Method and apparatus for ionized physical vapor deposition
US6719886B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 29, 2001 |
| Grant date | Apr 13, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 14, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01J37/3429
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Ionized Physical Vapor Deposition (IPVD) is provided by a method of apparatus (500) particularly useful for sputtering conductive metal coating material from an annular magnetron sputtering target (10). The sputtered material is ionized in a processing space between the target (10) and a substrate (100) by generating a dense plasma in the space with energy coupled from a coil (39) located outside of the vacuum chamber (501) behind a dielectric window (33) in the chamber wall (502) at the center of the opening (421) in the sputtering target. A Faraday type shield (26) physically shields the window to prevent coating material from coating the window, while allowing the inductive coupling of energy from the coil into the processing space. The location of the coil in the plane of the target or behind the target allows the target-to-wafer spacing to be chosen to optimize film deposition rate and uniformity, and also provides for the advantages of a ring-shaped source without the problems associated with unwanted deposition in the opening at the target center.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.