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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7628899 | Apparatus and method of positioning a multizone magnetron assembly The present invention generally provides an apparatus and method for processing a surface of a substrate in a PVD chamber that has a magnetron assembly whose shape can be distorted to adjust the magnetic field strength in the processing region of the deposition cham... | 12/08/2009 |
| 7335282 | Sputtering using an unbalanced magnetron A sputtering process and magnetron especially advantageous for low-pressure plasma sputtering or sustained self-sputtering, in which the magnetron has a reduced area but full target coverage. The magnetron includes an outer pole face surrounding an inner pole face w... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7294209 | Apparatus and method for depositing material onto a substrate using a roll-to-roll mask A battery-operated device provided on a thin-film battery and a method for making. Some embodiments provide a system that includes a vacuum chamber, a plurality of pairs of source and take-up reels within the vacuum chamber, including a first source reel that suppli... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7194801 | Thin-film battery having ultra-thin electrolyte and associated method A method and system for fabricating solid-state energy-storage devices including fabrication films for devices without an anneal step. A film of an energy-storage device is fabricated by depositing a first material layer to a location on a substrate. Energy is suppl... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7135097 | Box-shaped facing-targets sputtering apparatus and method for producing compound thin film Disclosed is a box-shaped facing-targets sputtering apparatus capable of forming, at low temperature, a compound thin film of high quality while causing minimal damage to an underlying layer. The box-shaped facing-targets sputtering apparatus includes a box-shaped f... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7131189 | Continuous processing of thin-film batteries and like devices A system for making a thin-film device includes a substrate-supply station that supplies a substrate having a major surface area. The substrate has a first layer on a first surface area of the substrate's major surface area. Also included is a device for depositing ... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7097410 | Methods and apparatus for controlled-angle wafer positioning The orientation of a wafer with respect to the surface of an electrolyte is controlled during an electroplating process. The wafer is delivered to an electrolyte bath along a trajectory normal to the surface of the electrolyte. Along this trajectory, the wafer is an... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7041201 | Sidewall magnet improving uniformity of inductively coupled plasma and shields used therewith One aspect of the invention includes an auxiliary magnet ring positioned outside of the chamber wall of a plasma sputter reactor and being disposed at least partially radially outwardly of an RF coil used to inductively generate a plasma, particularly for sputter et... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7038389 | Magnetron plasma source A point projection type flood plasma source implements a magnetron sputter cold cathode electron source in a discharge cavity separated from a process chamber by a narrow conduit and a solenoid magnetic field. The solenoid magnetic field impedes radial electron flow... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7033465 | Clamshell apparatus with crystal shielding and in-situ rinse-dry Certain mechanisms of a plating apparatus address problems associated with interaction between plating solutions or other processing solutions and the components of the plating apparatus (such as the electrical contacts). For example, a circumferential spray skirt a... | 04/25/2006 |
| 6962613 | Low-temperature fabrication of thin-film energy-storage devices A method and system for fabricating solid-state energy-storage devices including fabrication films for devices without an anneal step, especially a cathode anneal of thin-film batteries. A film of an energy-storage device is fabricated by depositing a first material... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6929720 | Sputtering source for ionized physical vapor deposition of metals A plasma processing system is provided with a cylindrical target, open at both ends, and with a magnet array that forms a hollow cathode magnetron (HCM). At one of the open ends is placed an inductively coupled RF energy source. A dielectric window at one end of the... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6924164 | Method of continuous processing of thin-film batteries and like devices A method of making a thin-film device including a substrate-supply station that supplies a substrate. The substrate has a first layer on the substrate. Also described is a method and device for depositing a second layer onto the first layer, wherein energy supplied ... | 08/02/2005 |
| 6911123 | Facing-targets-type sputtering apparatus and method Disclosed is a facing-targets-type sputtering apparatus and method capable of forming a metal film under the conditions of low gas pressure and low discharge voltage. An opening is formed in each of two facing side faces of a vacuum chamber vessel or in each of two ... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6906436 | Solid state activity-activated battery device and method A system includes a thin-film battery and an activity-activated switch. The system is placed on a substrate with an adhesive backing. In some embodiments, the substrate is flexible. Also formed on the substrate is an electrical circuit that includes electronics. The... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6875321 | Auxiliary magnet array in conjunction with magnetron sputtering An array of auxiliary magnets is disclosed that is positioned along sidewalls of a magnetron sputter reactor on a side towards the wafer from the target. The magnetron preferably is a small, strong one having a stronger outer pole of a first magnetic polarity surrou... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6869509 | Source for vacuum treatment process The invention relates to an arc source or a source for vaporizing or sputtering of materials and a method for operating a source. The source comprises an insulated counter-electrode and/or an AC magnet system. Thereby, dependent on the requirement, any desired poten... | 03/22/2005 |
| 6863785 | Sputtering apparatus and sputter film deposition method A sputtering apparatus and a sputter film deposition method, which includes a conventional magnetron and an AC magnetron for deposition of a low refractive index film, and a conventional magnetron and an AC magnetron for deposition of a high refractive index film, p... | 03/08/2005 |
| 6830664 | Cluster tool with a hollow cathode array A cathode for a cluster tool in accordance with the present invention includes a base, a disc-shaped target mounted to the base and a magnetic source for establishing magnetic flux lines through the target. The target further comprises a top plate with a plurality o... | 12/14/2004 |
