The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 28, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 30, 1998
Abstract
A method for combined treatment of an object simultaneously with an ion beam and a magnetron plasma consists in that an object, e.g., a semiconductor substrate, is treated with ions of a working gas emitted from an ion-beam source and with particles of a sputterable material directed toward the object in the same direction as the ion beam. The method is carried our by means of an apparatus that comprises a combination of a sputtering magnetron with an ion-beam source. According to several embodiments, the cathode of the ion source is separated into two parts electrically isolated from each other by a closed-loop ion-emitting slit and by isolation pads. The sputterable target is placed either onto the entire cathode or onto part thereof which is charged negatively with respect to another part which is grounded. During the operation of the apparatus, ion beam emitted from the ion source acts as a viral anode with respect to the magnetron target. As a result, the efficiency and versatility of treatment is improved, and the combined apparatus has smaller dimensions and less expensive than an ion source and magnetron used separately.