Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C14/00—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material
  • C23C14/22—Coating by vacuum evaporation, by sputtering or by ion implantation of the coating forming material characterised by the process of coating
  • C23C14/34—Sputtering
  • C23C14/3407—Cathode assembly for sputtering apparatus, e.g. Target
  • C23C14/3414—Metallurgical or chemical aspects of target preparation, e.g. casting, powder metallurgy
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F3/00—Manufacture of workpieces or articles from metallic powder characterised by the manner of compacting or sintering; Apparatus specially adapted therefor ; Presses and furnaces
  • B22F3/12—Both compacting and sintering
  • B22F3/14—Both compacting and sintering simultaneously
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F3/00—Manufacture of workpieces or articles from metallic powder characterised by the manner of compacting or sintering; Apparatus specially adapted therefor ; Presses and furnaces
  • B22F3/24—After-treatment of workpieces or articles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F5/00—Manufacture of workpieces or articles from metallic powder characterised by the special shape of the product
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F7/00—Manufacture of composite layers, workpieces, or articles, comprising metallic powder, by sintering the powder, with or without compacting wherein at least one part is obtained by sintering or compression
  • B22F7/06—Manufacture of composite layers, workpieces, or articles, comprising metallic powder, by sintering the powder, with or without compacting wherein at least one part is obtained by sintering or compression of composite workpieces or articles from parts, e.g. to form tipped tools
  • B22F7/08—Manufacture of composite layers, workpieces, or articles, comprising metallic powder, by sintering the powder, with or without compacting wherein at least one part is obtained by sintering or compression of composite workpieces or articles from parts, e.g. to form tipped tools with one or more parts not made from powder
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F3/00—Manufacture of workpieces or articles from metallic powder characterised by the manner of compacting or sintering; Apparatus specially adapted therefor ; Presses and furnaces
  • B22F3/10—Sintering only
  • B22F2003/1042—Sintering only with support for articles to be sintered
  • B22F2003/1046—Sintering only with support for articles to be sintered with separating means for articles to be sintered
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22F—WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER; APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER
  • B22F2998/00—Supplementary information concerning processes or compositions relating to powder metallurgy
  • B22F2998/10—Processes characterised by the sequence of their steps

Definitions

• the present invention pertains to cathode sputtering apparatus, and more particularly to a method for economically producing sputtering targets by pressure consolidating powdered metal to form a target layer and simultaneously forming a diffusion bond between the target layer and a specially contoured backing plate. The target is thereby formed in a near net shape.
• Sputtering as a means to deposit thin films of a desired material on a substrate has become important in the manufacture of semi-conductor devices, such as integrated circuits.
• material to be deposited on a substrate is removed from a sputtering target by bombardment of the target with ions.
• the targets Since the sputtering process removes sputtering material from the targets, the targets have limited lives and must be replaced periodically. The removal of the material from the targets is not uniform across the exposed surfaces of the targets, and the targets, at the ends of their lives, assume "net shapes" or surface profiles characteristic of the ion source, sputtering material and target shape used. These net shapes typically consist of concentric furrows or "sputtering tracks.” Unfortunately, the spent or used targets contain relatively large quantities of expensive, unused target materials. Therefore, it has been proposed to form targets having "near net shapes" to rninimize the amount of unused sputtering material left at the end of the target's useful life.
• sputtering targets include a backing plate member attached to the target underside.
• the backing plate members are typically formed from a less expensive material than the target.
• a cooling medium is circulated in heat exchange relationship with the target and its accompanying backing plate to dissipate target heating that results from the sputtering process.
• the target is physically soldered to the backing plate.
• tungsten-titanium targets may be soldered to a copper or austenitic (non-magnetic) stainless steel backing plate using indium, tin-indium or tin-silver alloy.
• a sputtered or electroplated metallic film may be applied to an interfacial surface or surfaces of either or both the target and the backing plate to enhance the wettability of the bond surfaces being joined by the solder connection.
