JPS60262969A - Sputtering target apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To uniform the film thickness and the characteristics of a multilayer by constituting the titled apparatus so that targets are incorporated in an other target chamber independent of a sputtering chamber and the targets are positioned to the chamber one by one. CONSTITUTION:A sputtering chamber 1 is separated with a vacuum lock 11 and a gate valve 15 is closed to introduce air into a target chamber 10 and a prescribed target 19 is positioned to an aperture 23 by rotating a target roller 18. The inside of the target chamber 10 is exhausted by opening the valve 15 and the vacuum lock 11 is opened and the sputtering operation is performed while introducing gas through an introduction port 4 and continuing the exhaust out of a duct 7. By this method, the sputtering is performed by only the targer which is positioned in the aperture 23 side. Thereafter, the sputtering is performed with other different target to form a multilayer film on a substrate 2.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a sputter target device.

[Prior art and its problems]

Sputtering equipment is widely used because it can perform excellent film formation. A sputtering apparatus is a method of sputtering molecules or atoms of a target material by colliding ionized atoms with a material to be sputtered, that is, a target, and depositing them on a suitable substrate to obtain a desired sputtered film. To form a multilayer sputtered film in a conventional bipolar or multipolar DC or RF sputtering device, a plurality of target holders are provided in one sputtering chamber to hold target materials, and ionized gas and specific A predetermined electric field is applied between the target and one target, and after the first layer has been formed, the next target is selected and the same film formation is performed. In this way, in order to perform multilayer deposition, multiple targets must be placed in the same chamber at the same time, and even unnecessary target assemblies are exposed to the vacuum, and as the targets become larger, the chamber becomes larger. This causes problems such as increasing the size of the exhaust system and cooling system, increasing the cost of sputtering film formation.In particular, when the number of targets increases, the price of the exhaust system increases compared to the price of one target. This will increase the number of times as much as in the previous case, and the exhaust time will also become extremely long.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a target device for a sputtering device suitable for manufacturing multilayer sputtering. A more specific object of the present invention is to be able to perform multilayer deposition without substantially increasing the scale of the sputtering chamber and exhaust system, and, unlike conventional methods, only a specific target is used during deposition of each layer. An object of the present invention is to provide a target device that can be positioned within a sputter chamber.

[Summary of structure and effects of the invention]

The target device of the present invention is used in combination with any conventionally known sputter chamber having an ionized gas inlet and an exhaust system, and has an opening that can be airtightly connected to the sputter chamber via an air vent. It is characterized by comprising an airtight target chamber that can be evacuated, and an electrode that is rotatably disposed within the evacuation chamber and configured to support a plurality of target lasers on its surface. In a preferred embodiment, a shield plate is provided that is disposed in a dark space surrounding the surface of the award-winning device except for the opening portion. This can prevent unnecessary spatter. Alternatively, a means for sealing around the target facing the opening may be used. If the target chamber is constructed so that the entire target chamber approaches and separates from the sputtering chamber, the work efficiency of target replacement can be improved. Further, the surface of the surface may be formed into a regular polygon to facilitate attachment of the target.

According to the configuration of the target device of the present invention, the targets are incorporated into nine independent target chambers separate from the sputtering chamber, and the targets can be positioned one by one in the chamber, so that the dimensions of the chamber, the exhaust system, and the cooling system can be adjusted. The advantage is that the size and capacity can be reduced, and power consumption can be significantly reduced. It also makes it easier to replace targets.

Furthermore, since the positional relationship between the target and the substrate can always be maintained constant, the thickness and characteristics of the multilayer film can be made uniform.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A target device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a target chamber, in which a substrate holder 2 is disposed facing an opening 3 at the bottom of the chamber, and a gas inlet 4 for ionized gas, for example, is opened. The inlet 4 is connected through a valve 5 to a gas source (not shown) such as Ar.

Further, the chamber 1 is provided with an exhaust gas fi! by an exhaust duct 7 having a gate valve 6. , (not shown). Normally, targets would be placed in the same chamber, but in the present invention, target devices are provided separately. The interior of the chamber may be any one of bipolar or multipolar DC or RF sputter chambers. The chamber 1 is first evacuated, and then a gas such as Ar is continuously introduced from the gas inlet 4 and ionized by RF force or the like.
The target material is accelerated toward a target surface (described later) by an electric field, and is deposited on a substrate (not shown) attached to the substrate holder 20 surface, and this point is well known in the art.

