Non-planar magnet tracking during magnetron sputtering

A magnetron sputtering apparatus comprising:

• a sputtering target assembly having a first side opposite a second side wherein a target surface on said first side is exposed to a sputtering chamber;
• a traveling magnet member disposed to travel along a track on a second side of said target assembly, said magnet member including components which produce a magnetic field extending beyond the surface of said magnet member toward said target surface,
• wherein a portion of said magnet member travels in a plane approximately parallel to an unused pre-sputtering configuration of said surface of said first side of said target, except in a divergent portion, where the distance of a portion of the magnetic member and said unused configuration of said surface of said first side of said target assembly exceed a range of tolerance for parallelism between said plane and said unused pre-sputtering configuration of said surface of said first side of said target.

A magnetron scanning apparatus comprising:

• a magnet member running as a truck on a set of separated linear bearing rails which are approximately parallel, where during sputtering to improve the uniformity of film thickness sputter deposited on a substrate opposite a target disposed between said target assembly and said magnet member a first end of a first rail of said set of bearing rails is raised to be further from the target than a second end of said first rail of said set of bearing rails.

A method for selectively controlling the film thickness deposited on a substrate during sputtering comprising the steps of:

• moving a magnet member laterally in an approximately linear pattern in the proximity of a sputtering target and
• varying the strength of the magnetic field enhancing sputtering at the target surface as the magnet member moves laterally to deposit a particular film thickness pattern on the substrate during processing during sputtering.

A method for selectively controlling the film thickness deposited on a substrate during sputtering comprising the steps of:

• moving a magnet member laterally along an approximately linear track and
• moving portions of the magnet member in a vertical direction simultaneously with the lateral motion of the magnet member to change the magnetic field intensity utilized for sputtering at one or more locations along the track to improve the control of the film thickness deposited during sputtering.