Method for preparing a shield to reduce particles in a physical vapor deposition chamber

Abstract

In a method for preparing a shield for use in a physical vapor deposition process, the shield is sputter-etch cleaned to increase adhesion of deposits in the physical vapor deposition process. The sputter-etch cleaning serves to loosen contamination which may for a diffusion barrier and prevent the deposits from bonding to the shield. Also, the sputter-etch cleaning creates a high degree of micro-roughness. The roughness allows for an increase in nucleation sites which minimize the formation of interface voids. In addition to sputter-etch cleaning the shield may be bead blasted. The bead blasting makes the surface of the shield irregular. This enhances interface cracking of deposited material on a microscopic scale, resulting in less flaking.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.