Jx Nippon Mining Metals Corporation

Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd.

Jx Advanced Metals Corporation

Yuichiro Nakamura

Shin-ichi Ogino

Akira Hisano

Atsushi Sato

Atsutoshi Arakawa

Hideo Takami

Junnosuke Sekiguchi

Yuki Ikeda

Provided is a sputtering target which can lower a heat treatment temperature for ordering a Fe—Pt magnetic phase and can suppress generation of particles during sputtering. The sputtering target is a nonmagnetic material-dispersed sputtering target containing Fe, Pt and Ge. The sputtering target includes at least one magnetic phase satisfying a composition represented by (FePt)Ge, as expressed in an atomic ratio for Fe, Pt and Ge, in which α and β represent numbers meeting 0.35≤α≤0.55 and 0.05≤β≤0.2, respectively. The magnetic phase has a ratio (S/S) of 0.5 or less. The ratio (S/S) is an average area ratio of Ge-based alloy phases containing a Ge concentration of 30% by mass or more (S) to an area ratio of Ge (S) calculated from the entire composition of the sputtering target, in element mapping by EPMA of a polished surface obtained by polishing a cross section perpendicular to a sputtering surface of the sputtering target.

Nonmagnetic material-dispersed Fe-Pt based sputtering target

Provided is an oxide-containing magnetic material sputtering target wherein the oxides have an average grain diameter of 400 nm or less. Also provided is a method of producing an oxide-containing magnetic material sputtering target. The method involves depositing a magnetic material on a substrate by the PVD or CVD method, then removing the substrate from the deposited magnetic material, pulverizing the material to obtain a raw material for the target, and further sintering the raw material. An object is to provide a magnetic material target, in particular, a nonmagnetic grain-dispersed ferromagnetic sputtering target capable of suppressing discharge abnormalities of oxides that are the cause of particle generation during sputtering.

Magnetic material sputtering target and manufacturing method thereof

A sputtering target for a magnetic recording medium, wherein an average grain area of a B-rich phase is 90 &#x3bc;mor less. A process for producing a sputtering target for a magnetic recording medium, wherein an alloy cast ingot is subject to heat treatment, thereafter subject to primary rolling which includes at least one pass of cold rolling, thereafter subject to secondary rolling, and machined to prepare a target. The obtained sputtering target for a magnetic recording medium has few cracks in the B-rich phase and has a high leakage flux density, and by using this target, it is possible to stabilize the discharge during sputtering, suppress arcing which occurs from cracks in the B-rich phase, and suppress the generation of particles.

Sputtering target for magnetic recording medium, and process for producing same

A sintered compact magnesium oxide target for sputtering has a purity of 99.99 wt % or higher excluding C, a density of 3.57 g/cmor higher, and a whiteness of 60% or less. To uniformly deposit a magnesium oxide film, a magnesium oxide target having a higher purity and a higher density is demanded. An object is to provide a target capable of realizing the above and a method for producing such a target. While a magnesium oxide sintered compact sputtering target is produced by hot-pressing a raw material powder, there is a problem in that color shading occurs in roughly &#x3c6;60 (within a circle having a diameter of 60 mm) at the center part of the target. Conventionally, no particularly attention was given to this problem. However, in recent years, it has become necessary to investigate and resolve this problem in order to improve the deposition quality.

Sintered compact magnesium oxide target for sputtering, and method for producing same

A sintered compact magnesium oxide target for sputtering having a purity of 99.99 wt % or higher excluding C, a density of 3.57 g/cmor higher, and a whiteness of 60% or less. In order to uniformly deposit a magnesium oxide film, a magnesium oxide target having a higher purity and a higher density is being demanded. An object of this invention is to provide a target capable of realizing the above, and a method for producing such a target. While a magnesium oxide sintered compact sputtering target is produced by hot-pressing a raw material powder, there is a problem in that color shading occurs in roughly &#x3c6;60 (within a circle having a diameter of 60 mm) at the center part of the target. Conventionally, no particularly attention was given to this problem. However, in recent years, it has become necessary to investigate and resolve this problem in order to improve the deposition quality.

Provided is an oxide-containing magnetic material sputtering target wherein the oxides have an average grain diameter of 400 nm or less. Also provided is a method of producing an oxide-containing magnetic material sputtering target. The method involves depositing a magnetic material on a substrate by the PVD or CVD method, then removing the substrate from the deposited magnetic material, pulverizing the material to obtain a raw material for the target, and further sintering the raw material. An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic material target, in particular a nonmagnetic grain-dispersed ferromagnetic sputtering target capable of suppressing discharge abnormalities of oxides that are the cause of particle generation during sputtering.

A magnetic material sputtering target characterized in that, in a plane for observing the oxide in the target, oxide grains in the target have an average diameter of 1.5 &#x3bc;m or less, and that 60% or more of the oxide grains in the observing plane of the target have a difference between a maximum diameter and a minimum diameter of 0.4 &#x3bc;m or less, where the maximum diameter is a maximum distance between arbitrary two points on the periphery of an oxide grain, and the minimum diameter is a minimum distance between two parallel lines across the oxide grain. A non-magnetic grain dispersion-type magnetic material sputtering target that can inhibit abnormal discharge due to an oxide causing occurrence of particles during sputtering is obtained.

