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US 5,308,461 AGranted
Method to deposit multilayer films
AssigneeHoneywell Inc.
InventorRobert G. Ahonen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention discloses a method to deposit thin films on a substrate. An inert gas is introduced into a radio-frequency excited ion beam gun. The ions thus produced are directed to a target where molecules of the target are sputtered off and deposited on a substrate. A method of translating different targets into the ion beam is provided in order to produce multilayer films with different properties in each layer. A method is also provided to rotate the substrates into and out of the path of the sputtered molecules to insure a uniform film.
Claims4
A method to deposit multilayer films comprising the steps of:
- a) attaching an ion beam gun to a vacuum chamber;
- b) evacuating said vacuum chamber;
- c) placing a pair of anode plates inside said ion beam gun near a first end of said ion beam gun;
- d) placing a resonator inside said ion beam gun near a second end of said ion beam gun;
- e) introducing an inert gas into said ion beam gun;
- f) exciting said ion beam gun with radio-frequency energy to ionize said gas into a plasma of positively charged ions;
- g) containing said plasma inside said ion beam gun between said anodes and said resonator;
- h) extracting said positively charged ions from said ion beam gun as an ion beam;
- i) impacting a first target with said ion beam to sputter a first material off of said first target;
- j) depositing said first material on a substrate to form a first layer of sputtered material on said substrate;
- k) translating a second target into said ion beam;
- l) impacting said second target with said ion beam to sputter a second material off of said second target;
- and
- m) depositing said second material on said first layer to form a multilayer film.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.