Abstract: A glass substrate-holding tool employed during the production of a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography includes an electrostatic chuck and a mechanical chuck. A caught and held portion of a glass substrate caught and held by the electrostatic chuck, and pressed portions of the glass substrate pressed by the mechanical chuck are located outside a quality-guaranteed region on each of a film deposition surface and a rear surface of the glass substrate. The sum of a catching and holding force applied to the glass substrate by the electrostatic chuck and a holding force applied to the glass substrate by the mechanical chuck is at least 200 kgf. A pressing force per unit area applied to the glass substrate by the mechanical chuck is at most 25 kgf/mm2.

Abstract: A glass substrate-holding tool, adapted to be employed during the production of a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography (EUVL), includes an electrostatic chuck and a supporting member. The chuck attracts a rear surface of a glass substrate in a non-contact manner by electrostatic attractive force. The supporting member partly supports the rear surface. An area ratio of a projected area of an active surface of the chuck for providing the electrostatic force to an area of a quality-guaranteed region of the rear surface is from 0.5 to 1.0. The active surface is apart from the rear surface by more than 20 ?m. The supporting member is configured to support only a region including at least two of four sides defining an outer portion outside the quality-guaranteed region.

Abstract: A glass substrate-holding tool, adapted to be employed during the production of a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography (EUVL), includes an electrostatic chuck and a supporting member. The chuck attracts a rear surface of a glass substrate in a non-contact manner by electrostatic attractive force. The supporting member partly supports the rear surface. An area ratio of a projected area of an active surface of the chuck for providing the electrostatic force to an area of a quality-guaranteed region of the rear surface is from 0.5 to 1.0. The active surface is apart from the rear surface by more than 20 ?m. The supporting member is configured to support only a region including at least two of four sides defining an outer portion outside the quality-guaranteed region.

Abstract: A glass substrate-holding tool employed during the production of a reflective mask blank for EUV lithography includes an electrostatic chuck and a mechanical chuck. A caught and held portion of a glass substrate caught and held by the electrostatic chuck, and pressed portions of the glass substrate pressed by the mechanical chuck are located outside a quality-guaranteed region on each of a film deposition surface and a rear surface of the glass substrate. The sum of a catching and holding force applied to the glass substrate by the electrostatic chuck and a holding force applied to the glass substrate by the mechanical chuck is at least 200 kgf. A pressing force per unit area applied to the glass substrate by the mechanical chuck is at most 25 kgf/mm2.

Abstract: Provision of a process for producing an EUV mask blank wherein formation of scars of a glass substrate surface or a chuck surface due to sandwiching of foreign objects such as particles between an electrostatic chuck and the glass substrate, is suppressed. A process for producing an EUV mask blank wherein an electrostatic chuck for clamping a glass substrate has a main body and a lower dielectric layer made of an organic polymer film, and electrode portion made of an electrically conductive material and an upper dielectric layer made of an organic polymer film provided in this order on the main body, wherein the upper dielectric layer includes an anode and a cathode.

Abstract: A plasma processing system comprises a processing chamber into and from which processing gas is inlet and outlet; a pair of electrodes disposed so as to mutually oppose within the processing chamber; a RF feeding apparatus for generating plasma between the pair of electrodes; a retaining/removal apparatus for retaining a substrate to be processed on and removal from a sample table while one of the pair of electrodes is taken as the sample table; and a detection apparatus for detecting the electrostatic-chucking state of the substrate and for detecting removal state of electrical charges from the substrate, on the basis of variations in impedance arising between the sample table and the substrate.

Abstract: A centrifugal dryer of the present invention includes: a chamber for performing drying processing for plural substrates; a cradle, installed inside chamber, and drying plural substrates by rotation driving in a state of being held therein; and an elastic wave sensor for detecting an elastic wave generating upon striking of a chip from plural substrates to said chamber during the processing therefor.

Abstract: A device for examining an end part according to the present invention includes a light projecting portion, a light receiving portion, a displacement sensor amplifier, and a data processing apparatus. The light projecting portion projects light on the end part of a semiconductor wafer. The light receiving portion receives specular reflected light reflected from the end part of the semiconductor wafer. The displacement sensor amplifier and the data processing apparatus calculate the displacement amount of the end part of the semiconductor wafer by a change in the distribution of the quantity of the specular reflected light received by the light receiving portion. Thus, the device for examining an end part can be reduced in size and simplified. Additionally, the device for examining an end part can be obtained, with which a change of the material of the end part of a measurement target is hardly detected as defects falsely.

Abstract: A defect inspecting device for a wafer is built in a positioning device for positioning a wafer 1, as a substrate to be processed, in a semiconductor manufacturing process. Light is irradiated on the wafer held on a vacuum holding base 2 while rotating the wafer at least one rotation from a position where the wafer is positioned and the scattered light is received. An operation unit 14 and a control unit 15 judge that if the intensity of the scattered light exceeds a predetermined threshold, a defect is detected on the wafer 1.

