Abstract: A road surface rendering device for rendering a road surface by illuminating an illumination region extending along a direction away from the road surface rendering device with light. The illumination region is divided into three regions of a left region, a central region, and a right region in a direction intersecting a longitudinal direction, an illuminance of the central region is largest.

Abstract: [Problem to be Solved by the Disclosure] Provided is a mask blank substrate. [Means for Solving the Problem] The mask blank substrate includes two opposing main surfaces, consists of a glass material containing SiO2 and TiO2, has a first region in one main surface side, the first region is a region within a 132 mm×104 mm square including a center portion in the one main surface and which is a region extending from the one main surface toward the other main surface up to a position of 500 ?m in depth, an inner region of the substrate excluding the first region has a locally non-uniform portion, a ratio of Ti content rate to Si content rate (Ti/Si) of the non-uniform portion differs from Ti/Si of the inner region excluding the non-uniform portion by 0.25% or more, and the variation of Ti content rate in the inner region of the substrate excluding the first region and the non-uniform portion is 0.06 mass % or less.

Abstract: A mask blank substrate and a method for selecting a mask blank substrate wherein a square calculation region is set on the main surface of the substrate. Specific points are set at the corner portions of the calculation region. The heights of the specific points from a reference plane are acquired, an imaginary plane passing through three of the specific points is set, an intersection between the imaginary plane and a perpendicular line that passes through the remaining of the specific points and that is perpendicular to the reference plane is set, and the distance between the remaining of the specific points and the intersection is calculated. A substrate in which the distance satisfies a predetermined reference value is selected as a mask blank substrate.

Abstract: The object is to provide a mask blank substrate, a mask blank, and a transfer mask which can achieve easy correction of a wavefront by a wavefront correction function of an exposure apparatus. The further object is to provide methods for manufacturing them. A virtual surface shape, which is an optically effective flat reference surface shape defined by a Zernike polynomial, is determined, wherein the Zernike polynomial is composed of only terms in which the order of variables related to a radius is second or lower order and includes one or more terms in which the order of the variables related to a radius is second-order; and the mask blank substrate, in which difference data (PV value) between the maximum value and the minimum value of difference shape between a virtual surface shape and a composite surface shape obtained by composing respective surface shapes of two main surfaces is 25 nm or less, is selected.

Abstract: A mask blank substrate and a method for selecting a mask blank substrate wherein a square calculation region is set on the main surface of the substrate. Specific points are set at the corner portions of the calculation region. The heights of the specific points from a reference plane are acquired, an imaginary plane passing through three of the specific points is set, an intersection between the imaginary plane and a perpendicular line that passes through the remaining of the specific points and that is perpendicular to the reference plane is set, and the distance between the remaining of the specific points and the intersection is calculated. A substrate in which the distance satisfies a predetermined reference value is selected as a mask blank substrate.

Abstract: Provided are a mask blank substrate which has effectively and extremely high principal surface flatness while a reduction in the manufacturing throughput of the mask blank substrate is suppressed, a mask blank, and a transfer mask. Also provided are manufacturing methods therefor. virtual reference surface that becomes an optically effective flat reference surface defined by a Zernike polynomial which is composed of only terms in which the order of a variable related to a radius is the second or lower order, and includes one or more terms in which the order of the variable related to the radius is the second order is set, and a mask blank substrate satisfying the condition that data (PV value) relating to the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the difference data between the reference surface and the measured shape of the mask blank substrate is one-eighth or less of an exposure wavelength (?) is selected.

Abstract: The object is to provide a mask blank substrate, a mask blank, and a transfer mask which can achieve easy correction of a wavefront by a wavefront correction function of an exposure apparatus. The further object is to provide methods for manufacturing them. A virtual surface shape, which is an optically effective flat reference surface shape defined by a Zernike polynomial, is determined, wherein the Zernike polynomial is composed of only terms in which the order of variables related to a radius is second or lower order and includes one or more terms in which the order of the variables related to a radius is second-order; and the mask blank substrate, in which difference data (PV value) between the maximum value and the minimum value of difference shape between a virtual surface shape and a composite surface shape obtained by composing respective surface shapes of two main surfaces is 25 nm or less, is selected.

Abstract: The object is to provide a mask blank substrate, a mask blank, and a transfer mask which can achieve easy correction of a wavefront by a wavefront correction function of an exposure apparatus. The further object is to provide methods for manufacturing them. A virtual surface shape, which is an optically effective flat reference surface shape defined by a Zernike polynomial, is determined, wherein the Zernike polynomial is composed of only terms in which the order of variables related to a radius is second or lower order and includes one or more terms in which the order of the variables related to a radius is second-order; and the mask blank substrate, in which difference data (PV value) between the maximum value and the minimum value of difference shape between a virtual surface shape and a composite surface shape obtained by composing respective surface shapes of two main surfaces is 25 nm or less, is selected.

Abstract: Provided are a mask blank substrate which has effectively and extremely high principal surface flatness while a reduction in the manufacturing throughput of the mask blank substrate is suppressed, a mask blank, and a transfer mask. Also provided are manufacturing methods therefor. virtual reference surface that becomes an optically effective flat reference surface defined by a Zernike polynomial which is composed of only terms in which the order of a variable related to a radius is the second or lower order, and includes one or more terms in which the order of the variable related to the radius is the second order is set, and a mask blank substrate satisfying the condition that data (PV value) relating to the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the difference data between the reference surface and the measured shape of the mask blank substrate is one-eighth or less of an exposure wavelength (?) is selected.

