Sputtering target, thin film for optical information recording medium and process for producing the same

• US 20060147740A1
• Filed: 02/03/2004
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation (ENEOS Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nikko-Materials Co., Ltd. (Eternal Materials Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Takami, Hideo, Yahagi, Masataka, Hosono, Hideo, Ueda, Kazushige
• Granted Patent: US 7,635,440 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/544
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3217 Aluminum oxide or oxide forming salts thereof, e.g. bauxite, alpha-alumina
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3225 Yttrium oxide or oxide-forming salts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3272 Iron oxides or oxide forming salts thereof, e.g. hematite, magnetite
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3284 Zinc oxides, zincates, cadmium oxides, cadmiates, mercury oxides, mercurates or oxide forming salts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3286 Gallium oxides, gallates, indium oxides, indates, thallium oxides, thallates or oxide forming salts thereof, e.g. zinc gallate
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/3293 Tin oxides, stannates or oxide forming salts thereof, e.g. indium tin oxide [ITO]
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/5436 micrometer sized, i.e. from 1 to 100 micron
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/77 Density
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 2235/775 Products showing a density-gradient
• CPC Class Codes: C04B 35/453 based on zinc, tin, or bismuth oxides or solid solutions thereof with other oxides, e.g. zincates, stannates or bismuthates
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/086 of zinc, germanium, cadmium, indium, tin, thallium or bismuth
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/3414 Metallurgical or chemical aspects of target preparation, e.g. casting, powder metallurgy
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2007/25706 containing transition metal elements (Zn, Fe, Co, Ni, Pt)
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2007/25708 containing group 13 elements (B, Al, Ga)
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2007/2571 containing group 14 elements except carbon (Si, Ge, Sn, Pb)
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2007/25715 containing oxygen
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/2531 comprising glass
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/2578 consisting essentially of inorganic materials
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/266 Sputtering or spin-coating layers sputtering in general C23C14/24; spin-coating in general B05D1/005
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/60 Efficient propulsion technologies, e.g. for aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/12 : All metal or with adjacent metals

Abstract

Provided is a sputtering target having a relative density of 80% or more and containing a compound having as its principal component zinc oxide satisfying A_XB_YO_(KaX+KbY)/2(ZnO)_m, 1<m, X≦m, 0<Y≦0.9, X+Y=2, where A and B are respectively different positive elements of trivalence or more, and the valencies thereof are respectively Ka and Kb. Obtained is a ZnO based sputtering target which does not contain ZnS and SiO₂, and, upon forming a film via sputtering, is capable of reducing the affect of heating the substrate, of performing high speed deposition, of adjusting the film thickness to be thin, of reducing the generation of particles (dust) and nodules during sputtering, of improving the productivity with small variation in quality, and which has fine crystal grains and a high density of 80% or more, particularly 90% or more.

Claims

1. A sputtering target having a relative density of 90% or more and containing a compound having as its principal component zinc oxide satisfying A_XB_YO_(KaX+KbY)/2(ZnO)_m, 4≦

m≦

8, X≦

m, 0<

Y≦

0.9, X+Y=2, where m is an integral number and A and B are respectively different positive elements of trivalence or more, and the valencies thereof are respectively Ka and Kb, wherein a range of variation of positive elements other than zinc in the target is within 0.5% and a range of variation of density in the target is within 3%.

2-8. -8. (canceled)

9. A thin film for an optical information recording medium prepared by a process comprising the step of forming the thin film by sputtering a sputtering target that has a relative density of 90% or more and that contains a compound having as its principal component zinc oxide satisfying A_XB_YO_(KaX+KbY)/2(ZnO)_m, 4≦

m≦

8, X≦

m, 0<

Y≦

0.9, X+Y=2, where m is an integral number and A and B are respectively different positive elements of trivalence or more, and the valencies thereof are respectively Ka and Kb, and wherein a range of variation of positive elements other than zinc in the target is within 0.5% and a range of variation of density in the target is within 3%.

10. A thin film according to claim 9, wherein the film is located adjacent a reflective layer or a recording layer of the optical information recording medium.

11. A method of manufacturing a thin film for an optical information recording medium comprising the step of forming a thin film via direct current sputtering of a sputtering target that has a relative density of 90% or more and that contains a compound having as its principal component zinc oxide satisfying A_XB_YO_(KaX+KbY)/2(ZnO)_m, 4≦

m≦

8, X≦

m, 0<

Y≦

0.9, X+Y=2, where m is an integral number and A and B are respectively different positive elements of trivalence or more, and the valencies thereof are respectively Ka and Kb, and wherein a range of variation of positive elements other than zinc in the target is within 0.5% and a range of variation of density in the target is within 3%.