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AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsHien-Minh Huu Le, Keith A. Miller, Hoa T. Kieu, Kenny King-Tai Ngan
Estimating the term…
In a magnetron sputtering chamber, a substrate is placed in the chamber and a deposition shield is maintained about the substrate to shield internal surfaces in the chamber. The deposition shield has a textured surface that may be formed by a hot pressing process or by a coating process, and that allows the accumulated sputtered residues to stick thereto without flaking off. An electrical power is applied to a high density sputtering target facing the substrate to form a plasma in the chamber while a rotating magnetic field of at least about 300 Gauss is applied about the target to sputter the target. Advantageously, the sputtering process cycle can be repeated for at least about 8,000 substrates without cleaning the internal surfaces in the chamber, and even while still generating an average particle count on each processed substrate of less than 1 particle per 10 cm2 of substrate surface area.
A method of processing a substrate in a magnetron sputtering chamber, the method comprising:
A method of processing a batch of substrates in a magnetron sputtering chamber, the method consisting essentially of:
A method of processing a batch of substrates in a magnetron sputtering chamber, the method consisting essentially of:
A magnetron sputtering chamber comprising:
A magnetron sputtering chamber comprising:
A magnetron sputtering chamber comprising:
A deposition shield capable of shielding an interior surface in a magnetron sputter deposition chamber from sputtered material generated in the chamber, the deposition shield comprising:
A method of fabricating a deposition shield that is capable of shielding an interior surface in a magnetron sputter deposition chamber from sputtered material generated in the chamber, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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Characterised by the means for protecting vessels or internal parts, e.g. coatings: means for protecting the vessel against plasma
Characterised by the process of coating: sputtering
Apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating; Arrangements for maintaining the vacuum, e.g. vacuum locks: means for minimising impurities in…
Magnetron sputtering: planar magnetron sputtering
Term end not estimated
Embodiments of the present invention relate to sputtering material on a substrate in a sputtering chamber.
A sputtering chamber is used to sputter material onto a substrate to manufacture electronic circuits, such as for example, integrated circuits and displays. Typically, the chamber comprises an enclosure wall that encloses a process zone into which a gas is introduced, a gas energizer to energize the gas at least initially during the sputtering process, and an exhaust conduit from which the gases and other species are exhausted and which has a throttle valve to control the pressure in the chamber. The chamber is used to sputter deposit a material from a sputtering target onto the substrate, such as a metal, for example, aluminum, copper, titanium, tantalum or tungsten; or a metal compound, such as for example, tantalum nitride, tungsten nitride or titanium nitride.
In conventional sputtering processes, the yields from the substrate are reduced when particles flake off from the chamber walls and deposit on the substrate during the sputtering process. This arises when sputtered material accumulate on the exposed surfaces of walls and components about the substrate. After a number of sputtering cycles, the accumulated sputtered material becomes thick and it flakes off and deposits as flaked particles on the substrate. The deposited flaked particles cause additional sputtered material deposited on the substrate to deposit conformally over the flakes forming irregularities that short the circuitry being fabricated on the substrate.
These features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings which illustrate examples of the invention. However, it is to be understood that each of the features can be used in the invention in general, not merely in the context of the particular drawings, and the invention includes any combination of these features, where:
FIG. 1a is a schematic sectional side view of an embodiment of a sputtering chamber suitable for sputter processing a substrate;
FIG. 1b is schematic sectional side view of a number of different deposition shields arranged in the sputtering chamber of FIG. 1a;
A substrate 16 is processed according to the present invention in a magnetron sputtering chamber 36 as illustrated in FIG. 1a. The chamber may be part of a multi-chamber platform (not shown) with interconnected plumbing and electrical systems and having a substrate transport (not shown) to transfer substrates between chambers. This magnetron sputtering chamber 36 is capable of sputter depositing material, such as for example, aluminum, copper, titanium, tantalum, tantalum nitride, tungsten, tungsten nitride and other such sputtered materials, onto the substrate 16. The chamber 36 comprises an enclosure wall 12 that may serve as a sidewall 13, bottom wall 10, or ceiling 39 of the chamber 36. A substrate support 18 supports substrate 16 in the chamber 36. The substrate 16 is introduced into the chamber 36 through a substrate loading inlet (not shown) in the sidewall 13 of the chamber 36 and placed on the support 18. The support 18 can be lifted or lowered by support lift bellows (not shown) and a lift finger assembly (also not shown) can be used to lift and lower the substrate 16 onto the support 18 during transport of the substrate 16 in and out of the chamber 36. While the invention is illustrated in the context of an exemplary chamber, it should be understood that other types of chambers as apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art may also be used, and the invention should not be limited to the illustrated chamber embodiment.
A gas supply 23 may be used to introduce a gas into the chamber 36 to initiate or sustain a plasma in the process zone. The gas is introduced through a gas inlet 33 connected via the gas input lines 25a,b to one or more gas sources 24, 27, respectively. Mass flow controllers 26a,b are used to control the flow rate of the individual gases—which may be premixed in a mixing manifold 31 prior to their introduction into the chamber 36 or which may be separately introduced into the chamber 36. The gas typically includes a non-reactive gas, such as argon or xenon, that when energized into a plasma, energetically impinges upon and bombards the target 14 to sputter material, such as copper, aluminum, titanium, tungsten or tantalum off from the target 14. The gas may also comprise a reactive gas, such as nitrogen. Also, compositions of gas that include other reactive or non-reactive gases, may also be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Once a plasma is initiated, the gas flow rate may also be gradually tapered off allowing the plasma to be self-initiating and increasingly composed of the ionized sputtered species.
An exhaust system 28 may be used to control the pressure of any gas introduced into the chamber 36 and to exhaust gases, byproducts, and other species from the chamber 36. The exhaust system 28 comprises an exhaust port 29 in the chamber 36 that is connected to an exhaust line 34 that leads to one or more exhaust pumps 29. A throttle valve 37 in the exhaust line 34 may be used to control the pressure of the gas in the chamber 36. The pressure of the gas or sputtered species in the chamber 36 may be set to sub-atmospheric levels, for example, from about 2 to about 10 mTorr, or even lower pressures under 2 mTorr.