Hoya Corporation

Dupont Photomasks, Inc.

Beckman Coulter, Inc.

Osamu Nozawa

Hiroaki Shishido

Ryo Ohkubo

Hideaki Mitsui

Masahiro Hashimoto

Atsushi Kominato

Kazuya Sakai

Takenori Kajiwara

Hiroyuki Iwashita

Yuki Shiota

Masato Kobayashi

Keiji Moroishi

Toshiyuki Suzuki

Yuuki Shiota

Yasushi Okubo

Takashi Sato

Junichi Horikawa

Hisao Kawai

Megumi Takeuchi

Jun-ichi Horikawa

Masaru Mitsui

Takashi Uchida

Hitoshi Maeda

Mitsuhiro Kureishi

Noriyuki Sakaya

Atsushi Matsumoto

Yohei Ikebe

Yasutaka Horigome

Laurent Dieu

Hitoshi Ootsuka

Toshiharu Kikuchi

Provided is a mask blank. The mask blank has a structure where a thin film for pattern formation, a first hard mask film, and a second hard mask film are stacked in this order on a main surface of a substrate, the thin film for pattern formation contains a transition metal, the first hard mask film contains oxygen and one or more elements selected from silicon and tantalum, the second hard mask film contains a transition metal, a content of transition metal of the second hard mask film is less than the content of transition metal of the thin film for pattern formation, a region where the first hard mask film is formed on the main surface is smaller than a region where the thin film for pattern formation is formed, and the second hard mask film and the thin film for pattern formation are in contact with each other at least in part.

Mask blank, method of manufacturing transfer mask, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Provided is a reflective mask blank comprising a phase shift film having a small change in the phase difference and/or reflectance of the phase shift film even in a case where the film thickness of the phase shift film changes. A reflective mask blank comprises a multilayer reflective film and a phase shift film in this order on a main surface of a substrate. The phase shift film comprises a lower layer and an uppermost layer. The lower layer is located between the uppermost layer and the multilayer reflective film. The lower layer is formed of a material in which the total content of ruthenium and chromium is 90 atomic % or more, or a material in which the total content of ruthenium, chromium, and nitrogen is 90 atomic % or more. The uppermost layer is formed of a material in which the total content of ruthenium, chromium, and oxygen is 90 atomic % or more.

Reflective mask blank, reflective mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

A mask blankhas a structure in which a pattern-forming thin filmand a hard mask filmare formed on a transparent substratein this order. An Si2p narrow spectrum obtained by analyzing the hard mask film by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has a maximum peak at a binding energy of at least 103 eV. An N1s narrow spectrum obtained by analyzing the hard mask film by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has a maximum peak below a detection lower limit value. In the hard mask filma content ratio (atomic %) of silicon and oxygen is Si:O=1:less than 2.

Mask blank, method for manufacturing transfer mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

A light shielding film made up of a material containing one or more elements selected from silicon and tantalum and a hard mask film made up of a material containing chromium, oxygen, and carbon are laminated on a transparent substrate. The hard mask film is a single layer film having a composition gradient portion with increased oxygen content on the surface and on the neighboring region. The maximum peak for N1s in a narrow spectrum obtained via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis is the lower limit of detection or less. The portions excluding the composition gradient portion of the hard mask film have a 50 atom % or more chromium content, and the maximum peak for Cr2p in a narrow spectrum obtained via X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis has a binding energy of 574 eV or less.

Mask blank, method of manufacturing imprint mold, method of manufacturing transfer mask, method of manufacturing reflective mask, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Mask blank, method for manufacturing reflective mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

The phase shift film has a function to transmit an exposure light of a KrF excimer laser at a transmittance of 2% or more, and a function to generate a phase difference of 150 degrees or more and 210 degrees or less between the exposure light transmitted through the phase shift film and the exposure light transmitted through the air for a same distance as a thickness of the phase shift film, in which the phase shift film has a structure where a lower layer and an upper layer are stacked in order from a side of the transparent substrate, in which a refractive index nL of the lower layer at a wavelength of the exposure light and a refractive index nU of the upper layer at a wavelength of the exposure light satisfy a relation of nL&#x3e;nU, in which an extinction coefficient kL of the lower layer at a wavelength of the exposure light and an extinction coefficient kU of the upper layer at a wavelength of the exposure light satisfy a relation of kL&#x3e;kU; and in which a thickness dL of the lower layer and a thickness dU of the upper layer satisfy a relation of dL&#x3c;dU.

Mask blank, phase shift mask, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Provided is a mask blank () for manufacturing a phase shift mask, the mask blank enabling formation of a high-precision and fine pattern on a light shielding film. The mask blank () in which a phase shift film () made of a material containing silicon, a light shielding film () made of a material containing chromium, oxygen, and carbon, and a hard mask film () made of a material containing one or more elements selected from silicon and tantalum are provided in this order on a transparent substrate () is characterized in that the light shielding film () is a single layer film having a composition gradient portion with an increased oxygen content at a surface on the hard mask film () side and in a region close thereto, the light shielding film () has a maximum peak of N1s narrow spectrum obtained by analysis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of lower detection limit or less, and a part of the light shielding film () excluding the composition gradient portion has a chromium content of 50 atom % or more and has a maximum peak of Cr2p narrow spectrum obtained by analysis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at binding energy of 574 eV or less.