• a silver filled epoxy is used as the bonding agent. If the sputtering system is operated at high power levels, there is the danger that the solder joint between the sputtering material and the backing plate may melt or deteriorate due to excessive heating of the target/backing plate assembly. Cracking or other failure of the sputtering target in this manner results in needless downtime of the equipment.
• the deformation of the target assembly is minimized by incorporating a backing plate made of titanium which has a thermal expansion rate that is closely matched to that of the sputtering material. It is extremely difficult to produce a reliable solder bond with the titanium backing plate, however, because of the non- wetting characteristics of titanium.
• the sputtering material has a profiled, curvilinear, back surface coi-forming in shape to the eroded target surface at end-of-life.
• a backing plate is bonded to the sputtering target for support; the backing plate having a bonded surface complementary to the end-of-life shape of the sputtering target and designed to mate therewith.
• the sputtering material is provided in powder form and the backing plate and target are joined by compression bonding, preferably isostatic pressing. It is desirable to form a flat, even surface on the finished sputtering target.
• the precision with which the near net shape of the target is realized depends on the evenness of the initial exposed surface. It has been found that sputtering surfaces formed on targets produced by methods such as Boys' are often marred by defects such as concentric depressions corresponding to the sputtering rings of the near net profiles on the surfaces of the backing plates. Accordingly, targets produced by methods such as Boys' may require an unnecessary amount of additional machining to produce a desired shape. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a method for efficiently producing sputtering targets with uniformly even sputtering surfaces.
• the method comprises the production of sputtering targets from metal powder consolidated by means of heat and pressure to form sputtering material which is simultaneously bonded to backing plates.
• the method includes the step of machining first and second metal backing plates to form a first machined surface on the first backing plate and a second machined surface on the second backing plate.
• the first and second machined surfaces have substantially identical profiles; each corresponding to a near net shape configuration of a sputter target.
• An intermediate or preform is constructed in a can which is then used in consolidating the metal powder and bonding the sputtering material to the backing plates.
• the first backing plate is positioned in the can with the first machined surface exposed and the opposite backing plate surface adjacent the bottom of the can.
• a first metal powder is poured on the first backing plate to form a first powder layer, and the first powder layer is smoothed to form a flat surface superposed over the first machined surface.
• a spacer is placed on top of the flat surface formed from the first powder layer.
• a second metal powder is poured on the side of the spacer opposite from the first powder layer to form a second powder layer, and the second powder layer is placed and shaped over the spacer to form a powder surface on top of the spacer having a powder surface profile complementary to the profile of the second machined surface.
• the second backing plate is placed against the second powder layer with the second machined surface facing the powder surface.
• the can is sealed, and the preform is heated and isostatically pressed.
• the first and second powder layers are preferably consolidated to form first and second consolidated layers, while the first and second consolidated layers are bonded simultaneously to the first and second backing plates respectively.
• the can is removed and the first target/backing plate combination is separated from the second target/backing plate combination.
• the method When practiced using backing plates or powder layers having different geometries or compositions, the method promotes efficiency and minimizes waste since. Unlike prior art methods such as that disclosed in Mueller, U.S. Patent No. 5,397,050, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, more than one sputtering target/backing plate assembly may be produced in a single isostatic pressing procedure utilizing a single can.
• the method is most advantageous when the compositions and geometries of the backing plates and the powder layers are substantially identical.
• the method uniformly produces planar sputtering surfaces which need little additional machining or the like to result in proper target shape and size.
• An especially preferred spacer which comprises parallel metal plates welded together along their edges to enclose a bond-resistant material such as boron nitride, facilitates the separation of the top target/backing plate assembly from the bottom assembly.
• Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sputtering target produced by the method of the invention
• Fig. 2 is a side sectional view showing an intermediate for use in the present invention enclosed in a can for isostatic pressing;
• Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the method of the present invention.
• FIG. 1 there is shown one form of sputtering target/backing plate assembly 10 which can be produced by the preferred method.
• the assembly includes a backing plate 12, preferably composed of titanium, and a consolidated layer of sputtering material forming target 14, preferably a tungsten- titanium alloy.
