Method for manufacturing metal sputtering target for use in DC magnetron so that target has reduced number of conduction anomalies

A method for manufacturing a target adapted for installation in a DC_magnetron PVD system wherein said target has a deposition-producing portion composed primarily of an electrically conductive, to-be-deposited metal, said manufacturing method comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining a substantially purified form of the to-be-deposited metal, where the obtained form has less than about 10 ppm of at least one contaminating element selected from a conduction anomaly-producing group consisting of:
• hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon, where the at least one contaminating element alone or in combination with other components of the to-be-deposited metal can form electrically insulative or high resistance anomalies;
• the high resistance being characterized by a resistivity at least 100 times greater than a corresponding electrical resistivity of an anomaly-free representative portion of the to-be-deposited metal;
• and
• (b) using the purified form of said metal in subsequent casting and metal working processes to thereby produce a substantially homogeneous distribution of the to-be-deposited metal within said deposition-producing portion, the to-be-deposited metal of the target having a conduction anomaly content of less than about 10,000 conductivity anomalies per gram of the to-be-deposited metal, where each counted one of said conduction anomalies has a width of 0.3 micron or more.

A method for manufacturing a target for use in a DC_magnetron PVD system wherein said target has a deposition-producing portion composed essentially of an electrically conductive, to-be-deposited metal, said manufacturing method comprising the steps of:

• (a) obtaining a purified form of said to-be-deposited metal, where the obtained form has less than about less than about 1 ppm of hydrogen;
• (b) casting the purified form of said metal so as to minimize absorption during casting of additional hydrogen into the metal;
• and
• (c) working the cast metal so as to produce in the deposition-producing portion an essentially homogeneous distribution of metal grains each of a diameter less than about 100 microns.