Claims
- 1. A method of modeling non-planar sputtering target shapes for sputtering particles from a magnetron target onto a substrate including the following steps:a) selecting a first non-planar sputtering target geometry; b) dividing the non-planar sputtering target into a finite number of target segments, each segment defining a surface area of said target; c) calculating for each of said target segments a contribution of sputtered material from each of the other of said target segments; and, d) calculating net erosion for each of said target segments.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:e) selecting a second non-planar sputtering target geometry; f) performing said steps (b) through (d) on said second non-planar sputtering target geometry; and, g) comparing said net erosion calculations for said first and second non-planar target geometries.
- 3. The method of claim 2 further including the steps of:h) calculating process parameters for each of said target geometries; and, i) comparing said process parameter calculations for said first and second non-planar target geometries.
- 4. The method of claim 2 further including selecting a second non-planar target geometry wherein said geometry is different from said first non-planar target geometry and is parabolic, cylindrical, elliptical, trapezoidal, hemispherical, or cone shaped.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said cylindrical geometry further includes cylindrical-elliptical, cylindrical-parabolic, cylindrical-trapezoidal, or cylindrical-domed.
- 6. The method of claim 4 wherein said non-planar target has a corrugated top surface.
- 7. The method of claim 2 further including assigning to each of said target segments of said second non-planar target geometry a uniform angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 8. The method of claim 2 further including assigning to each of said target segments of said second non-planar target geometry a non-uniform functional angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 9. The method of claim 8 further including assigning to each of said target segments of said second non-planar target geometry a non-uniform cosine functional angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 10. The method of claim 1 further including assigning to each of said target segments a uniform angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 11. The method of claim 1 further including assigning to each of said target segments a non-uniform functional angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 12. The method of claim 11 further including assigning to each of said target segments a non-uniform cosine functional angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 13. The method of claim 1 further including selecting a non-planar target geometry wherein said geometry is parabolic, cylindrical, elliptical, trapezoidal, hemispherical, or cone shaped.
- 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said cylindrical geometry further includes cylindrical-elliptical, cylindrical-parabolic, cylindrical-trapezoidal, or cylindrical-domed.
- 15. The method of claim 13 wherein said non-planar target has a corrugated top surface.
- 16. The method of claim 1 wherein said sputtering target is used in hollow cathode magnetron sputtering device.
- 17. The method of claim 1 wherein during the calculation each of said target segments is considered as a point source with a sputtered efficiency of one.
- 18. The method of claim 1 further including accounting for magnetic and ionic effects on sputtering.
- 19. An apparatus for sputtering particles from a magnetron target onto a substrate, said apparatus comprising:a) a vacuum chamber for enclosing said target and said substrate; b) a process gas source; c) said magnetron target having a geometry optimized by the method of claim 1 such that said target geometry is calculated to control erosion and redeposition of target material; d) a voltage source for producing an incident electric field to accelerate ionized gas atoms towards said target; and, e) a magnetic field source comprising: i) a rotating magnet; ii) downstream electromagnets; and, iii) a main magnet stack.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising a target having a geometry comprising parabolic, cylindrical, elliptical, trapezoidal, hemispherical, or cone shaped targets.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said main magnet stack and said rotating magnet are comprised of electromagnets or permanent magnets.
- 22. A method for optimizing a non-planar sputtering target shape for sputtering particles from a magnetron target onto a substrate comprising the steps of:a) selecting an initial non-planar sputtering target geometry; b) dividing said non-planar sputtering target into a finite number of target segments; c) calculating for each of said target segments a contribution of sputtered material from each of the other of said target segments; d) calculating net erosion for each of said target segments; e) calculating redeposition of sputtered material from each of said target segments; f) calculating net deposition from each of said target segments on a wafer; g) minimally altering said target geometry and performing steps (b) through (f); and, h) repeating said step (g) until said wafer has a calculated uniform thin-film deposition of target material and optimized minimum amounts of said redeposition and said target erosion.
- 23. The method of claim 22 further including the steps of:i) calculating process parameters for said selected target geometry; and, j) comparing said process parameter calculations during said step (g) such that said process parameters are optimized.
- 24. The method of claim 22 further including assigning to each of said target segments a uniform angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 25. The method of claim 22 further including assigning to each of said target segments a non-uniform functional angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 26. The method of claim 25 further including assigning to each of said target segments a non-uniform cosine functional angular distribution of sputtered material.
- 27. The method of claim 22 wherein calculating said ent erosion further includes adjusting for erosion by inducing changes in design of applied magnetic fields.
- 28. An apparatus for sputtering particles from a magnetron target onto a substrate, said apparatus comprising:a) a vacuum chamber for enclosing said target and said substrate; b) a process gas source; c) said magnetron target having a geometry optimized by the method of claim 19 such that said target geometry is calculated to control erosion and redeposition of target material; d) a voltage source for producing an incident electric field on said target; and, e) a magnetic field source comprising: i) a rotating magnet; ii) downstream electromagnets; and, iii) a main magnet stack.
- 29. An apparatus for sputtering ionic particles from a hollow cathode magnetron target onto a substrate, said apparatus having a single plasma source, and comprising:a) a vacuum chamber for enclosing said target and said substrate; b) a process gas source; c) a trapezoidal sputtering target; d) a voltage source for producing an incident electric field to accelerate ionized gas atoms towards said target; and, e) a magnetic field source comprising: i) a rotating magnet; ii) downstream electromagnets; and, iii) a main magnet stack; and, f) an electric field induced plasma stream.
- 30. An apparatus for sputtering ionic particles from a hollow cathode magnetron target onto a substrate, said apparatus having a single plasma source, and comprising:a) a vacuum chamber for enclosing said target and said substrate; b) a process gas source; c) said magnetron target having a geometry comprising parabolic, cylindrical, elliptical, hemispherical, or cone shaped targets; d) a voltage source for producing an incident electric field on said target; and, e) a magnetic field source comprising: i) a rotating magnet; ii) downstream electromagnets; and, iii) a main magnet stack.
Parent Case Info
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/136,079 filed on May 26, 1999.
US Referenced Citations (22)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
WO 9204482 |
Mar 1992 |
WO |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
H. Tsuge and S. Esho; Angular Distribution of Sputterd Atoms from Polychrystalline Metal Targets,, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 52, No. 7, Jul. 1981, pp. 4391-4395. |
G.K. Wehner, D. Rosenberg; Angular Distribution of Sputterred Material, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 31, No. 1, Jan. 1960, pp. 177-179. |
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/136079 |
May 1999 |
US |