Abstract: Provided are a mask blank substrate which has effectively and extremely high principal surface flatness while a reduction in the manufacturing throughput of the mask blank substrate is suppressed, a mask blank, and a transfer mask. Also provided are manufacturing methods therefor. A virtual reference surface that becomes an optically effective flat reference surface defined by a Zernike polynomial which is composed of only terms in which the order of a variable related to a radius is the second or lower order, and includes one or more terms in which the order of the variable related to the radius is the second order is set, and a mask blank substrate satisfying the condition that data (PV value) relating to the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the difference data between the reference surface and the measured shape of the mask blank substrate is one-eighth or less of an exposure wavelength (A) is selected.

Abstract: Provided are a mask blank substrate which has effectively and extremely high principal surface flatness while a reduction in the manufacturing throughput of the mask blank substrate is suppressed, a mask blank, and a transfer mask. Also provided are manufacturing methods therefor. A virtual reference surface that becomes an optically effective flat reference surface defined by a Zernike polynomial which is composed of only terms in which the order of a variable related to a radius is the second or lower order, and includes one or more terms in which the order of the variable related to the radius is the second order is set, and a mask blank substrate satisfying the condition that data (PV value) relating to the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the difference data between the reference surface and the measured shape of the mask blank substrate is one-eighth or less of an exposure wavelength (A) is selected.

Abstract: There are disclosed a pair of solar battery-sealing sheets composed of a light-receiving side-sealing sheet and a backside-sealing sheet for solar electricity generating elements of a solar battery module and reducing the coming-around of the backside-sealing sheet, wherein the melt peak temperature based on a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the backside-sealing sheet is higher than the melt peak temperature based on the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the light-receiving side-sealing sheet; and a solar battery module using the light-receiving side-sealing sheet and the backside-sealing sheet of the solar battery-sealing sheet, and a method for manufacturing the solar battery module.

Abstract: A method for inspecting a substrate having a plurality of holes formed on a plate-shaped material so as to extend over front and rear surfaces thereof. The method comprises picking-up an image of a plurality of holes formed on the substrate by imaging from one surface side of the substrate and obtaining a hole image of each hole (S103). Then, specifying a reference hole image of the plurality of holes from an imaging result obtained by the image acquisition step (S105). Thereafter, a similarity between each hole image, being the imaging result obtained by the image acquisition step is quantified and the reference hole image, is obtained by pattern matching processing using a specific correlative function (S105 to S107). Finally, a proper/improper hole shape of each of the plurality of holes is judged using a quantification result of each hole image obtained by the quantification step as an index (S108).

Abstract: There is provided a substrate inspection method for inspecting a substrate having a plurality of holes formed on a plate-shaped material, including: an image acquisition step (S103) of picking-up an image of the holes formed on the substrate via an optical system including a microscope having an objective lens of a specific magnification, from one surface side of the substrate; a super resolution image processing step (S104) of obtaining a super resolution image corresponding to a picked-up image via an optical system including a microscope having an objective lens of higher magnification than the specific magnification, by applying super resolution image processing to the image obtained in the image acquisition step (S103); and an inspection step (S108) of inspecting a proper or improper hole formed on the substrate using the super resolution image obtained in the super resolution image processing step (S104).

Abstract: In a simulation step of simulating a surface configuration of a substrate which is used for a mask blank and which is set to an exposure apparatus, height information from a reference plane is derived from a plurality of measurement points on a main surface of the substrate. From the height information, a curved surface of fourth, fifth, or sixth order is approximated which is represented by a polynomial specified by a plurality of terms and coefficients of the terms. The coefficients are stored as coefficient information in association with the substrate.

Abstract: A photomask blank manufacturing method that forms, on a light-transmissive substrate, a thin film for forming a transfer pattern, thereby producing a thin-film coated substrate and then presses the thin-film coated substrate. The pressing is carried out, for example, by a cold isostatic pressing method in a range of 1000 to 10000 atmospheric pressure.

Abstract: Provided is a thin film evaluation method for a transfer mask which is adapted to be applied with ArF excimer laser exposure light and comprises a thin film formed with a pattern on a transparent substrate. The method includes intermittently irradiating pulsed laser light onto the thin film to thereby evaluate the irradiation durability of the thin film.

Abstract: An internal defect or the like of a transfer mask is detected using transmitted light quantity distribution data of an inspection apparatus. Using a die-to-die comparison inspection method, inspection light is irradiated to a first region of a thin film to obtain a first transmitted light quantity distribution, the inspection light is also irradiated to a second region of the thin film to obtain a second transmitted light quantity distribution, a predetermined-range difference distribution is produced by plotting coordinates at which difference light quantity values calculated from a comparison between the first transmitted light quantity distribution and the second transmitted light quantity distribution are each not less than a first threshold value and less than a second threshold value, and a selection is made of a transfer mask in which a region with high density of plotting is not detected in the predetermined-range difference distribution.

Abstract: A before-chucking main surface shape is measured in an actual measurement region of a main surface of a substrate which has been precision-polished. Based on that shape and a shape of a mask stage (1), a simulated after-chucking main surface shape of the substrate, when a photomask (2) manufactured from the substrate is set in an exposure apparatus, is obtained. A selection is made of the substrate in which the after-chucking main surface shape has a flatness of a first threshold value or less in a virtual calculation region thereof. A calculation is performed and a selection is made of the substrate in which an after-correction main surface shape has a flatness of a second threshold value or less in the correction region.

Abstract: Provided is a thin film evaluation method for a transfer mask which is adapted to be applied with ArF excimer laser exposure light and comprises a thin film formed with a pattern on a transparent substrate. The method includes intermittently irradiating pulsed laser light onto the thin film to thereby evaluate the irradiation durability of the thin film.