Abstract: For the manufacture of a halftone phase shift mask blank comprising a transparent substrate and a translucent film of one or more layers having a controlled phase and transmittance, at least one layer of the translucent film comprising Si, Mo and Zr at the same time, a target comprising at least Zr and Mo in a molar ratio Zr/Mo between 0.05 and 5 is useful.

Abstract: In a halftone phase shift mask blank comprising a substrate, a light absorbing film, and a phase shifter film, the light absorbing film contains a metal element of Group 4A in a distribution having a higher metal element content in an upper region than in a lower region. Also provided is a halftone phase shift mask blank comprising a transparent substrate and a halftone phase shift film of a single layer or multiple layers having a preselected phase difference and transmittance, wherein at least one layer of the halftone phase shift film contains at least 90 atom % of silicon and a plurality of metal elements, typically Mo and Zr or Hf.

Abstract: A film-depositing target for use in the manufacture of a halftone phase shift mask blank includes a transparent substrate and a translucent film of one or more layers having a controlled phase and transmittance, at least one layer of the translucent film including silicon, molybdenum and zirconium at the same time as constituent elements, and at least two elements, zirconium and molybdenum in a molar ratio Zr/Mo between 0.05 and 5.

Abstract: In preparing a halftone phase shift mask blank, a metal and silicon-containing compound film serving as a halftone phase shift film is formed on a transparent substrate by a co-sputtering process including the steps of disposing a metal-containing target and a silicon target in a chamber, feeding sputtering gases into the chamber, and applying electric powers across both the targets at the same time. The sputtered region area of the metal-containing target is smaller than the sputtered region area of the silicon target.

Abstract: In a halftone phase shift mask blank comprising a halftone phase shift film on a substrate which is transparent to exposure light, the halftone phase shift film comprises a metal, silicon, and optionally oxygen and nitrogen. The halftone phase shift film experiences a phase difference change of up to 1 deg. and a transmittance change of up to 0.2% before and after it is exposed to light in a cumulative dose of 1 kJ/cm2. The halftone phase shift film has excellent resistance to exposure light, specifically high-energy exposure light of short wavelength such as ArF or F2 laser beam (193 or 157 nm).

Abstract: A photomask blank comprising a multilayer film including at least four layers of different compositions, wherein the interface between the layers is moderately graded in composition; a phase shift mask blank comprising a phase shift film of at least two layers including a surface layer of a composition based on a zirconium silicide compound and a substrate adjacent layer of a composition based on a molybdenum silicide compound, and a further layer between one layer and another layer of a different composition, the further layer having a composition moderately graded from that of the one layer to that of the other layer; a phase shift mask blank comprising a phase shift film including a plurality of layers containing a metal and silicon in different compositional ratios which are stacked in such order that a layer having a higher etching rate is on the substrate side and a layer having a lower etching rate is on the surface side.

Abstract: In a phase shift mask blank comprising a phase shift multilayer film on a substrate, the phase shift multilayer film consists of at least one layer of light absorption function film and at least one layer of phase shift function film, and the light absorption function film has an extinction coefficient k which increases as the wavelength changes from 157 nm to 260 nm, and has a thickness of up to 15 nm. The phase shift mask blank has minimized wavelength dependency of transmittance and can be processed with a single dry etching gas.

Abstract: There is disclosed a method of producing a phase shift mask blank wherein the method includes at least a step of forming one or more layers of phase shift films on a substrate by a sputtering method, and in the step, the phase shift films are formed by the sputtering method while simultaneously discharging plural targets having different compositions. Thereby, a phase shift mask blank having a desired composition and quality, in particular, having a phase shift film with few defects can be easily produced.

Abstract: A photomask blank to be used as a material for a photomask is provided with a mask pattern having a transparent area and an effectively opaque area to exposure light on a transparent substrate. On the transparent board, one or more layers of light shielding films are formed with or without other film (A) in between, at least one layer (B) which constitutes the light shielding film includes silicon and a transition metal as main component, and a molar ratio of silicon to the transition metal is silicon:metal=4-15:1 (atomic ratio). The photomask provided with the mask pattern having the transparent area and the effectively opaque area to exposure light on the transparent board is also provided.

Abstract: A photomask blank comprising a multilayer film including at least four layers of different compositions, wherein the interface between the layers is moderately graded in composition; a phase shift mask blank comprising a phase shift film of at least two layers including a surface layer of a composition based on a zirconium silicide compound and a substrate adjacent layer of a composition based on a molybdenum silicide compound, and a further layer between one layer and another layer of a different composition, the further layer having a composition moderately graded from that of the one layer to that of the other layer; a phase shift mask blank comprising a phase shift film including a plurality of layers containing a metal and silicon in different compositional ratios which are stacked in such order that a layer having a higher etching rate is on the substrate side and a layer having a lower etching rate is on the surface side.

