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Cryogenic annealing of sputtering targets
| Details |
Inventors: Hunt, Thomas J.; Gilman, Paul S.; Joyce, James E.; Lo, Chi-Fung; Draper, Darryl;
Assignee: Praxair S.T. Technology, Inc. (North Haven, CT)
Primary Examiner: McDonald; Rodney G.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wood, Herron & Evans, L.L.P.
Sputtering targets are cryogenically annealed to provide a uniformly dense molecular structure by placing the target in a temperature-controlled cryogenic chamber and cooling the chamber to a cryogenic temperature at a controlled rate. The target is maintained at a cryogenic temperature to cryogenically anneal the target and the target is subsequently returned to ambient or elevated temperature. Improvements in sputtered particle performance and early life film uniformity are achieved with the cryo-annealed targets. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention is directed to a method for cryogenically annealing a sputtering target to provide a uniformly dense molecular target structure.
This method relieves residual stresses in the target resulting from its manufacture and stabilizes the target thereby allowing for a more consistent product.
The method causes no adverse effects on the target and is easily tailored to standard metallurgical sputtering target manufacturing processes.
The preferred method of the present invention comprises placing a sputtering target in a temperature-controlled cryogenic chamber.
The target is cooled in the chamber with a liquified gas to a cryogenic temperature at a controlled rate to avoid target fracture.
The target is maintained at the cryogenic temperature for a period of time sufficient to cryogenically anneal the target.
Thereafter, the target may be returned to ambient or elevated temperature while remaining in the cryogenic chamber, or may be removed from the cryogenic chamber and allowed to warm to ambient temperature.
The liquified gas used for cooling the cryogenic chamber includes helium, hydrogen, argon, nitrogen and oxygen.
Preferably, the liquified gas is nitrogen for reasons of safety and cost.
The cryogenic chamber housing the target may be computer controlled to cool the temperature of the chamber at a controlled rate of, for example, approximately -0.
55.
degree.
C.
per minute.
Once the temperature has been reduced at the controlled rate in the chamber to the cryogenic temperature of liquified nitrogen (-185.
degree.
C.
), this temperature is maintained for a period of time sufficient to cryogenically anneal the target housed in the chamber.
The duration of time required to cryogenically anneal the sputtering target varies with the target composition.
For example, to cryo-anneal a sputtering target of W/Ti, the target must be maintained at the cryogenic temperature for approximately 12 hours.
However, it is to be understood that the present invention may be used with similar effectiveness on sputtering targets of any alloy or composition which may be suitable for use as a sputtering target, such as those including aluminum, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, tantalum and tungsten
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MEMS 
