Compensation of spacing between magnetron and sputter target
First Claim
1. In a magnetron sputter reactor including a chamber sealable to a sputtering target, a support in said reactor for holding a substrate to be processed, and a magnetron placeable on a backside of said target opposite said support, a magnetron control system comprising:
- a lift mechanism affixed to a support of said magnetron capable of varying a distance of said magnetron from said backside of said target; and
a controller for controlling a degree of said varying said distance during processing of a sequence of substrates.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A lift mechanism for and a corresponding use of a magnetron in a plasma sputter reactor. A magnetron rotating about the target axis is controllably lifted away from the back of the target to compensate for sputter erosion, thereby maintaining a constant magnetic field and resultant plasma density at the sputtered surface, which is particularly important for stable operation with a small magnetron, for example, one executing circular or planetary motion about the target axis. The lift mechanism can include a lead screw axially fixed to the magnetron support shaft and a lead nut engaged therewith to raise the magnetron as the lead nut is turned. Alternatively, the support shaft is axially fixed to a vertically moving slider. The amount of lift may be controlled according a recipe based on accumulated power applied to the target or by monitoring electrical characteristics of the target.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. In a magnetron sputter reactor including a chamber sealable to a sputtering target, a support in said reactor for holding a substrate to be processed, and a magnetron placeable on a backside of said target opposite said support, a magnetron control system comprising:
-
a lift mechanism affixed to a support of said magnetron capable of varying a distance of said magnetron from said backside of said target; and
a controller for controlling a degree of said varying said distance during processing of a sequence of substrates. - View Dependent Claims (2)
-
-
3. A sputter reactor, comprising:
-
a target affixed to vacuum chamber;
a pedestal within said chamber for support a substrate in opposition to said target;
a magnetron positioned on a back side of said target;
a power supply selectively applying power to said target to excite a plasma within said chamber to thereby sputter material from a front side of said target onto said substrate;
a mechanism for varying a spacing between said magnetron and said target; and
a controller controlling said mechanism to adjust said spacing during a predetermined sequence of depositing said material onto a plurality of said substrates. - View Dependent Claims (4)
-
-
5. A method of sputtering onto a substrate support on a support in a sputtering reactor chamber including a target fixed to said chamber and a magnetron disposed on a back of said target opposite said support, comprising:
-
plural first steps of exciting a plasma in said chamber and depositing material of said target onto sequential ones of a plurality of substrates; and
plural second steps of lifting said magnetron away from said backside of said target performed during or after different ones of said first steps. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
-
- 9. A magnetron sputtering method, comprising adjusting a magnetic field, which is assisting generation of a plasma in sputtering a target, in compensation for erosion of a front of said target by particles from said plasma.
-
14. A method for use with a plasma sputter reactor chamber mounting a target facing an interior of the chamber and with a magnetron positioned on the backside of said target exteriorly of the chamber, comprising the steps of:
-
exciting a plasma in said chamber so as to deposit material of said target onto sequential ones of a plurality of substrates;
lifting said magnetron away from the backside during or after said exciting of said plasma or deposition of material; and
a controller controlling a degree of said lifting at an intermediate time of processing of said plurality of substrates. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A hollow cathode sputter reactor, comprising:
-
a vacuum chamber arranged about a central axis;
a support within said chamber for holding a substrate to be processed;
a sputter target sealable to said chamber and having a right cylindrical vault arranged about said central axis in opposition to said support formed by a generally disk-shaped roof and a generally tubular sidewall;
a magnet assembly disposed adjacent a back surface of either said roof or said sidewall; and
a lift mechanism supporting said magnet assembly and controllably varying a distance between said magnet assembly and said back surface. - View Dependent Claims (22)
-
Specification