| 6824653 | Magnetron with controlled DC power A magnetron with mechanisms for smoothly and continuously adjusting a DC power applied to its targets to compensate for the changes in the sputtering characteristics of the targets that occur with target aging. A magnetron according to the present teachings includes... | 11/30/2004 |
| 6824652 | Sputtering target assembly and sputtering apparatus using the same A sputtering target assembly includes a backing plate of which both surfaces are evenly formed and a target having one surface that is evenly formed and attached to one surface of the backing plate and the other surface that is formed with different thicknesses acco... | 11/30/2004 |
| 6821552 | Method and apparatus for determining the pass through flux of magnetic materials The invention includes an apparatus and method for determining the pass through flux of magnetic materials. The apparatus comprises one or more magnetic field sensors arranged in such a way as to collect field strength data in any or all the x, y, z directions. The ... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6821397 | Method for controlling plasma density or the distribution thereof A method for controlling plasma density distribution over a target of a magnetron sputter source has at least one electron trap generated with a magnetic field over the target. The field forms a closed circulating loop and, viewed in cross section, has a tunnel shap... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6783638 | Flat magnetron An electric field is provided in a first direction between an anode and a target having a flat disposition. A magnetic field is provided such that the magnetic flux lines are in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. The magnet struct... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6761804 | Inverted magnetron A source of sputtered deposition material has, in one embodiment, a torus-shaped plasma generation area in which a plasma operates to sputter the interior surface of a toroidal cathode. In one embodiment, the sputtered deposition material passes to the exterior of t... | 07/13/2004 |
| 6758950 | Controlled magnetron shape for uniformly sputtered thin film A sputtering chamber includes a sputtering target with a front target surface, and a magnetron behind the sputtering target. The magnetron provides a magnetic field at the front target surface along a generally round path that includes a path indentation. A shutter ... | 07/06/2004 |
| 6758949 | Magnetically confined metal plasma sputter source with magnetic control of ion and neutral densities A metal vapor deposition reactor includes a primary reactor chamber having a primary chamber enclosure comprising a ceiling and side wall. The reactor further includes a secondary reactor chamber having a secondary chamber enclosure and a metal source target within ... | 07/06/2004 |
| 6682637 | Magnetron sputter source To optimize the yield of sputtered-off material as well as the service life of the target on a magnetron source, in which simultaneously good attainable distribution values of the layer on the substrate, stable over the entire target service life, a conca... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6649036 | Mirrortron sputtering apparatus A mirrortron sputtering apparatus for sputtering on a substrate includes a vacuum chamber for placing therein a pair of targets spaced apart from each other with inner surfaces thereof facing each other and outer surfaces thereof positioned opposite to th... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6627050 | Method and apparatus for depositing a tantalum-containing layer on a substrate A method of forming a tantalum-containing layer on a substrate is described. The tantalum-containing layer is formed using a physical vapor deposition technique wherein a magnetic field in conjunction with an electric field function to confine material sp... | 09/30/2003 |
| 6620298 | Magnetron sputtering method and apparatus A first target is arranged opposite a substrate while a second target is arranged not opposite the substrate within a vacuum chamber. Pressure within the vacuum chamber is adjusted to a first pressure, and during a period wherein the pressure is changed f... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6610184 | Magnet array in conjunction with rotating magnetron for plasma sputtering An array of auxiliary magnets is disclosed that is positioned along sidewalls of a magnetron sputter reactor on a side towards the wafer from the target. The magnetron preferably is a small, strong one having a stronger outer pole of a first magnetic pola... | 08/26/2003 |
| 6540883 | Magnetron sputtering source and method of use thereof A magnetron sputtering source and a method of use thereof on which the sputtering source has at least two toroidal magnetron electron taps each defining a maximum of a magnetic field strength component in a radial direction along a surface of the sputteri... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6497796 | Apparatus and method for controlling plasma uniformity across a substrate A magnetron source comprises a hollow cathode with a non-planar target. By using a magnet between the cathode and a substrate, plasma can be controlled to achieve high ionization levels, good step coverage, and good process uniformity. Step coverage unifo... | 12/24/2002 |
| 6494997 | Radio frequency magnetron sputtering for lighting applications A magnetron sputtering device and method for applying an interference layer to a substrate includes a magnetron sputtering chamber (A) which houses a substrate carrying assembly (B). The substrate carrying assembly comprises a primary rotation table (10),... | 12/17/2002 |
| 6494999 | Magnetron sputtering apparatus with an integral cooling and pressure relieving cathode A sputtering apparatus includes a sputtering process chamber, a sputtering target assembly, and an adjustable magnetron assembly. The sputtering target assembly includes heating/cooling passages within the sputtering target assembly. A first side of a hea... | 12/17/2002 |
| 6485617 | Sputtering method utilizing an extended plasma region A target and magnetron for a plasma sputter reactor and the associated sputtering method provided by the extended magnetic fields and plasma regions. The target has an annular vault facing the wafer to be sputter coated. Various types of magnetic means po... | 11/26/2002 |
| 6471831 | Apparatus and method for improving film uniformity in a physical vapor deposition system A PVD system comprises a hollow cathode magnetron with a downstream plasma control mechanism. The magnetron has a hollow cathode with a non-planar target and at least one electromagnetic coil to generate and maintain a plasma within the cathode. The magne... | 10/29/2002 |
| 6458252 | High target utilization magnetic arrangement for a truncated conical sputtering target A magnetron sputter coating vacuum processing system has a magnetron cathode that includes a frusto-conical target having a cone-shaped magnet assembly that causes the erosion rate to be highest under a main magnetic tunnel at an intermediate radius or th... | 10/01/2002 |
| 6454911 | Method and apparatus for determining the pass through flux of magnetic materials The invention includes an apparatus and method for determining the pass through flux of magnetic materials. The apparatus comprises one or more magnetic field sensors arranged in such a way as to collect field strength data in any or all the x, y, z direc... | 09/24/2002 |