Abstract: A defect inspecting device for a wafer is built in a positioning device for positioning a wafer 1, as a substrate to be processed, in a semiconductor manufacturing process. Light is irradiated on the wafer held on a vacuum holding base 2 while rotating the wafer at least one rotation from a position where the wafer is positioned and the scattered light is received. An operation unit 14 and a control unit 15 judge that if the intensity of the scattered light exceeds a predetermined threshold, a defect is detected on the wafer 1.

Abstract: A centrifugal dryer of the present invention includes: a chamber for performing drying processing for plural substrates; a cradle, installed inside chamber, and drying plural substrates by rotation driving in a state of being held therein; and an elastic wave sensor for detecting an elastic wave generating upon striking of a chip from plural substrates to said chamber during the processing therefor.

Abstract: A plasma processing system comprises a processing chamber into and from which processing gas is inlet and outlet; a pair of electrodes disposed so as to mutually oppose within the processing chamber; a RF feeding apparatus for generating plasma between the pair of electrodes; a retaining/removal apparatus for retaining a substrate to be processed on and removal from a sample table while one of the pair of electrodes is taken as the sample table; and a detection apparatus for detecting the electrostatic-chucking state of the substrate and for detecting removal state of electrical charges from the substrate, on the basis of variations in impedance arising between the sample table and the substrate.

Abstract: A cleaning equipment and a cleaning method which prevent occurrence of an after-corrosion phenomenon, which would otherwise arise between Al and Cu; occurrence of defects in an area between Al and Cu, which would otherwise be caused when the time of operation for removing residual chlorine ions or the time of rinsing operation is increased; and occurrence of side etching; and enables attainment of a good etch profile. Ozone water (e.g., oxygen water of high concentration) supplied from an inlet port is introduced into a container from an outlet port by way of an inlet pipe. A robust surface oxide film can be formed on the surface of the wafer (i.e., a substrate to be rinsed). As a result, there can be prevented side etching of Al, which would otherwise be induced by the background art. Further, there can be prevented occurrence of defects in Al in the vicinity of a Cu deposit, which would otherwise be induced by a battery effect. Moreover, occurrence of an after-corrosion phenomenon can also be prevented.

Abstract: Two electrodes are provided in a processing container so as to be opposed to each other. Main etching processing gases of Cl2 and BCl3 are introduced into the processing container, and a deposition-type gas composed by least two of C, H, and F, such as a CHF3 gas or a CF4 gas, is added thereto. A plasma is generated by applying a pulse-modulated high-frequency voltage between the two electrodes that hold a sample to be etched. The sample is etched by using the plasma.

Abstract: A simulation system in a work flow control system confirms whether or not prepared business process defining information is valid. The simulation system receives as an input thereto a false case including a name of a document, an attribute name belonging to the document, and attribute values to be selected; virtually moves the false case from a node to another node according to the business process defining information, simulates a process conducted in each node, and generates a journal of these processes.

Abstract: A simulation system in a work flow control system confirms whether or not prepared business process defining information is valid. The simulation system receives as an input thereto a false case including a name of a document, an attribute name belonging to the document, and attribute values to be selected; virtually moves the false case from a node to another node according to the business process defining information, simulates a process conducted in each node, and generates a journal of these processes.

Abstract: Coded image data are supplied in the order of page units, and each page of the input coded image data is examined without being decoded as to whether it includes a predetermined coded separator pattern. If a separator sheet is included, that page is recognized as the coded image data of a separator sheet, and if a separator sheet is not included, that page is recognized as the coded image data of a document. Therefore, the document fed before the separator sheet and the document fed after the separator sheet can be classified to belong to different groups, and thus registered in different regions of a memory, respectively. Since the coded image data of documents can be classified without being decoded, a plurality of documents to be classified can be supplied even from a facsimile or the like to and registered in an electronic image filing system at a high speed.

Abstract: In an image information retrieval network system having a file station storing a plurality of images to be searched in the form of compressed data by means of coding and at least one terminal station connected to the file station via a transmission line, the file station includes a processor for decoding compressed image data read from an image file to restore an original image, an image processor for processing the restored image data such as extracting a partial area thereof, and a coding processor for data-compressing the processed image data by means of coding. When a user at the terminal station designates a search condition, display mode, and control information for image processing, the file station reads the images satisfying the search condition from the image file, and causes the searched images to be subjected to the image processing designated by the control information. The processed image data are transmitted to the terminal station in the form of compressed data by means of coding.

Abstract: An image of a size exceeding a reading surface area of an image input temperature is divided into a plurality of image portions such that the image portions resulting from the division have respective overlap regions. A position detectable mark is attached to each of the overlap regions. The plurality of image portions are joined together into one image by making use of the marks.