Ring-type sputtering target
AssigneePraxair S.T. Technology, Inc.
InventorsDaniel R. Marx, Rajan Mathew, Alfred Snowman, Charles R. Fisher
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The sputtering target has a design for uniformly depositing a material on a substrate. The target contains a circular disk; and the disk has a radius and a top surface. The top surface has a center region within the inner half of the radius, an outer ring-shaped region within the outer half of the radius and a base region separating the center region from the ring-shaped region. The outer ring-shaped region has a projection height for extending the life of the sputtering target. The center region has a projection height of less than the projection height of the outer ring-shaped region for increasing the sputtering deposition rate on the substrate adjacent the center region.
Claims18
A sputtering target for depositing a material on a substrate comprising a circular disk, the disk having a radius and a top surface, the top surface having a center region within the inner half of the radius, an outer ring-shaped region within the outer half of the radius and a base region separating the center region from the ring-shaped region, the outer ring-shaped region having a projection height for extending the life of the sputtering target and the center region having a projection height of less than the projection height of the outer ring-shaped region for increasing the sputtering deposition rate on the substrate adjacent the center region.
A sputtering target for depositing a material on a substrate comprising a circular disk, the disk having a radius and a top surface, the top surface having a center region within the inner thirty-five percent of the radius, an outer ring-shaped region within the outer sixty percent of the radius and a base region separating the center region from the ring-shaped region, the outer ring-shaped region having a projection height for extending the life of the sputtering target and the center region having a projection height of about 20 to 80 percent less than the projection height of the outer ring-shaped region for increasing the sputtering deposition rate on the substrate adjacent the center region and the target having an initial wafer to cathode spacing and a second wafer to cathode spacing for uniform sputtering, the second wafer to cathode spacing being greater than the initial wafer to cathode spacing.
A method for sputtering a material on a substrate comprising:
- ionizing an inert gas adjacent a cathode in a sputtering chamber, the cathode having an initial wafer to cathode spacing for uniform sputtering and a second wafer to cathode spacing for uniform sputtering, the second wafer to cathode spacing being greater than the initial wafer to cathode spacing;
- dislodging atoms from the cathode with a rotating magnetron to deposit a coating on the wafer using the initial wafer to cathode spacing to optimize sputtering deposition uniformity for an initial period of time;
- and
- dislodging additional atoms from the cathode with the rotating magnetron after the initial period of time to deposit the coating on the wafer using the second wafer to cathode spacing to optimize sputtering deposition uniformity for a second period of time.
A method for sputtering a material on a substrate comprising:
- ionizing an inert gas adjacent a circular cathode in a sputtering chamber, the cathode having a radius and a top surface, the top surface having a center region within the inner half of the radius, an outer ring-shaped region within the outer half of the radius and a base region separating the center region from the ring-shaped region, the outer ring-shaped region having a projection height for extending the life of the sputtering target and the center region having a projection height of less than the projection height of the outer ring-shaped region and the cathode having an initial wafer to cathode spacing for uniform sputtering and a second wafer to cathode spacing for uniform sputtering, the second wafer to cathode spacing being greater than the initial wafer to cathode spacing;
- dislodging atoms from the cathode with a rotating magnetron to deposit a coating on the wafer using the initial wafer to cathode spacing to optimize sputtering deposition uniformity for an initial period of time;
- and
- dislodging additional atoms from the cathode with the rotating magnetron after the initial period of time to deposit the coating on the wafer using the second wafer to cathode spacing to optimize sputtering deposition uniformity for a second period of time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.