Chemistry: electrical and wave energy – Processes and products – Coating – forming or etching by sputtering
Patent
1998-01-20
2000-07-18
Nguyen, Nam
Chemistry: electrical and wave energy
Processes and products
Coating, forming or etching by sputtering
20419212, 20429803, C23C 1434
Patent
active
060902469
ABSTRACT:
Methods and apparatus for detecting neutral gas molecules reflected from a target material during a sputter deposition process are disclosed to improve the uniformity of sputter depositing a metal film on a substrate. In a preferred embodiment, an electrically grounded collimator is positioned between the target material and a substrate in a sputtering chamber to restrict a plasma in the chamber to an area away from the substrate. The plasma is prevented from inducing a negative voltage on the substrate, and voltage measurements in the chamber can be taken in the proximate vicinity of the substrate without electrical influence from the charged plasma. It has been discovered that when these voltage measurements show a measurable increase in voltage in the proximate vicinity of the substrate, high energy reflected neutrals are impacting upon the substrate. High energy reflected neutrals, which disadvantageously tend to disrupt the uniformity of the metal film being sputter deposited on the substrate, can then be lessened by altering various sputtering system parameters. When a measurable increase in voltage in the proximate vicinity of the substrate has been detected, the sputtering system parameters that can be altered to reduce the high energy neutrals impacting upon the substrate include changing the pressure within the sputtering chamber, changing the voltage of the target material, changing the distance between the target material and the substrate, and changing the gas used to sputter the target material to another gas having a different mass per sputtered atom ratio.
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English translation of JP 4-276073, Oct. 1992.
Micro)n Technology, Inc.
Nguyen Nam
VerSteeg Steven H.
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