Praxair Technology, Inc.

Praxair S.t. Technology, Inc.

Rajan Mathew

Cetin Cetinkaya

Alfred Snowman

Bjoern Pigur

Charles R Fisher

Daniel R Marx

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for real-time monitoring and controlling surface area erosion of a sputter target assembly utilized in a physical vapor deposition process.

System and apparatus for real-time monitoring and control of sputter target erosion

The sputtering target has a design for uniformly depositing a material on a substrate. The target contains a circular disk; and the disk has a radius and a top surface. The top surface has a center region within the inner half of the radius, an outer ring-shaped region within the outer half of the radius and a base region separating the center region from the ring-shaped region. The outer ring-shaped region has a projection height for extending the life of the sputtering target. The center region has a projection height of less than the projection height of the outer ring-shaped region for increasing the sputtering deposition rate on the substrate adjacent the center region.

Ring-type sputtering target

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Nanuet, NY, United States of America

Rajan Mathew