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US 11,390,520 B2Granted
Systems and methods for uniform target erosion magnetic assemblies
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChen-Fang Chung, Wen-Cheng Cheng, Tsez-Chong Tsai, Shuen-Liang Tseng, Szu-Hsien Lo, Po-Wen Yang, Ming-Jie He
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an embodiment, a system includes: a chamber; and a magnetic assembly contained within the chamber. The magnetic assembly comprises: an inner magnetic portion comprising first magnets; and an outer magnetic portion comprising second magnets. At least two adjacent magnets, of either the first magnets or the second magnets, have different vertical displacements, and the magnetic assembly is configured to rotate around an axis to generate an electromagnetic field that moves ions toward a target region within the chamber.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- a chamber;
- a magnetic assembly contained within the chamber, the magnetic assembly comprising:
- a plurality of magnets each having a different vertical displacement from another one of the plurality of magnets;
- a shunt plate coupled to a top portion of each of the plurality of magnets;
- and
- a lower plate coupled to a lower extremity of each of the plurality of magnets, wherein the lower extremities of each of the plurality of magnets are at different vertical displacements and abut the lower plate,
- wherein the magnetic assembly is configured to rotate around an axis to generate an electromagnetic field that moves ions toward a target region within the chamber, and
- wherein the vertical displacement of each of plurality of magnets is designed based on a target erosion profile;
- a sensor for measuring the electromagnetic field of the magnetic assembly and for measuring a physical contour of a target disposed within the target region;
- and
- a processor for determining the target erosion profile based on the measurements of the electromagnetic field and the measurements of the physical contour by the sensor,
- wherein the measurements of the physical contour determines at least one of target depressions and target punctures for the magnetic assembly, the target and the chamber.
9 more elements
A magnetic assembly for use in physical vapor deposition, the magnetic assembly comprising:
- a plurality of magnets each having a different vertical displacement from another one of the plurality of magnets;
- a shunt plate coupled to a top portion of each of the plurality of magnets;
- and
- a lower plate coupled to a lower extremity of each of the plurality of magnets, wherein the lower extremities of each of the plurality of magnets are at different vertical displacements and abut the lower plate,
- wherein the magnetic assembly is configured to rotate around an axis to generate an electromagnetic field, and
- wherein the vertical displacement of each of plurality of magnets is designed based on a target erosion profile,
- wherein a sensor measures the electromagnetic field of the magnetic assembly and measures a physical contour of a target disposed within a target region,
- wherein a processor determines the target erosion profile based on the measurements of the electromagnetic field and the measurements of the physical contour by the sensor,
- wherein the measurements of the physical contour determines at least one of target depressions and target punctures for the magnetic assembly, the target and a chamber.
6 more elements
A method, comprising:
- producing a magnetic field using a magnetic assembly contained within a chamber, the magnetic assembly comprising:
- a plurality of magnets each having a different vertical displacement from another one of the plurality of magnets;
- a shunt plate coupled to a top portion of each of the plurality of magnets;
- and
- a lower plate coupled to a lower extremity of each of the plurality of magnets, wherein the lower extremities of each of the plurality of magnets are at different vertical displacements and abut the lower plate,
- wherein the vertical displacement of each of plurality of magnets is designed based on a target erosion profile;
- sputtering a target disposed within the chamber using an electromagnetic field of ions controlled by the magnetic field;
- depositing a material sputtered from the target onto a wafer within the chamber;
- measuring, by a sensor, the electromagnetic field of the magnetic assembly and measuring a physical contour of the target disposed within a target region;
- determining, by a processor, the target erosion profile based on the measurements of the electromagnetic field and the measurements of the physical contour by the sensor;
- and
- determining at least one of target depressions and target punctures for the magnetic assembly, the target and the chamber based on the measurements of the physical contour.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.