Mask blank, method for manufacturing phase shift mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Provided is a mask blank including a phase shift film. The phase shift film is made of a material containing a non-metallic element and silicon and includes first, second, and third layers; refractive indexes n, n, and nof the first, second, and third layers, respectively, at the wavelength of an exposure light satisfy the relations of n&#x3c;nand n&#x3e;n; and extinction coefficients k, k, and kof the first, second, and third layers, respectively, at the wavelength of an exposure light satisfy the relation of k&#x3e;k&#x3e;k.

A mask blank, which is capable of being formed with high transfer accuracy when a hard mask film pattern is used as a mask, and even when the mask blank includes a chromium-based light shielding film. A light-semitransmissive film, a light shielding film, and a hard mask film are laminated in the stated order on a transparent substrate. The light-semitransmissive film contains silicon, and the hard mask film contains any one or both of silicon and tantalum. The light shielding film has a laminate structure of a lower layer and an upper layer, and contains chromium. The upper layer has a content of chromium of 65 at % or more, and a content of oxygen of less than 20 at %, and the lower layer has a content of chromium of less than 60 at %, and a content of oxygen of 20 at % or more.

Provided is a mask blank for a phase shift mask having an etching stopper film, which satisfies the characteristics: higher durability to dry etching with fluorine-based gas that is used during the shift pattern formation as compared to that of a transparent substrate; high resistance to chemical cleaning; and high transmittance of exposure light. The mask blank includes a light shielding film on a main surface of a transparent substrate, having a structure where an etching stopper film, a phase shift film, and a light shielding film are laminated in this order on the transparent substrate; wherein the phase shift film includes a material containing silicon and oxygen; and the etching stopper film includes a material containing silicon, aluminum, and oxygen.

Mask blank, phase shift mask, method for manufacturing thereof, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

A mask blank having fast repair rate of EB defect repair and high repair rate ratio to EB defect repair relative to a transparent substrate that includes a phase shift film on a transparent substrate, the phase shift film has a structure including three sets or more of a set of a stacked structure including a high transmitting layer and a low transmitting layer, the high transmitting layer and the low transmitting layer are made of a material consisting of silicon and nitrogen, or a material consisting of silicon, nitrogen, oxygen, and one or more elements selected from a metalloid element and a non-metallic element, the high transmitting layer includes 50 atom % or more nitrogen content and has a thickness of 12 nm or less, and the low transmitting layer includes less than 50 atom % nitrogen content and has a thickness less than the high transmitting layer.

Mask blank, phase shift mask, method for manufacturing phase shift mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

A mask blank including a phase shift film is provided, wherein the phase shift film has a transmittance with respect to exposure light of an ArF excimer laser of not less than 10% and not more than 20% and is configured to transmit the exposure light to have a phase difference of not less than 150 degrees and not more than 190 degrees with respect to exposure light transmitted through the air for the same distance as a thickness of the phase shift film. A ratio of the metal content to the total content of the metal and silicon in the phase shift film is not less than 5% and not more than 10%, the oxygen content in the phase shift film is 10 atom % or more, and the silicon content in the phase shift film is three times or more the oxygen content.

Mask blanks, phase shift mask, method for manufacturing phase shift mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

A mask blank having a phase shift film and a light shielding film laminated on a transparent substrate. The phase shift film transmits ArF exposure light at a transmittance of from 2% to 30% and generates a phase difference of from 150&#xb0; to 200&#xb0;, is formed from a material containing Si and not substantially containing Cr, and has a lower layer (L) and an upper layer (U) laminated from the transparent substrate side. A refractive index n for layer L is below that of the substrate while n for layer U is higher, and layer L has an extinction coefficient k higher than that of layer U. The light shielding film includes a layer in contact with the phase shift film that is formed from a material containing Cr, has a n lower than that of layer U, and has an extinction coefficient k higher than that of layer U.

Mask blank, phase shift mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Provided is a mask blank including a phase shift film having a transmittance of 20% or more difficult to achieve in a phase shift film of a single layer made of a silicon nitride material, and the phase shift film is achieved by using a structure having two or more sets of a stacked structure, each set including a low transmission layer and a high transmission layer disposed in order from a transparent substrate side. The mask blank includes a phase shift film on a transparent substrate. The phase shift film has a function of transmitting exposure light of an ArF excimer laser at a transmittance of 20% or more. The mask blank has two or more sets of a stacked structure, each set including a low transmission layer and a high transmission layer. The low transmission layer is formed of a silicon nitride-based material. The high transmission layer is formed of a silicon oxide-based material. The high transmission layer provided at an uppermost position is thicker than the high transmission layer provided at a position other than the uppermost position. The low transmission layer is thicker than the high transmission layer provided at a position other than the uppermost position.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Osamu Nozawa