Elastomer bonding of large area sputtering target

• US 7,550,055 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2005
• Issued: 06/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Hosokawa, Akihiro, Le, Hienminh H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tucker; Philip C
• Assistant Examiner(s): McClelland; Kimberly K
• Application Number:
  US11/224,221
• Publication Number:
  US 20060266643A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,380 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 156/276
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/3407 Cathode assembly for sputtering apparatus, e.g. Target

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to sputtering targets used in semiconductor manufacturing. In particular, the invention relates to bonding the sputtering target to a backing plate that supports the sputtering target in a deposition chamber. In one embodiment, a method of bonding at least one sputtering target tile to a backing plate comprises providing an elastomeric adhesive layer between the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate, and providing at least one metal mesh within the elastomeric adhesive layer, wherein at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh contacts both the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate, and the at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh is made of metal wire with diameter greater than 0.5 mm.

Claims

1. A method of bonding at least one sputtering target tile to a backing plate, comprising:

providing an elastomeric adhesive layer between the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate;

providing at least one metal mesh within the elastomeric adhesive layer, wherein at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh contacts both the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate, and the at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh is made of metal wire with a diameter greater than 0.5 mm; and

curing the elastomeric adhesive layer between the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate by passing heated water through at least one heating channel in the backing plate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein curing the elastomeric adhesive layer is performed at a temperature less than 100°

C.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein curing the elastomeric adhesive layer is performed at a temperature between 45°

C. to about 70°

C.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein there are at least 3 sputtering target tiles and the at least 3 sputtering target tiles are placed side by side with the widest gap between the at least 3 sputtering target tiles being less than a plasma dark space.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sputtering target tile is made of sputtering target tiles that are welded together before bonding.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the elastomeric adhesive layer includes metallic powder in the weight range between about 0% to about 80% to increase thermal conductivity.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the total surface area of the openings of the metal mesh is between about 40% to about 70% of the total bonding surface area of the at least one sputtering target tile.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the total surface area of the at least one sputtering target tile is greater than 750 cm².

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sputtering target tile is non-circular.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sputtering target is made of a material containing an element selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, gold, nickel, tin, molybdenum, chromium, zinc, palladium, stainless steel, indium, titanium, tungsten, neodymium and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the backing plate is made of conductive material selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, gold, nickel, tin, molybdenum, chromium, zinc, palladium, stainless steel, palladium alloys, tin alloy, aluminum alloy, copper alloy, and combinations thereof.

12. A method of bonding at least one sputtering target tile to a backing plate, comprising:

providing at least one elastomeric adhesive layer between the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate;

providing at least one metal mesh within the at least one elastomeric adhesive layer, wherein at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh contacts both the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate and the total surface area of the openings of the at least one metal mesh is between about 40% to about 70% of the total bonding surface area of the at least one sputtering target tile; and

,

curing the at least one elastomeric adhesive layer between the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate by passing heated water through at least one heating channel in the backing plate.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the heated water is at a temperature between 45°

C. to about 70°

C.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein there are at least 3 sputtering target tiles and the at least 3 sputtering target tiles are placed side by side with the widest gap between the at least 3 sputtering target tiles being less than a plasma dark space.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh is made of metal wire with a diameter greater than 0.5 mm.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one sputtering target tile is non-circular.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the total surface area of the at least one sputtering target tile is greater than 750 cm².

18. A sputtering target assembly, comprising:

at least one sputtering target tile;

a backing plate for the at least one sputtering target tile, the backing plate having at least one heating channel;

an elastomeric adhesive layer between the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate, wherein the elastomeric adhesive layer bonds the at least one sputtering target and the backing plate together; and

at least one metal mesh within the elastomeric adhesive layer, wherein at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh contacts both the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate, and the at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh is made of metal wire with a diameter greater than 0.5 mm, wherein the elastomeric adhesive layer is cured by passing heated water through the at least one heating channel in the backing plate.

19. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein the total surface area of the openings in the at least one metal mesh is between about 40% to about 70% of the total sputtering surface area.

20. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein the at least one sputtering target tile is non-circular.

21. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein there are at least 3 sputtering target tiles and the at least 3 sputtering target tiles are placed side by side with the widest gap between the at least 3 sputtering target tiles being less than a plasma dark space.

22. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein the at least one of the at least one sputtering target tile is made of sputtering target tiles that are welded together before being bonded to the backing plate.

23. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein the elastomeric adhesive layer includes metallic powder in the weight range between about 0% to about 80% to increase thermal conductivity.

24. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein there is only one single sputtering target tile.

25. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein the heated water is at a temperature between 45°

C. to about 70°

C.

26. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein the total surface area of the at least one sputtering target tile is greater than 750 cm².

27. The sputtering target assembly of claim 18, wherein the sputtering target assembly is a PVD sputtering target assembly for manufacturing flat panel displays and solar panels.

28. A sputtering target assembly, comprising:

at least one sputtering target tile;

a backing plate for the at least one sputtering target tile, the backing plate having at least one heating channel;

at least one elastomeric adhesive layer between the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate, wherein the at least one elastomeric adhesive layer bonds the at least one sputtering target and the backing plate together; and

at least one metal mesh within the at least one elastomeric adhesive layer, wherein at least a portion of the at least one metal mesh contacts both the at least one sputtering target tile and the backing plate, and the total surface area of the openings of the at least one metal mesh is between about 40% to about 70% of the total bonding surface area of the at least one sputtering target tile, wherein the elastomeric adhesive layer is cured by passing heated water through the at least one heating channel in the backing plate.

29. The sputtering target assembly of claim 28, wherein the heated water is at a temperature between 45°

C. to about 70°

C.