Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is the most promising candidate for next generation lithography due to its feature size of 32 nm or below. We investigated the etching properties of materials in an alternating, phase-shift mask (PSM) structure for EUVL including a Ru top capping layer, Mo-Si multilayer (ML) and Ni etch stop layer (ESL), by varying the Cl(2)/O(2) and Cl(2)/Ar gas flow ratios, and the dc self-bias voltage (V(dc)) in inductively coupled plasma (ICP). The Ru layer could be etched effectively in Cl(2)/O(2) plasmas and Mo-Si ML could be etched with an infinitely high etch selectivity over Ni ESL in Cl(2)/Ar plasmas, even with increasing overetch time. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.