Shin-etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.

Takashi Yoshii

Yukio Inazuki

Hideo Kaneko

Toyohisa Sakurada

Satoshi Watanabe

Yoshio Kawai

Akira Ikeda

Keiichi Masunaga

Souichi Fukaya

Shinichi Igarashi

Shigeo Irie

A photomask blank () having: a transparent substrate (); a first film () etched by chlorine/oxygen-based dry etching and made of a material having resistance against fluorine-based dry etching; and a second film () formed adjacent to the first film and made of a material which comprises silicon and oxygen or silicon, oxygen, and nitrogen and has an Si&#x2014;Si bond and which is substantially not etched by chlorine/oxygen-based dry etching, wherein: the photoresist adhesive performance is improved; the resist pattern is stably maintained without degrading, collapsing, or peeling even when a fine resist pattern is formed from a photoresist film; and an excellent shape and dimensional accuracy is obtained in regard to etching of a lower layer film in which the resist pattern is used.

Photomask blank, method for manufacturing photomask, and mask pattern formation method

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 method for manufacturing a photomask blank having at least a silicon-containing inorganic film over a transparent substrate includes forming the silicon-containing inorganic film such that a surface has an oxygen concentration not less than 55 atomic percent and not more than 75 atomic percent, the silicon-containing inorganic film being an SiO film or an SiON film and serving as a hard mask film.

Photomask blank and method for manufacturing photomask blank

The present invention relates to a photomask blank obtained by forming a resist film after performing a silylation process on a silicon-containing inorganic film and provides a method for manufacturing a photomask blank having at least a silicon-containing inorganic film over a transparent substrate and a resist film on the silicon-containing inorganic film, comprising: forming the silicon-containing inorganic film such that a surface that will contact the resist film has an oxygen concentration not less than 55 atomic percent and not more than 75 atomic percent; performing a silylation process after forming the silicon-containing inorganic film; and then forming the resist film by application. The method can inhibit generation of defects due to resist residues or the like after development.

The present invention relates to a photomask blank obtained by forming a resist film after performing a silylation process on a silicon-containing inorganic film and provides a method for manufacturing a photomask blank having at least a silicon-containing inorganic film over a transparent substrate and a resist film on the inorganic film, comprising: forming the silicon-containing inorganic film; heat treating the formed silicon-containing inorganic film at a temperature more than 200&#xb0; C. under an atmosphere containing oxygen; performing a silylation process after the heat treatment; and then forming the resist film by application. The method can inhibit generation of defects due to resist residues or the like after development.

Growing community of inventors

Jyoetsu, Japan

Takashi Yoshii