber layer are successively formed. In this case, the absorber layer is made of a material containing tantalum (Ta), boron (B), and nitrogen (N). The content of B is 5 at % to 25 at %. The ratio of Ta and N (Ta:N) falls within a range of 8:1 to 2:7.

Reflective mask blank, reflective mask and methods of producing the mask blank and the mask

A mask blank includes a substrate and a thin film formed thereon and used to form a pattern. The mask blank is adapted to be subjected to dry etching corresponding to a method of producing an exposure mask by patterning the thin film by dry etching using an etching gas substantially free from oxygen with a resist pattern formed on the thin film used as a mask. The thin film has a protective layer formed at least at its upper layer and containing 60 atomic % or more oxygen. For example, the dry etching is performed by the use of a chlorine-based gas substantially free from oxygen.

Mask blank, method of manufacturing an exposure mask, and method of manufacturing an imprint template

Reflection type mask blank and reflection type mask and production methods for them

In a method of manufacturing a photo mask blank by forming an opaque film or a semi-transmission film on a transparent substrate, the film is subjected to irradiation of an ion generated by an ion source. A warp of the substrate by a film stress can be reduced (the film stress is relaxed), and density and denseness of the film can be enhanced. The film may be deposited on the transparent substrate by a sputtering method.

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Shinjuku-ku, Japan

Mitsuhiro Kureishi