SPUTTERING OF THERMALLY RESISTIVE MATERIALS INCLUDING METAL CHALCOGENIDES
First Claim
1. A method of sputtering a material comprising a metal chalcogenide capable of forming in a crystalline form and an amorphous form, comprising:
- magnetron sputtering a target comprising the metal chalcogenide; and
maintaining a temperature of a substrate disposed in opposition to the target at a selected temperature such that the metal chalcogenide deposits in a selected one of the crystalline form and the amorphous form.
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Abstract
A plasma sputtering method for metal chalcogenides, such as germanium antimony telluride (GST), useful in forming phase-change memories. The substrate is held at a selected temperature at which the material deposits in either an amorphous or crystalline form. GST has a low-temperature amorphous range and a high-temperature crystalline range separated by a transition band of 105-120° C. Bipolar pulsed sputtering with less than 50% positive pulses of less than 10:s pulse width cleans the target while maintain the sputtering plasma. The temperature of chamber shields is maintained at a temperature favoring crystalline deposition or they may be coated with arc-spray aluminum or with crystallographically aligned copper or aluminum.
53 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of sputtering a material comprising a metal chalcogenide capable of forming in a crystalline form and an amorphous form, comprising:
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magnetron sputtering a target comprising the metal chalcogenide; and maintaining a temperature of a substrate disposed in opposition to the target at a selected temperature such that the metal chalcogenide deposits in a selected one of the crystalline form and the amorphous form. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of sputtering a metal chalcogenide target disposed in a plasma sputtering chamber, comprising:
applying to the target a repetitive pulse form having a repetition frequency of between 10 and 350 kHz and having a positive portion of a duration less than that of a negative portion. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 20, 21)
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19. A method of sputtering a target comprising a metal chalcogenide capable of forming either an amorphous or a crystalline phase of a material of the target on a substrate, comprising:
maintaining a temperature of a shield in the sputtering chamber to a temperature at which the crystalline and not the amorphous phase forms on the shield.
Specification