Magnetic material sputtering target and manufacturing method for same

A sputtering target containing, as metal components, 0.5 to 45 mol % of Cr and remainder being Co, and containing, as non-metal components, two or more types of oxides including Ti oxide, wherein a structure of the sputtering target is configured from regions where oxides including at least Ti oxide are dispersed in Co (non-Cr-based regions), and a region where oxides other than Ti oxide are dispersed in Cr or Co&#x2014;Cr (Cr-based region), and the non-Cr-based regions are scattered in the Cr-based region. An object of this invention is to provide a sputtering target for forming a granular film which suppresses the formation of coarse complex oxide grains and generates fewer particles during sputtering.

Co&#x2014;Cr&#x2014;Pt-based sputtering target and method for producing same

A sputtering target for a magnetic recording film which contains carbon, the sputtering target is characterized in that the ratio (I/I) of peak intensities of the G-band to the D-band in Raman scattering spectrometry isor less. The sputtering target for a magnetic recording film, which contains carbon powders dispersed therein, makes it possible to produce a magnetic thin film having a granular structure without using an expensive apparatus for co-sputtering; and in particular, the target is an Fe&#x2014;Pt-based sputtering target. Carbon is a material which is difficult to sinter and has a problem that carbon particles are apt to form agglomerates. There is hence a problem that carbon masses are readily detached during sputtering to generate a large number of particles on the film after sputtering. The high-density sputtering target can solve these problems.

Sputtering target for magnetic recording film

An Fe&#x2014;Pt-based ferromagnetic material sputtering target comprising a metal and a metal oxide, wherein the metal has a composition in which Pt is contained in an amount of 5 mol % or more and 60 mol % or less and the remainder is Fe. An object of the present invention is to provide a ferromagnetic material sputtering target, which enables to form a magnetic recording layer composed of a magnetic phase such as an Fe&#x2014;Pt alloy, and a non-magnetic phase to isolate the magnetic phase, and in which a metal oxide is used as one of the materials for the non-magnetic phase. Provided is a ferromagnetic material sputtering target wherein an inadvertent release of the metal oxide during sputtering and particle generation due to abnormal electrical discharge starting at a void inherently included in the target are suppressed, the adherence between the metal oxide and the matrix alloy is enhanced, and its density is increased.

Fe&#x2014;Pt-based ferromagnetic material sputtering target

Provided is a sputtering target of ferromagnetic material comprising a metal having a composition containing 20 mol % or less of Cr, and Co as the remainder; wherein the target structure includes a phase (A) which is a basis metal, and metal phases (B) having a component composition different from the peripheral texture within the phase (A), the area ratio occupied by oxides within 1 &#x3bc;m from the most outer periphery of metal phases (B) is 80% or less, and the average grain size of the metal phases (B) is 10 &#x3bc;m or more and 150 &#x3bc;m or less. Provided is a sputtering target of ferromagnetic material capable of inhibiting the generation of particles during sputtering, and improving the pass-through flux to achieve a stable electrical discharge with a magnetron sputtering device.

Sputtering target of ferromagnetic material with low generation of particles

Provided is an inorganic-particle-dispersed sputtering target in which inorganic particles are dispersed in a Co base material, wherein the inorganic particles have an electric resistivity of 1&#xd7;10&#x3a9;&#xb7;m or less and the volume ratio of the inorganic particles in the target is 50% or less. The sputtering target thus adjusted is advantageous in that, when sputtering is performed using a magnetron sputtering device comprising a DC power source, the inorganic particles are less charged, and arcing occurs less frequently. Accordingly, by using the sputtering target of the present invention, the occurrence of particles attributable to the arcing reduces, and a significant effect of improving the yield in forming a thin film is obtained.

Inorganic-particle-dispersed sputtering target

A sputtering target with low generation of particles in which oxides, carbides, nitrides, borides, intermetallic compounds, carbonitrides, and other substances without ductility exist in a matrix phase made of a highly ductile substance at a volume ratio of 1 to 50%, wherein a highly ductile and conductive metal coating layer is formed on an outermost surface of the target. Provided are a sputtering target capable of improving the target surface in which numerous substances without ductility exist and preventing or inhibiting the generation of nodules and particles during sputtering, and a method of producing such a sputtering target.

Sputtering target and process for producing same

A ferromagnetic sputtering target comprising metal having a composition containing 20 mol % or less of Cr, and Co as the remainder; wherein the target structure includes a basis metal (A), and flat phases (B), containing 90 wt % or more of Co, within the basis metal (A), the average grain size of the phases (B) is 10 &#x3bc;m or more and 150 &#x3bc;m or less, and the average aspect ratio of the phases (B) is 1:2 to 1:10. Provided is a ferromagnetic sputtering target capable of inhibiting the generation of particles during sputtering, and improving the pass-through flux to achieve a stable electrical discharge with a magnetron sputtering device.

Growing community of inventors

Ibaraki, Japan

Yuichiro Nakamura