Target Plate for Cathode Sputtering

The present invention relates in general to cathode sputtering equipment and in partiular to a new and useful target plate therefore.

Target plates for cathode sputtering consists of a material which is to be disintegrated in a cathode sputtering apparatus in order to precipitate on substrate surfaces a layer of the respective material or, in the presence of a chemically active residual gas in the sputtering apparatus, a chemical compound of the target material with an active gas.

In installations of relatively high power, the cathode plates are often exposed to a very high thermal load due to bombardment with ions and must be cooled to remove the excess thermal energy. Nevertheless, at high power the problem arises that when the target plates are rigidly clamped at their rim, as usual, while being pressed against a cooled support, they warp as a result of thermal expansion and will then lift off the support, causing the cooling to become insufficient and the target material to assume too high a temperature. It will then soften and may possibly even melt in the end. To prevent this, it has been tried to solder or weld the back of the target plate to the cooled support. Such a union had to be made extremely carefully, however, as otherwise the target plate could become detached from the support nevertheless. At any rate, this soldering on or welding is laborious. Usually the edge of the target plate was screwed tight on the cooled support, and also in the center of the plate a screw attachment was provided to prevent it from lifting off. Also there has been proposed a target plate with several cutouts along a parallel center line of the surface to be disintegrated, these cutouts being disposed in the bottom of a groove applied on the side of the surface to be disintegrated, along the center line, and the groove depth is dimensioned so that a bar inserted in the groove for the attachment of the target plate and the respective attachment screws do not protrude over the disintegration plane.

Owing to the thinness of the target plate in the area of the groove bottom in the center of the plate, where in earlier arrangements usually the highest temperature occurred during the sputtering, improved cooling was achieved at this point, thus preventing the material from warping or flowing in the regioin of the center attachment. The need for an attachment bar on the front of the target plate, that is, on the surface to be disintegrated, still constituted a disadvantage, however, in particular if even the least concomitant disintegration of the material (steel) of which the central attachment bar and the attachment screws were made, impermissibly contaminates the layers to be produced.

By comparison, the present invention is intended to indicate a construction of a target plate where the front side is free from attachment means, excepting any holding bars that may be provided at its outermost edge.

The problem is solved by a target plate which is characterized in that on its side away from the surface to be disintegrated it has at least one cutout or recess into which an auxiliary body for attachment to a support is inserted by means of a mechanical spring connection.

Spring connections per se are, of course, known in machine construction, but it had not been realized that with such a specific connection at the same time a solution of all problems with target plates for sputtering operations could, surprisingly, be achieved.

The mentioned cutout in the target plate may in particular be a hollow cylindrical recess, a cylindrical auxiliary body being inserted in the cutout by means of a lock ring. To obtain sufficient mechanical stability also at relatively high operating temperatures, the auxiliary body is to consist of a material which has a much higher softening point than the material to be disintegrated. Advantageously the cylindrical auxiliary body is made to apply by its one lateral face closely against the flat bottom of the cotout, while the other lateral face is flush with the back of the target plate away from the side to be disintegrated. To achieve optimum heat removal, it is further advantageous if the auxiliary body consists of a material of higher thermal conductivity than that of the material to be distintegrated.

Accordingly a further object of the invention is to provide a target plate which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method of connecting a target member of a target plate to a cooling support for the member, utilizing a recess on a lower surface of the target plate which receives an auxiliary body which is fixed to the support and which is connected to the target member through a spring biasing connection.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

The only FIGURE, FIG. 1, is a side sectional view of a target plate in accordance with the present invention.

The attached drawing shows an embodiment of the invention. In it, 1 denotes a target plate support, provided with cooling bores 2. The target plate consists of a main body 3 of the material to be disintegrated, having a cylindrical cutout or recess 4 on the back of the target plate away from the surface 5 to be disintegrated. In cutout 4, a cylindrical auxiliary body 6 with a shoulder 7 is inserted and mechanically locked by means of a lock ring 8 (e.g. a split spring clip in annular grooves of the body 6 and recess 4). The auxiliary body applies by one of its flat end faces against the flat bottom 9 of cutout 4 for good thermal conduction and by its other end face it is flush with the flat back of the target plate. This end face and said back apply against the flat surface 10 of the coolable support snugly and hence likewise with good heat contact. The auxiliary body is attached to the support by means of a screw 11 which engages in the central threaded bore 12 of the auxiliary body. In addition, the target plate has along its edge or circumference a shoulder 13 and is additionally screwed to the support by means of a ring 14 in a manner known in itself, as the drawing shows. Body 3 may for example be cylindrical.

Naturally it is possible also to form on the back of the target plate several cutouts with an auxiliary body inserted on them for mechanically locking and thus to provide several attachment points according to the invention. This may be desirable especially for target plates of relatively large dimensions.

Advantageously the auxiliary body 6 consists of a material of good thermal conductivity and therefore is formed e.g. as a copper block.

To prevent the auxiliary body from turning in the cutout when being screwd to the support, a bolt 15 engaging in a corresponding bore of the auxiliary body may be provided, as the drawing indicates.

It is readily clear to the specialist that the basic principle of the present invention, to connect target plates by so-called spring unions mechanically locking with an auxiliary body which then in turn can be firmly connected with a support and which also assures good heat transfer, can be modified in many ways. The inserted auxiliary bodies do not have to be cylindrical and there are a number of additional mechanically locking spring unions which are suitable for solving the problem for the invention.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.