Patent ID: 8822103

Claim:
A mask blank for manufacturing a transfer mask adapted to be applied with ArF excimer laser exposure light, comprising: a transparent substrate; and a light-shielding film formed on the transparent substrate where the light-shielding film is to be formed into a transfer pattern; wherein the light-shielding film has at least two-layers comprising a lower layer and an upper layer from a transparent substrate side, the lower layer is composed mainly of a first material containing a transition metal, silicon, and nitrogen, the upper layer is composed mainly of a second material containing a transition metal, silicon, and nitrogen, and a ratio of a first etching rate of the lower layer to a second etching rate of the upper layer is 1.0 or more and 5.0 or less in etching carried out by supplying a fluorine-containing substance onto a target portion and irradiating charged particles to the target portion, wherein a ratio obtained by dividing a content of the transition metal in the lower layer by a total content of the transition metal and the silicon in the lower layer and a nitrogen content in the lower layer are in ranges satisfying a first condition of the following formula C N ≧−0.00526 C Mo 2 −0.640 C Mo +26.624 where C Mo is a ratio obtained by dividing the content of the transition metal in the lower layer by the total content of the transition metal and the silicon in the lower layer, and where C N is a nitrogen content in the lower layer.