• the assembly 10 is cylindrical in shape and has a substantially planar sputtering surface 16. While a distinct interface 18 is shown between the backing plate 12 and the target 14 in Fig. 1 , the diffusion bond produced by the preferred method is likely, in practice, to produce a transitional band rather than a sharp interface between the backing plate 12 and the target 14.
• the target 14 and backing plate 12 form a bonded assembly ready for insertion into a sputter coating system with the lower surface of the backing plate adapted for reception in and mating with the cathode in conventional cathodic sputter coating systems.
• Fig. 2 shows an intermediate or preform 30 assembled in a can 32 for use in producing the target/backing plate assembly 10 of Fig. 1.
• the intermediate includes a first backing plate 34, a first powder layer 36 abutting the first backing plate 34, a spacer 38 abutting the first powder layer 36 opposite the first backing plate 34, a second powder layer 40 abutting the spacer 38 opposite the first powder layer 36 and a second backing plate 42 abutting the second powder layer 40 opposite the spacer 38.
• the can 32 in which the intermediate 30 is assembled is sealed by means of a lid 44 welded to the can 32 as at 46.
• the first and second backing plates 34, 42 each preferably comprise titanium.
• the first backing plate 34 has a first contoured surface 50 facing the first powder layer 36 and the second backing plate 42 has a second contoured surface 52 facing the second powder layer 40.
• the surfaces 50 and 52 can be appropriately shaped or profiled by machining or other similar operations. According to an especially preferred method, the first and second contoured surfaces 50, 52 have substantially identical profiles with each corresponding to a near net shape configuration of a desired target. Such near net shapes are determinable by means of reasonable experimentation according to methods generally known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
• the first and second powder layers 36, 40 each preferably comprise a mixture of titanium and tungsten powders.
• the compositions and geometries of the backing plates 34, 42 are the same and the compositions and shape of powder layers 36, 40 are substantially identical to thereby form a symmetrical assembly in the can 32.
• a spacer includes two parallel steel plates 60, 62 welded along their edges, as at 64.
• the weld 64 must be sufficiently continuous and strong to prevent the bond-resistant material 66 from contaminating the adjacent powder layers 36, 40.
• the spacer separates the top target acking plate combination from the bottom target/backing plate combination.
• Fig. 3 is a flow chart setting forth a preferred method 80 for producing a sputtering target 10 (Fig. 1).
• the preferred method begins with the step 82 of machining first and second metal backing plates 34, 42 (Fig. 2) to form the first contoured surface 50 (Fig. 2) on the first backing plate 34 (Fig.
• the first backing plate 34 (Fig. 2) is positioned in the can 32 (Fig. 2) with the first contoured surface 50 (Fig. 2) exposed and with the opposing bottom surface of the backing plate adjacent the bottom of the can.
• a first metal powder (not shown), preferably a mixture of titanium and tungsten powders, is measured and poured onto the first backing plate 34 (Fig. 2) to form the first powder layer 36 (Fig. 2).
• the first powder layer 36 (Fig. 2) is smoothed to form a flat surface 90 (Fig. 2) superposed over the first contoured surface 50 (Fig. 2) using a spreading tool (not shown) in a manner generally known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
• the spacer 38 (Fig. 2) is placed on top of this flat surface 90 (Fig. 2) formed by the first powder layer 36 (Fig. 2).
• step 94 a carefully measured quantity of second metal powder, substantially corresponding to the weight of the near net shape target to be formed thereby and preferably of the same composition as the first metal powder, is measured and poured onto the spacer 38 (Fig. 2) to form the second powder layer 40 (Fig. 2).
• step 96 the second powder layer 40 (Fig. 2) is shaped using a comb-like spreading tool (not shown) in a manner generally known to those of ordinary skill in the art to form a powder surface 98 (Fig. 2) opposite the spacer 38 (Fig. 2) having a powder surface profile complementary to the profile of the second contoured surface 52 (Fig. 2).
