| US 9,812,305 B2 | ||
| Rate enhanced pulsed DC sputtering system | ||
| Douglas Pelleymounter, Northfield, MN (US) | ||
| Assigned to Advanced Energy Industries, Inc., Fort Collins, CO (US) | ||
| Filed by Advanced Energy Industries, Inc., Fort Collins, CO (US) | ||
| Filed on Apr. 27, 2015, as Appl. No. 14/697,267. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2016/0314946 A1, Oct. 27, 2016 | ||
| Int. Cl. C23C 14/00 (2006.01); H01J 37/34 (2006.01); C23C 14/35 (2006.01); C23C 14/34 (2006.01) | ||
| CPC H01J 37/3476 (2013.01) [C23C 14/3485 (2013.01); C23C 14/35 (2013.01); H01J 37/3405 (2013.01); H01J 37/3438 (2013.01); H01J 37/3444 (2013.01); H01J 37/3467 (2013.01); H01J 2237/2485 (2013.01); H01J 2237/327 (2013.01); H01J 2237/332 (2013.01)] | 19 Claims |
| 1. A pulsed direct current sputtering system, comprising:
a plasma chamber enclosing a first magnetron coupled to a first target, a second magnetron coupled to a second target, and
an anode;
a first power source coupled to the first magnetron and the anode, the first power source configured to provide a cyclic first-power-source
voltage with a positive potential and a negative potential during each cycle between the anode and the first magnetron;
a second power source coupled to the second magnetron and the anode, the second power source configured to provide a cyclic
second-power-source voltage with a positive potential and a negative potential during each cycle between the anode and the
second magnetron; and
a controller configured to phase-synchronize and control a duty of the first-power-source voltage and second-power-source
voltage to apply a bipolar anode voltage to the anode that is a combination of the cyclic first-power-source voltage and the
cyclic second-power source voltage, and to phase-synchronize a first magnetron voltage with a second magnetron voltage, wherein
the combined anode voltage applied to the anode has a magnitude of at least 80 percent of a magnitude of a sum of the first
magnetron voltage and second magnetron voltage; and wherein
the controller comprises a field programmable gate array, and a non-transitory memory including non-transitory instructions
accessible by the field programmable gate array to configure the field programmable gate array to:
cause the first power source to apply a first sputtering power having a first voltage and a first current to the first magnetron
for a first period of time;
cause the second power source to apply a second sputtering power having a second voltage and a second current to the second
magnetron for the first period of time;
cause the first power source to apply a first anode power to the anode for a second period of time following the first period
of time; and
cause the second power source to apply a second anode power to the anode for the second period of time; and wherein
the first anode power and the second anode power result in a combined anode power having a combined current that is less than
each of the first current and the second current.
|