Photomask blank and photomask

摘要

A photomask blank comprises a transparent substrate (1), a light-shielding film (2) of an optionally transition metal-containing silicon material, and an etching mask film (3) of a chromium compound base material. The etching mask film consists of multiple layers (31,32) of different composition which are deposited by reactive sputtering, the multiple layers including, in combination, a first layer (31) of a material which imparts a compression stress when deposited on the substrate as a single composition layer and a second layer (32) of a material which imparts a tensile stress when deposited on the substrate as a single composition layer.