In the chromium-containing material film of the present invention, an element is added thereto and is capable of bringing a mixture of the element and the chromium into a liquid phase at a temperature of 400Â° C. or lower. The use of such a chromium-containing material film as an optical film (e.g., a light-shielding film, an etching mask film, or an etching stopper film) of a photo mask blank can achieve an improvement in chlorine-dry etching while retaining the same optical characteristics and the like as those of the conventional chromium-containing material film, thereby increasing the patterning precision.

Claims

20 · 3 independent · depth 3

20 granted claims

›1.independentA photo mask blank comprising a film comprising chromium and another element, wherein the other element is capable of bringing a mixture of the other …+11

›2.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein the film has a region in a thickness direction thereof in which the other element is present at a c…d2+1

›4.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein the other element is indium or tin.d2

›5.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein the chromium is present in the form of a chromium metal, a chromium oxide, a chromium nitride, a ch…d2

›6.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein the film is a light-shielding film, an etching mask film, or an etching stopper film.d2+1

›8.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein a ratio (RCl/RF) of a chlorine dry etching rate (RCl) and a fluorine dry etching rate (RF) of the f…d2

›9.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein the film is formed by a process of co-sputtering in which a chromium target and a target comprising…d2

›10.↳ 1A method for manufacturing a photo mask, comprising patterning the photo mask blank of claim 1 by contacting the film with a gas mixture comprising ch…d2

›11.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein the other element is indium.d2

›12.↳ 1The photo mask blank according to claim 1, wherein the other element is tin.d2

›13.independentA photo mask blank comprising a film comprising chromium and tin, wherein the film has a region in a thickness direction thereof comprising tin at a c…+2

›16.independentA film mainly comprising chromium, and further comprising another element, wherein the other element is capable of bringing a mixture of the other ele…+4

Classifications

3 codes

IPC · International Patent Classification

Section G — Physics

G03F1/50

USPC · US Patent Classification

430/5428/433

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2.4 y

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non-final + final

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1 RCE

Examiner

Stephen Rosasco

art unit 1721 · TC 1700

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›Priority documents — 1

Type	Document	Date
related publication	US 20130230796 A1	5 Sep 2013

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