Shin-Etsu Chemical

A chemically amplified positive resist composition is provided comprising a polymer comprising repeat units having a cyclic acetal structure fused to an aromatic ring and a photoacid generator capable of generating an arene sulfonic acid. The resist composition has a high solvent solubility, sensitivity and contrast, and improved lithography properties including resolution and LER as well as minimal development defects and etching resistance.

A reflective mask blank 100 has a substrate 1; a multilayer reflective film 2 that reflects exposure light and that is provided on one main surface of the substrate 1; and an absorber film 5 provided above the multilayer reflective film 2. The absorber film 5 contains one or both of ruthenium (Ru) and platinum (Pt), and further contains one or both of carbon (C) and silicon (Si). A surface of the absorber film 5 has a root mean square roughness (Sq) of 0.40 nm or less.

A heat-curable maleimide resin composition is provided that gives a cured product having low relative permittivity, low dielectric loss tangent, and excellent bonding properties. The heat-curable maleimide resin composition includes (A) a maleimide resin solid at 25°C, (B) an epoxy resin containing two or more epoxy groups in one molecule, (C) an anionic polymerization initiator, and (D) a hollow inorganic filler.

Provided is a heat-curable cyclic imide resin composition that provides a cured product having low relative permittivity, low dielectric loss tangent, excellent bonding properties, and, in particular, excellent desmear resistance. The heat-curable cyclic imide resin composition contains (A) an aromatic cyclic imide resin having a weight average molecular weight of 5,000 to 100,000, (B) an aliphatic cyclic imide resin having a weight average molecular weight of 100 to 2,000, (C) an epoxy resin containing two or more epoxy groups in one molecule, (D) an epoxy resin-curing agent, (E) an imidazole compound having a triazine frame, and (F) a hollow inorganic filler. The composition contains the components (A) to (E) in a total amount of 5 to 99% by mass of the whole composition.

A thermosetting maleimide resin composition for a stress-relief layer for a glass-core substrate includes a component (A) that is a maleimide compound having, in one molecule, one or more hydrocarbon groups derived from one or more skeletons selected from dimer diamine skeletons and trimer triamine skeletons, the component (A) being contained in an amount of 30% to 99% by mass based on the total composition; a component (B) that is an epoxy resin having two or more epoxy groups in one molecule, the component (B) being contained in an amount of 0.05 to 25 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the component (A); and a component (C) that is an anionic polymerization initiator, the component (C) being contained in an amount of 0.1 to 5 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the total of the components (A) and (B).

The present invention is a silicon-containing composition, containing: (A) a thermosetting silicon-containing resin having a weight-average molecular weight of 1,000 to 3,000; (B) a polymer having one or both of repeating units represented by the following general formulae (1) and (2); and (C) a solvent. This can provide: a silicon-containing composition excellent in properties of forming a film in and filling a pattern of a stepped substrate; and a patterning process using the silicon-containing composition. The present invention can also provide a silicon-containing composition that can minimize the effect on the human body and the environment by the use of a surfactant to which the PFAS regulations of the European REACH do not apply.

Provided is a curable resin composition including: (A) cyclic imide resins represented by the following formula (1): <img class="EMIRef" id="d74ae674-f241-435d-bfc4-de2c339d3b80-ia01" /> wherein, in the formula (1), A represents a tetravalent organic group including a cyclic structure, Q is, for example, a divalent aliphatic hydrocarbon group, B represents an arylene group, X represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and n and m are independently 0 to 200; and (B) a curing catalyst, wherein the composition exhibits a minimum complex viscosity at 40 to 150°C of (α) 100 to 10,000 Pa·s (as measured at 1 Hz frequency) and (β) 10 to 2,000 Pa·s (as measured at 2 Hz frequency), and results in a cured product that satisfies (γ) a die shear strength with glass at 25°C of 10 MPa or more, and (δ) a die shear strength with copper at 25°C of 10 MPa or more.

The present invention is a silicon-containing composition, containing: (A) a thermosetting silicon-containing resin having a weight-average molecular weight of 1,000 to 3,000; (B) a polymer containing, in a repeating unit, an aromatic group that contains a pentafluorosulfanyl group (an SF₅ group); and (C) a solvent. This can provide: a silicon-containing composition excellent in properties of forming a film in and filling a pattern of a stepped substrate; and a patterning process using the silicon-containing composition. The present invention can also provide, as the silicon-containing composition, one that can minimize the effect on the human body and the environment.

An onium salt in which 2, 3 or 4 aryl groups having an acid labile group of ether form are present on an aromatic ring having -SO<3>- bonded thereto, and at least one aryl group having an ether type acid labile group is bonded to a carbon atom adjoining the carbon atom to which -SO<3>- is bonded generates an arenesulfonic acid with adequate acidity and controlled diffusion. A chemically amplified positive resist composition comprising the onium salt has a high resolution and forms a pattern of rectangular profile with reduced LER and few development defects.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a photomask blank with which a process for removing a hard mask film can be simplified and eventually a mask manufacturing process can be simplified. The photomask blank includes: a substrate; a patterning layer formed of a single layer or multiple layers on the substrate; and a hard mask film on the patterning layer. The hard mask film is made of a material containing chromium and at least one element selected from nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen, a film density of the hard mask film is 6.0 g/cm³ or less, the hard mask film has resistance to dry-etching using a gas containing fluorine and not containing oxygen, and resistance to dry-etching using a gas containing chlorine and not containing oxygen, and the photomask blank satisfies the following formula (1): d/v ≤ 60 [min] (1), wherein a film thickness reduction amount per minute of the hard mask film when processed with a sulfuric acid-hydrogen peroxide mixture is v [nm/min] and a film thickness of the hard mask film is d [nm].