Apparatus for concurrently sputtering different materials
US3985635A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 1, 1974 |
| Grant date | Oct 12, 1976 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 1, 1994 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J37/34
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Separator shields are provided between the substrates subject to sputtering and the boundaries between cathodes or between portions of the cathodes exposing different materials to be sputtered by a glow discharge. The shields extend to a few millimeters' spacing from the cathode and are at a potential at or near ground potential within .+-. 50 volts of the potential of the substrates. A common rear and side shield and a common electrical feed-through connection is provided for the cathode structure or cathodes. The substrates may be passed repeatedly through the sputtering zone or, in a circular configuration, can be moved in a circular path, so as to facilitate alloy-type coatings by producing very thin layers in alternation. The shielding reduces masking of one material by another on the cathode by cross-sputtering, thereby maintaining close to constancy the sputtering rates of the different materials for up to several hundred hours of operation. The cathode base plate of a composite cathode can be repeatedly used in successive operations with new material to be sputtered.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.