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US 5,516,403 AGranted
Reversing orientation of sputtering screen to avoid contamination
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsJohn Forster, James S. Van Gogh, Avi Tepman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sputtering apparatus deposits a layer of material on a substrate. The apparatus includes a screening member, such as a plate collimator or a tube collimator, located between the target and substrate. A motor drive reverses the respective positions of the two opposite sides of the screening device which respectively face the substrate and the target.
Claims16
A sputtering chamber for depositing material on a semiconductor substrate, the chamber comprising:
- a sputtering target;
- a substrate support for receiving a semiconductor substrate thereon;
- a target flux screening member, positioned between the target and the substrate support, having first and second opposite sides and having at least one opening extending between said first and second sides;
- and
- a motor drive mechanism, coupled to said target flux screening member, for orienting the screening member so that the first and second sides face the target and the substrate support, respectively in a first orientation, and for subsequently reversing the orientation of the screening member so that the first and second sides face the substrate support and the target, respectively in a second orientation.
2 more elements
The sputtering chamber of claim, wherein
- said first and second sides have a common axis of symmetry;
- and
- said axle is perpendicular to the axis of the first and second sides.
A method of sputter depositing material on a semiconductor substrate, comprising:
- providing a sputtering target and a semiconductor substrate within the chamber;
- positioning a target flux screening member between the target and the substrate support, said screening member having first and second opposite sides and having at least one opening extending between said first and second sides;
- initially orienting the screening member so that the first and second sides face the target and the substrate support, respectively;
- and then
- subsequently orienting the screening member so that the first and second sides face the substrate support and the target, respectively.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.