Shin-etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

Shinichi Igarashi

Yukio Inazuki

Hideo Kaneko

Hiroki Yoshikawa

Kazuhiro Nishikawa

Yoshinori Kinase

Satoshi Watanabe

Yoshio Kawai

Souichi Fukaya

Ryuji Koitabashi

Shozo Shirai

Takashi Yoshii

Koitabashi Ryuji

A photomask blank comprising a transparent substrate (), an etching stop film (), a light-shielding film (), and an etching mask film () has on the substrate side a reflectance of up to 35% with respect to exposure light. The etching stop film () consists of a first layer () which is disposed contiguous to the substrate and functions as an antireflective layer and a second layer () functioning as a fluorine-base dry etching-resistant layer, one of the first and second layers is a layer having compressive stress and the other is a layer having tensile stress.

Photomask blank, making method, and photomask

A photomask is manufactured by providing a photomask blank comprising a transparent substrate, a phase shift film, and a light-shielding film, the phase shift film and the light-shielding film including silicon base material layers, a N+O content in the silicon base material layer of the phase shift film differing from that of the light-shielding film, and chlorine dry etching the blank with oxygen-containing chlorine gas in a selected O/Cl ratio for selectively etching away the silicon base material layer of the light-shielding film.

Photomask making method, photomask blank and dry etching method

In conjunction with a photomask blank comprising a transparent substrate, a pattern-forming film, and an etch mask film, a set of etching conditions for the pattern-forming film is evaluated by measuring a first etching clear time (C) taken when the etch mask film is etched under the etching conditions to be applied to the pattern-forming film, measuring a second etching clear time (C) taken when the pattern-forming film is etched under the etching conditions, and computing a ratio (C/C) of the first to second etching clear time.

Evaluation of etching conditions for pattern-forming film

Disclosed herein is a dry etching method for a work layer formed over a substrate, including the steps of forming a hard mask layer over the work layer formed over the substrate, forming a resist pattern over the hard mask layer, transferring the resist pattern to the hard mask layer by first dry etching conducted using the resist pattern, and patterning the work layer by second dry etching conducted using a hard mask pattern obtained upon the transfer to the hard mask layer, wherein after the hard mask layer is patterned by the first dry etching, the patterning of the work layer by the second dry etching is conducted through changing the concentration of an auxiliary ingredient of a dry etching gas, without changing a main ingredient of the dry etching gas, in an etching apparatus in which the first dry etching has been conducted.

Etching method and photomask blank processing method

A photomask blank is provided comprising a transparent substrate, a single or multi-layer film including an outermost layer composed of chromium base material, and an etching mask film. The etching mask film is a silicon oxide base material film formed of a composition comprising a hydrolytic condensate of a hydrolyzable silane, a crosslink promoter, and an organic solvent and having a thickness of 1-10 nm. The etching mask film has high resistance to chlorine dry etching, ensuring high-accuracy processing of the photomask blank.

Photomask blank, processing method, and etching method

In a photomask blank comprising a transparent substrate, an optical film of material containing a transition metal and silicon, and a hard mask film, the hard mask film is a multilayer film including a first layer of a chromium-based material containing 20-60 atom % of oxygen and a second layer of a chromium-based material containing at least 50 atom % of chromium and less than 20 atom % of oxygen. The hard mask film having a thickness of 2.0 nm to less than 10 nm is resistant to fluorine dry etching.

Photomask blank, photomask, and making method

A photomask is manufactured from a photomask blank comprising a transparent substrate and a light-shielding film consisting of upper and lower layers of transition metal-containing silicon base materials, the content of O+N in the upper layer being higher than that of the lower layer. The light-shielding film is processed in two steps by fluorine dry etching through a resist pattern such that a lower portion of the film is left behind, and oxygen-containing chlorine dry etching for removing the remainder of the film.

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Joetsu, Japan

Shinichi Igarashi