Abstract: To provide an eutectic crystalline sugar alcohol representing a single melting peak obtained by differential scanning calorimetry, which does not show any one of problems of requiring the addition of a comparatively large amount of a seed crystal to be added for crystallization and a prolonged aging period of several days for crystal growth as well as problems in production, such as an inefficient and complicated production process, while having excellent taste, low hygroscopicity, and excellent uniformity, grindability, and non-consolidation property; and a manufacturing method thereof, which comprises allowing a liquid composition containing two or more kinds of the sugar alcohol at a predetermined ratio to be added with a powder containing crystals of the same two or more kinds of the sugar alcohol at substantially the same usage ratio as that of the sugar alcohol, and kneading and aging a resulting mixture.

Abstract: A metal film is provided as a light shielding layer on one principle surface of a photomask substrate. The metal film cannot be substantially etched by chlorine-based dry etching containing oxygen ((Cl+O)-based dry etching) and can be etched by chlorine-based dry etching not containing oxygen (Cl-based dry etching) and fluorine-based dry etching (F-based dry etching). On the light shielding layer, a metal compound film as an antireflective layer. The metal compound film cannot be substantially etched by chlorine-based dry etching not containing oxygen (Cl based) and can be etched by at least one of chlorine-based dry etching containing oxygen ((Cl+O) based) and fluorine-based dry etching (F based).

Abstract: A photomask blank has a light-shielding film composed of a single layer of a material containing a transition metal, silicon and nitrogen or a plurality of layers that include at least one layer made of a material containing a transition metal, silicon and nitrogen, and has one or more chrome-based material film. The high transition metal content ensures electrical conductivity, preventing charge-up in the photomask production process, and also provides sufficient chemical stability to cleaning in photomask production. The light-shielding film has a good resistance to dry etching of the chrome-based material film in the presence of chlorine and oxygen, thus ensuring a high processing accuracy.

Abstract: A photomask blank comprises a transparent substrate, a light-shielding film deposited on the substrate and comprising a metal or metal compound susceptible to fluorine dry etching, and an etching mask film deposited on the light-shielding film and comprising another metal or metal compound resistant to fluorine dry etching. When the light-shielding film is dry etched to form a pattern, pattern size variation arising from pattern density dependency is reduced, so that a photomask is produced at a high accuracy.

Abstract: A photomask blank is provided comprising an etch stop film which is disposed on a transparent substrate and is resistant to fluorine dry etching and removable by chlorine dry etching, a light-shielding film disposed on the etch stop film and including at least one layer composed of a transition metal/silicon material, and an antireflective film disposed on the light-shielding film. When the light-shielding film is dry etched to form a pattern, pattern size variation arising from pattern density dependency is reduced, so that a photomask is produced at a high accuracy.

Abstract: A halftone phase shift mask blank has a phase shifter film on a transparent substrate. The phase shifter film is composed of a metal silicide compound containing Mo, at least one metal selected from Ta, Zr, Cr and W, and at least one element selected from O, N and C. The halftone phase shift mask blank has improved processability and high resistance to chemicals, especially to alkaline chemicals.

Abstract: In a phase shift mask blank comprising a transparent substrate and a phase shift film thereon, after the phase shift film is formed on the substrate, it is surface treated with ozone water having an ozone concentration of at least 1 ppm. The resulting phase shift film is of quality in that it experiences minimized changes of phase difference and transmittance upon immersion in chemical liquid during subsequent mask cleaning step or the like.

Abstract: A halftone phase shift mask blank has a phase shifter film on a transparent substrate. The phase shifter film is composed of a metal silicide compound containing Mo, at least one metal selected from Ta, Zr, Cr and W, and at least one element selected from O, N and C. The halftone phase shift mask blank has improved processability and high resistance to chemicals, especially to alkaline chemicals.

Abstract: A light-shielding film for exposure light is formed on one principal plane of a transparent substrate made of quartz or the like that serves as a photomask substrate. The light-shielding film can serve not only as the so-called “light-shielding film” but also as an anti-reflection film. In addition, the light-shielding film has a total thickness of 100 nm or less, 70% or more of which is accounted for by the thickness of a chromium compound that has an optical density (OD) per unit thickness of 0.025 nm?1 for light having a wavelength of 450 nm. In the case where the photomask blank is used for fabricating a mask designed for ArF exposure, the thickness and composition of the light-shielding film are selected in such a manner that the OD of the light-shielding film is 1.2 to 2.3 for 193 or 248 nm wavelength light.

Abstract: On a substrate that is transparent to exposure light, a phase-shift multilayer film including a stack of two layers of a metal silicide compound is formed. A stabilized oxide layer is formed on the surface of the metal silicide compound layer close to the top surface. The layer close to the substrate (the lower layer) of the phase-shift multilayer film is made of a relatively-metal-rich metal silicide compound, and the upper layer is made of a relatively-metal-poor metal silicide compound. The stabilized oxide layer has a metal-poor composition, and the metal content thereof is equal to or less than one third of the metal content of the lower layer. Thus, the stabilized oxide layer is highly chemically stable and has a high chemical resistance.