Enhanced collimated sputtering apparatus and its method of use
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A sputtering apparatus for sputtering a thin film on a substrate, the substrate having a surface, the apparatus comprising:
- a target and a sputter processing region between the substrate and said target;
a collimator having a first portion and a second portion connected to said first portion, said first portion located in said sputter processing region, said second portion located outside said sputter processing region, wherein said collimator includes passageways oriented substantially perpendicular to said substrate surface; and
drive means to induce lateral displacement of said collimator in a direction parallel to the substrate surface, the drive means being sufficient to move said entire first portion of said collimator out of said sputter processing region and to move said second portion into said sputter processing region.
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Abstract
A sputtering apparatus using a collimator disposed between a wafer holder for holding a wafer and a target to intercept some of the particles ejected from the target, wherein the collimator is movable in a direction parallel to the wafer surface in a manner permitting the collimator to be cleaned and maintained in situ simultaneous with sputtering deposition processing.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A sputtering apparatus for sputtering a thin film on a substrate, the substrate having a surface, the apparatus comprising:
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a target and a sputter processing region between the substrate and said target; a collimator having a first portion and a second portion connected to said first portion, said first portion located in said sputter processing region, said second portion located outside said sputter processing region, wherein said collimator includes passageways oriented substantially perpendicular to said substrate surface; and drive means to induce lateral displacement of said collimator in a direction parallel to the substrate surface, the drive means being sufficient to move said entire first portion of said collimator out of said sputter processing region and to move said second portion into said sputter processing region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A sputtering apparatus for sputtering a thin film on a substrate, the substrate having a substrate surface, the apparatus comprising:
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a target and a sputter processing region between the substrate and said target; a circular collimator having a first portion and a second portion, said first portion located in said sputter processing region, said second portion located outside said sputter processing region, wherein said collimator includes passageways oriented substantially perpendicular to said substrate surface; and rotary drive means to induce rotation of said collimator, said rotary drive means being sufficient to move said entire first portion of said collimator out of said sputter processing region and to move said second portion into said sputter processing region. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A sputtering apparatus for sputtering a thin film on a substrate, the substrate having a substrate surface, the apparatus comprising:
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a target and a sputter processing region between the substrate and said target; a collimator of parallelogram geometry having a first portion and a second portion, said first portion located in said sputter processing region, said second portion located outside said sputter processing region, wherein said collimator includes passageways oriented substantially perpendicular to said substrate surface; and a reciprocal drive means to induce back-and-forth movement of said collimator across said sputter processing region, said reciprocal drive means being sufficient to move said entire first portion of said collimator out of said sputter processing region and to move said second portion into said sputter processing region. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A method of sputtering thin film on a substrate, the substrate having a surface, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a sputtering apparatus having a target and a sputter processing region between the substrate and said target, and a collimator having a first portion and a second portion connected to said first portion, said first portion located in said sputter processing region, said second portion located outside said sputter processing region, said collimator including passageways oriented substantially perpendicular to said substrate surface; generating a plasma gas in said sputter processing region and bombarding said target with accelerated ions from the plasma gas to eject film-forming particles from said target; and laterally displacing said collimator in a direction parallel to said surface of said substrate, the lateral displacing step moving said entire first portion of said collimator out of said sputter processing region and moving said second portion into said sputter processing region. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification