Sputter coating collimator with integral reactive gas distribution
US5346601A · kind A · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 11, 1993 |
| Grant date | Sep 13, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 11, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC C)Chemistry; Metallurgy
- CPC primaryC23C14/0068
- WIPO fieldSurface technology, coating
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A sputter coating apparatus particularly useful for applying sputtered films, particularly reactively produced sputtered films such as titanium nitride, onto semiconductor wafers, is provided with a collimator that includes a grid of vanes for restricting the paths available for the sputtered material to take from the target toward the wafer. A flow of fresh reactive gas is maintained on the surface of the wafer by gas outlets carried by vanes of the collimator. The outlets are supplied with the gas through passages provided in the vanes, so that the gas supply does not contribute to the shadowing of the sputtered material from the wafer except in accordance with the intended shadowing for which the collimator is provided.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.