Physical vapor processing of a surface with non-uniformity compensation
US6224724A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 20, 1998 |
| Grant date | May 1, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 20, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/28556
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method for compensating the process-related asymmetries produced in physical vapor processing of a surface. The apparatus and method may be used on either a substrate when sputtering material from a source or when using an ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) apparatus to either deposit a film onto or remove material from a substrate. A compensating magnet is configured and positioned to produce a compensating magnetic field. The compensating magnetic is positioned to offset the effects of chamber and process-related asymmetries, particularly those that affect the distribution of plasma processing on a substrate where the plasma has been otherwise symmetrically produced. Assymetries about an axis of the substrate, for example, are corrected, in, for example, systems such as sputter coating machines where a rotating magnet cathode or other such technique produces an initially symmetrical plasma. Asymmetrical non-uniformities in deposited films are reduced to an acceptable amount and substrates may be cleaned in situ prior to metallization.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.