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:
Dec. 02, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 27, 2001
Hitoshi Sakamoto, Takasago, JP;
Toshihiko Nishimori, Yokohama, JP;
Saneyuki Goya, Yokohama, JP;
Takao Abe, Yokohama, JP;
Noriaki Ueda, Kobe, JP;
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides methods and apparatus for the formation of a thin noble metal film which can achieve a high rate of film growth, can use inexpensive raw materials, and do not allow any impurities to remain in the thin film. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for the formation of a thin metal film which comprises the steps of feeding a chlorine-containing raw material gas into an inlet vessel having a perforated plate made of Cu; converting the raw material gas into a plasma; etching the perforated plate with the raw material gas plasma to produce a precursor composed of the Cu component contained in the perforated plate and the chlorine contained in the raw material gas converting hydrogen gas into a plasma; after discharging the precursor from the inlet vessel passing the precursor through a rotating magnetic field so as to cause the precursor to travel toward a substrate in an accelerated manner; and passing the precursor through the reducing gas plasma to remove chlorine from the precursor and directing the resulting Cu ions onto the substrate to form a thin Cu film on the substrate as well as an apparatus for carrying out this method.