Patent attributes
The mask blank is patterned to form a corresponding mask having a light shielding film pattern with enhanced resolution. A mask blank (10) on which a chemically amplified resist film (20) is formed, the mask blank (10) comprising a substrate (12), a light shielding film (13) provided on the substrate (12), and a resist underlying film (18) provided on the light shielding film (13), for suppressing the deactivation of the chemically amplified resist film (20). When the light shielding film (13) is etched using the patterned chemically amplified resist film (20) as a mask, the etching rate of the deactivation preventive film (18) is higher than the etching rate of the chemically amplified resist film (20).