Brazed honeycomb collimator

• US 6,287,436 B1
• Filed: 02/27/1998
• Issued: 09/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Innovent, Inc. (Standex Engraving, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Innovent, Inc. (Standex Engraving, LLC)
• Inventors: Krauskopf, Nis, Pelletier, Dominic Gerard, Gregory, Scott James
• Primary Examiner(s): McDonald, Rodney G.
• Application Number:
  US09/031,648
• Time in Patent Office: 1,292 Days
• Field of Search: 204/298.11, 204/192.12, 228/181, 228/182, 118/720, 428/116, 428/118
• US Class Current: 204/298.11
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/34 Sputtering
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/564 Means for minimising impurities in the coating chamber such as dust, moisture, residual gases
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3447 Collimators, shutters, apertures
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24149 Honeycomb-like
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24165 Hexagonally shaped cavities

Abstract

A collimator filter for a physical vapor deposition apparatus useful for coating semiconductor wafers includes a plurality of corrugated ribbons attached at abutting double-walled nodes by resistance spot welding. The nodes are sealed by application of a braze material to diverging wall portions of the nodes by extrusion or spraying, followed by heating in a vacuum furnace. Alternatively, the nodes may be sealed by application of a braze material foil to a top and a bottom surface of the collimator followed by heating in the vacuum furnace. By sealing the nodes, a significant reduction may be achieved in outgassing and generation of particulate contaminants.

Claims

1. A PVD collimator comprising:

a first web member comprising a first wall section;

a second web member comprising a second wall section abutting and being spot welded to the fist wall section to form a first node; and

a braze material disposed about the first node to substantially seal the first node, wherein the braze material is characterized by absence of constituents which would contaminate a semiconductor wafer being coated when the PVD collimator is in use in a PVD apparatus and wherein the PVD collimator is characterized by absence of a face sheet bonded thereto.

2. A PVD collimator according to claim 1 wherein:

the first web member further comprises a third wall section;

the second web member further comprises a fourth wall section abutting the third wall section to form a second node spaced from the first node; and

a braze material disposed about the second node to substantially seal the second node.

3. A PVD collimator according to claim 2 wherein the first web member and the second web member form a passage therebetween bounded in part by the first node and the second node.

4. A PVD collimator according to claim 3 wherein the passage has a cross-sectional configuration resembling a hexagon.

5. A PVD collimator according to claim 1 wherein the braze material comprises a nickel-base alloy.

6. A PVD collimator according to claim 5 wherein the first web member and the second web member comprise a material selected from the group consisting of aluminum, stainless steel, and nickel-base alloy.

7. A PVD collimator according to claim 1 wherein the braze material comprises a titanium-base alloy.

8. A PVD collimator according to claim 7 wherein the first web member and the second web member comprise a material selected from the group consisting of titanium and titanium-base alloy.

9. A PVD collimator comprising:

a first ribbon comprising a plurality of contiguous wall sections;

a second ribbon comprising a plurality of contiguous wall sections, the second ribbon abutting and being spot welded to the first ribbon at a plurality of nodes to form a plurality of passages passing through the PVD collimator; and

a braze material disposed about respective nodes to substantially seal the nodes and to provide a fillet between diverging wall sections of the first ribbon and the second ribbon, wherein the braze material is characterized by absence of constituents which would contaminate a semiconductor wafer being coated when the PVD collimator is in use in a PVD apparatus.

10. A PVD collimator according to claim 9 wherein the passages have respective cross-sectional configurations resembling hexagons to form a nested honeycomb pattern.