Hoya Corporation

Yuki Shiota

Osamu Nozawa

Tsutomu Shoki

Hideaki Mitsui

Morio Hosoya

Shinichi Ishibashi

Mitsuhiro Kureishi

Ryo Ohkubo

Yoshitake Tanno

Masashi Kaneko

The near-infrared absorbing glass contains at least, as constituent ions, P ions; Cu ions; O ions; one or more ions selected from the group consisting of Li ions, Na ions and K ions; and one or more ions selected from the group consisting of Mg ions, Ca ions, Sr ions and Ba ions, wherein, in a glass composition expressed in cation %, the content of Cu ions is 15.0 cation % or lower; the content of P ions is 55.0 cation % or lower; and a cation ratio of the total content of Al ions and P ions relative to the total content of Mg ions, Ca ions, Sr ions, Ba ions, Zn ions and Cu ions ((Al ions+P ions)/(Mg ions+Ca ions+Sr ions+Ba ions+Zn ions+Cu ions)) is 5.300 or lower.

Near-infrared absorbing glass and near-infrared cutoff filter

An aspect of the present invention relates to an optical glass which contains P, Al, Ba, and R(Ris one or more selected from the group including of Mg, Ca, Sr, and Zn) as essential cationic components and Oand Fas essential anionic components, the total content of P, Al, Ba, R, and R'(R&#x2032;is one or more selected from the group including of Li, Na, and K) in the cationic component being 86% or higher, the Al/Pmolar ratio being 0.70 or higher, the Al/(Ba+R) molar ratio being 0.40 or higher, and the Ba/(Ba+R) molar ratio being in the range of 0.50 to 0.85, and which has an Abbe's number &#x3bd;d of 72 or larger but less than 80, the refractive index nd and the Abbe's number &#x3bd;d satisfying: nd&#x2267;2.179&#x2212;0.0085&#xd7;&#x3bd;d.

Optical glass, optical element blank, glass material for press forming, optical element, and process for producing these

Provided are an optical fluorophosphate glass having excellent optical characteristics and also excellent processability, a glass material for press molding and an optical element each including the glass, and methods for producing the glass material and the optical element. The optical glass includes Pas a cationic component and Oand Fas anionic components, wherein the optical glass has a content of Fof 40 anionic % or less, an abrasion factor Fof 420 or higher, and a fragility index value B of 4500 &#x3bc;mor lower.

Optical glass, glass material for press molding, optical element, method for producing glass material for press molding, and method for producing optical element

A photomask blank includes a transparent substrate and a film containing at lease two layers formed on the transparent substrate, the two layers being a first layer with a phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8;and a second layer with a phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8;. The phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8;is a phase difference between a light transmitted through the first layer and a light transmitted through an air distance equal to a thickness of the first layer, and the phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8;is a phase difference between a light transmitted through the second layer and a light transmitted through an air distance equal to a thickness of the second layer. A phase difference of the film containing at least two layers is from &#x2212;30&#xb0; to +30&#xb0;. The first layer contains a material not to be etched during etching of the transparent substrate.

Optically semitransmissive film, photomask blank and photomask, and method for designing optically semitransmissive film

A photomask blank includes a transparent substrate and a film containing at least two layers having at least a first layer and a second layer formed on the transparent substrate. The first layer is made of a material containing one or more materials selected from the group Ta, Hf, Si, Cr, Ag, Au, Cu, Al, and Mo. The second layer is made of MoSiN, MoSiO, MoSiON, SiN, SiO, or SiON. A phase difference of the film containing at least two layers is from &#x2212;30&#xb0; to +30&#xb0;.

Provided is a mask blank substrate manufacturing method in which a low thermal expansion glass substrate containing titanium (Ti) oxide is polished using a polishing agent, then treated using an aqueous solution containing hydrofluoric acid, then cleaned using an acidic solution with a pH of 4 or less, and then further cleaned using an alkaline solution.

Mask blank substrate manufacturing method, and reflective mask blank manufacturing method

The present invention provides an optically semitransmissive film that has a near-zero phase shift, has a desired transmissivity, and is relatively thin; a novel phase-shift mask that uses the optically semitransmissive film; a photomask blank that can [be used to] manufacture the phase-shift mask; and a method for designing the optically semitransmissive film. The film is formed on a translucent substrate and transmits a portion of light having a desired wavelength &#x3bb;, wherein the film has at least one phase-difference reduction layer that fulfills the following functions. Specifically, the phase-difference reduction layer is a layer that has a refractive index n and a thickness d that satisfy the expression 0&#x3c;d&#x2266;&#x3bb;(2(n&#x2212;1)), and is a layer in which the value &#x394;&#x3b8; (hereinafter referred to as phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8; (units: degrees)) obtained by subtracting the phase of light (hereinafter referred to as layer-referenced light) in the absence of a layer from the phase of light (hereinafter referred to as layer-transmitted light) transmitted through a layer is less than the value &#x394;&#x3b8;=(360/&#x3bb;)&#xd7;(n&#x2212;1)&#xd7;d (hereinafter referred to as the phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8;(units: degrees)) calculated based on the difference in the optical distance between the layer-transmitted light and the layer-referenced light.

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

The present invention provides an optically semitransmissive film that has a near-zero phase shift, has a desired transmissivity, and is relatively thin; a novel phase-shift mask that uses the optically semitransmissive film; a photomask blank that can manufacture the phase-shift mask; and a method for designing the optically semitransmissive film. The film is formed on a translucent substrate and transmits a portion of light having a desired wavelength &#x3bb;, wherein the film has at least one phase-difference reduction layer that fulfills the following functions. Specifically, the phase-difference reduction layer is a layer that has a refractive index n and a thickness d that satisfy the expression 0&#x3c;d&#x2266;&#x3bb;(2(n&#x2212;1)), and is a layer in which the value &#x394;&#x3b8; (hereinafter referred to as phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8; (units: degrees)) obtained by subtracting the phase of light (hereinafter referred to as layer-referenced light) in the absence of a layer from the phase of light (hereinafter referred to as layer-transmitted light) transmitted through a layer is less than the value &#x394;&#x3b8;=(360/&#x3bb;)&#xd7;(n&#x2212;1)&#xd7;d (hereinafter referred to as the phase difference &#x394;&#x3b8;(units: degrees)) calculated based on the difference in the optical distance between the layer-transmitted light and the layer-referenced light.

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

A halftone phase-shift mask blank, in which the phase shifter film is composed of two layers, a low-transmission layer having a principal function of transmittance control, and a high-transmission layer having a principal function of phase shift control, the extinction coefficient Kof the low-transmission layer and the extinction coefficient Kof the high-transmission layer satisfy K&#x3c;K&#x2266;3.0 at an exposure wavelength &#x3bb; falling between 140 nm and 200 nm, and the thickness dof the low-transmission layer satisfies 0.001&#x2266;Kd/&#x3bb;&#x2266;0.500 at the exposure wavelength &#x3bb;.

Halftone phase-shift mask blank and halftone phase-shift mask

In a halftone-type phase-shift mask blank having a phase shifter film, the phase shifter filmhas a phase adjustment layerfor primarily controlling the phase of exposure light, and a transmissivity adjustment layerwhich is formed between a transparent substrateand the phase adjustment layerand primarily controls the transmissivity of exposure light. The transmissivity adjustment layerhas a thickness of 90 angstroms or less.

Halftone-type phase-shift mask blank, and halftone-type phase-shift mask

In a phase shift mask blank, a desired transmittance and phase shift amount are given in the vicinity of 157 nm as a wavelength of an F excimer laser. The phase shift mask blank has a phase shifter film satisfactory in a resistance to exposure light irradiation, resistance to chemicals, processability, moldability, and shape stability. The halftone phase shift mask blank having the phase shifter on a transparent substrate is used in an exposure light wavelength rage of 140 nm to 200 nm, the phase shifter film is formed of a film containing main constituting elements of silicon, oxygen, and nitrogen, and contains 35 and 45% of silicon, 1 to 60% of oxygen, and 5 to 60% of nitrogen in atomic percentage, and a total amount of the elements occupies at least 90% or more of a whole composition constituting the phase shifter portion.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Yuki Shiota