The gas-tight chamber 14 of the target device 10 according to the invention is connected gas-tightly to the opening 3 of the chamber 1 via a sealing ring 12, and the entire target device 10 is moved in the direction of the arrow 15 by suitable reciprocating means (such as a cylinder-piston device). be moved to.

The opening 3 has an airlock 11 that protects the chamber when the chamber 1 and the target device 10 are separated. Further, the airtight chamber 14 is connected to an exhaust system (not shown) via a gate valve 15 and an exhaust duct.

A metal polygonal target rotor 18 pivotally mounted on a shaft 16 is disposed inside the airtight 1114, and an appropriate cooling water pipe 21 (not shown) is disposed inside the rotor. Various targets 19 necessary for multilayer sputtering are fixed on the surface of the rotor 18. ◇ Connect to the power source on the fourth day! ! has been done. A metal plate 20 is arranged around the rotor. metal plate 20
The chamber 1 and the target device 10 are connected,
To prevent ionized gas from sputtering an unnecessary target layer F when the gas is exhausted and gas is introduced to enter a sputtering operation state. To this end, the metal plate 20 is positioned in a dark space covering the target surface during the sputtering operation. As a result, no electric field is generated between the metal plate 20 and the target. Therefore, only the target facing toward the opening 03 will be attacked by the ionized gas.

The shaft 17 is rotationally driven by an indexing motor (not shown) so that each target is sequentially aligned with the opening 3 of the chamber 1.

Note that if the inside of the airtight chamber 14 can be easily accessed through a suitable airtight door, the means for moving the target device 10 in the direction of the arrow 13 may be omitted.

[Operations and effects]

The target can be replaced easily by disconnecting the sputter chamber by means of the vacuum lock 11, closing the gate pulp 15 to admit air to the chamber 14, and moving the entire apparatus downward.

After setting the target, the device 1 is returned to the position shown in FIG. 1, the valve 15 is opened to exhaust air, and the lock 11 is opened.

The target rotor 18 is rotated to position a predetermined target in the opening 15, and the sputtering operation is performed while gas is continuously introduced through the inlet 4 and exhausted through the duct 7. Sputtering is performed only from the selected target, and other targets are shielded by the metal plate 20. Thereafter, the target rotor is rotated to sputter a predetermined number of layers to form a multilayer film on the surface of the substrate 2. It can be incorporated into the target device, and the size of the chamber and the size and capacity of the exhaust system can be minimized, which also saves power and shortens the exhaust time. In addition, workability such as target replacement and indexing is very good. Furthermore, since the target is always in a constant relationship with the substrate, the distribution of the sputtered film is uniform. Furthermore, in this example, due to the shielding effect of the metal plate 20, other targets are not sputtered even if the other targets are not mechanically separated, so that the indexing operation is simplified.

[Modified example]

2nd to 5v4 show modified examples of the target device of the present invention. In these figures, explanations of parts common to those in Fig. 1 will be omitted, and only different parts will be explained. First, the present target device is of a fixed type and is permanently or semi-permanently connected to the sputter chamber 1. Furthermore, the target rotor 1B can not only be indexed and rotated, but also moved in the direction of arrow 24. A seal ring 22 is attached around the opening 23 in the upper wall of the airtight chamber 14, and a seal ring 22 is installed around the opening 23 in the upper wall of the airtight chamber 14.
8 moves in the direction of arrow 24, it engages and disengages from the shoulder of rotor 18.

[Effect]

The main effects of this example are the same as those of the previous example. However, since the plurality of targets are isolated by the seal ring, the index rotation operation becomes somewhat complicated, but the metal plate 2o for shielding is not required.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a target device for a sputtering apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view of FIG. 2. It is. The symbols in the figure are as follows. 1 Varnish Batteries Chamber 2: Substrate holder 5: Opening 41 Gas inlet 6I Gate pulp 7: Exhaust duct 10: Target device 11: Aerospace 12: Seal ring 14; 1B + Target F rotor 19; Target 201 Metal plate 22 + Seal ring 2S: Opening Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) In a target device used in combination with a sputter chamber of a sputter device, there is provided an airtight chamber having an opening connected to the opening of the sputter chamber via an airlock, and a rotatably indexable chamber. A sputter target device comprising a target rotor which is pivotably supported by a target rotor and which can fix a plurality of target rotors on a surface. 2) The airtight chamber includes a metal plate surrounding the target rotor except for the opening. sputter target equipment. 3) The airtight chamber has sealing means around the periphery of the opening, the surface of the target rotor has a shoulder that airtightly engages the sealing member, and the target rotor is movable in the direction of the opening. A sputter target device according to claim 1.