Praxair S.t. Technology, Inc.

James Elliot Joyce

Paul S Gilman

Thomas J Hunt

Chi-Fung Lo

Darryl Draper

A method is provided for achieving an enhanced finish on a sputter target surface that results in good film uniformity, low particle counts, and little to no bum-in time. The method involves chemically etching the surface of the sputter target by immersing the surface one or more times in an etching solution, with intermediate rinsing steps. The result is a surface substantially free of mechanical deformation that exhibits a surface similar to a sputtered target with a surface roughness of 10-30 &mgr;in.

Method of manufacturing enhanced finish sputtering targets

Sputtering targets are cryogenically annealed to provide a uniformly dense molecular structure by placing the target in a temperature-controlled cryogenic chamber and cooling the chamber to a cryogenic temperature at a controlled rate. The target is maintained at a cryogenic temperature to cryogenically anneal the target and the target is subsequently returned to ambient or elevated temperature. Improvements in sputtered particle performance and early life film uniformity are achieved with the cryo-annealed targets.

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Bedford, NY, United States of America

James Elliot Joyce