• step 100 the second backing plate 42 (Fig. 2) is placed against the second powder layer 40 (Fig.
• step 102 the can 32 (Fig. 2) is sealed by welding the lid 44 (Fig. 2) over an opening 104 (Fig. 2) in the can 32.
• the intermediate 30 is compressed by means of a pressing punch (not shown) inserted through the opening 104 prior to the sealing step 102.
• the intermediate 30 (Fig. 2) is heated and isostatically pressed (HIPed).
• Other pressure consolidation techniques such as cold isostatic pressing and consolidated atmospheric pressure processes could also be employed.
• the first and second powder layers 36, 40 (Fig. 3) are preferably HIP consolidated to form first and second consolidated layers such as that corresponding to target 14 (Fig. 1), while the first and second consolidated layers are bonded simultaneously to the first and second backing plates 34, 42 (Fig. 3).
• the particular conditions used for the hot isostatic pressing process are selected to meet the sputtering material requirements as well as to achieve a durable bond between the consolidated layers (not shown) and the backing plates 34, 42 (Fig. 2).
• the hot isostatic pressing process includes evacuating an interior of the can 32 (if necessary) through a tap 102, heating the can 32 to a selected temperature under a predetermined pressure in an autoclave. After HIPing, the assembly may be subjected to a further heating step and further compacted in a platen press to press the can assembly to the desired flatness.
• This post HTPing compaction step is described in aforementioned U.S. Patent 5,397,050.
• Typical HIP pressing conditions for titanium-tungsten sputtering targets include temperatures on the order of 800-1000°C and pressures on the order of 15,000-30,000 psi over a period on the order of four hours.
• the hot isostatic pressing process is generally known among those of ordinary skill in the art and is discussed in more detail in Mueller, U.S. Patent No. 5,397,050 and Wickersham et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,234,487, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
• the can 32 is cut and the top and bottom target backing plate assemblies are removed and separated from each other resulting in a first target/bonded backing plate combination and a second target/bonded backing plate combination.
• the can 32 is formed from a bond-resistant material which facilitates the removal of the formed sputtering targets.
• the structure of the preferred spacer 38 (Fig. 2) likewise promotes the separation of the formed targets.
• the target/backing plate assemblies are removed from the can and separated from each other, they are optionally machined as required to provide the desired finished shape.
• a pair of sputter targets is produced simultaneously with the step of bonding each of the targets to its associated backing plate.
• the target backing plate bonds formed along the respective first and second contoured surfaces 50, 52 are of the diffusion type which provides greater strength and allows for higher sputter operation temperatures than many other bonding techniques. Based upon preliminary observations, in those instances in which identical backing plate surfaces 50, 52 are provided with the measured amounts of powdered materials 36, 40 being substantially the same, a symmetrical assembly is formed within the can 32 ready for HIPing.
• the spacer can be omitted with the first and second powder layers 36, 38 ( Figure 2) existing in a unitary, combined mass interposed between the first and second contoured surfaces 50, 52.
• Figure 2 existing in a unitary, combined mass interposed between the first and second contoured surfaces 50, 52.
• a laser, electron beam, or other cutting tool can then be used to cut the assembly along a horizontal axis (relative to the structure shown in figure 2) to separate the mass into a first and second assemblies with each target being diffusion bonding to its underlying backing plate.
• compositions of the sputtering material and the backing plates are not critical to the invention.
• preferred means of consolidating the powder layers and bonding the sputtering material to the backing plates has been identified to be hot isostatic pressing, it is within the contemplation of the invention to use other consolidating techniques, with or without assembly of the intermediate in a can or other support.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Composite Materials (AREA)
• Physical Vapour Deposition (AREA)
• Powder Metallurgy (AREA)

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• 1997
  • 1997-02-13 WO PCT/US1997/002060 patent/WO1997031739A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1997-02-13 KR KR1019980706830A patent/KR19990087413A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1997-02-13 EP EP97906532A patent/EP0885079A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1997-02-13 JP JP9530961A patent/JP2000506218A/ja active Pending

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