Top magnet for reducing non-uniformity in PVD

Abstract

A magnet assembly is described that includes a housing with a top plate, each of which includes aligned apertures. The housing has a bottom ring and an annular wall, with the bottom ring having a plurality of apertures formed therein. The top plate is on the housing and has a plurality of apertures aligned with the plurality of apertures in the bottom ring of the housing. The magnet assembly can further include a non-conductive base plate and / or a conductive cover plate. A method of adjusting a magnetic field using the magnet assembly is also described.

Claims

1. A magnet assembly disposed on top of a physical vapor deposition chamber, A housing having a bottom ring and a housing annular wall, The bottom ring has an inner diameter including the top surface and bottom surface, the inner circumferential surface, and an outer diameter including the outer circumferential surface, which define the thickness of the bottom ring. The bottom ring has a plurality of openings that extend through the thickness of the bottom ring and form a ring around the center of the bottom ring. The annular wall of the housing extends from the top surface of the bottom ring by a certain height. The housing annular wall has an inner diameter including an inner circumferential surface and an outer diameter including an outer circumferential surface that define the wall thickness, A top flange is positioned on the top of the housing annular wall and extends outward from the outer peripheral surface of the housing annular wall, At least one magnet arranged in the plurality of openings and Equipped with, Magnet assembly.

2. The magnet assembly according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of openings are arranged in sets, each set being aligned along a vector extending from the center of the bottom ring to the outer surface, and each opening in each set is located at a different distance from the center.

3. The magnet assembly according to claim 2, wherein each set of openings has three openings, forming three rings of openings around the center, and each ring has a different radius from the center.

4. The magnet assembly according to claim 2, wherein there are sets of openings ranging from 24 to 60 sets.

5. The magnet assembly according to claim 1, wherein the bottom ring has a chamfered portion that forms a flat surface on the outer circumferential surface.

6. The magnet assembly according to claim 1, wherein the height of the housing annular wall is in the range of 0.5 to 2.5 inches.

7. The magnet assembly according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises aluminum.

8. The magnet assembly according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the bottom ring and the wall thickness of the annular wall are in the range of 1 / 16 inch to 1 / 4 inch.

9. A magnet assembly disposed on top of a physical vapor deposition chamber, A base plate which is a ring-shaped structure having an empty interior, and which has a top surface and a bottom surface that define the thickness of the base plate, A housing on the base plate, wherein the housing has a bottom ring and a housing annular wall, the bottom ring has an inner diameter including a top surface and a bottom surface, an inner circumferential surface, and an outer diameter including an outer circumferential surface that define the thickness of the bottom ring, the bottom ring has a plurality of openings that extend through the thickness of the bottom ring and form a ring around the center of the bottom ring, the housing annular wall extends from the top surface of the bottom ring by a height, and the housing annular wall has an inner diameter including an inner circumferential surface and an outer diameter including an outer circumferential surface that defines the wall thickness, A top plate on the housing, wherein the top plate has a top surface and a bottom surface that define the thickness of the top plate, and an outer diameter that includes an inner diameter and an outer diameter surface including an inner circumferential surface, the top plate has a plurality of openings that extend through the thickness of the top plate, and the plurality of openings of the top plate are aligned with the plurality of openings of the bottom ring of the housing, A cover plate having a cover plate top wall and a cover plate annular wall, wherein the cover plate top wall has a top surface and a bottom surface that define the thickness of the cover plate top wall, the cover plate annular wall has an inner diameter including an inner diameter surface and an outer diameter including an outer diameter surface that define the wall thickness, the cover plate annular wall extends by a height from the bottom surface of the cover plate top wall and has an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the housing annular wall, and the bottom of the cover plate is at a distance from the top surface of the base plate, and at least one magnet arranged in the plurality of openings A magnet assembly comprising:

10. The magnet assembly according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of openings of the housing are arranged in sets, each set being aligned along a vector extending from the center of the bottom ring to the outer surface, each opening of each set being located at a different distance from the center, and the plurality of openings of the top plate are arranged in sets aligned with the sets of the housing.

11. The magnet assembly according to claim 10, wherein each set of openings has three openings, forming three rings of openings around the center, and each ring has a different radius from the center.

12. The magnet assembly according to claim 10, wherein there are sets of openings ranging from 24 to 60 sets.

13. The magnet assembly according to claim 10, wherein the height of the annular wall is in the range of 0.5 to 2.5 inches.

14. The magnet assembly according to claim 9, wherein the base plate includes at least two portions that form a ring-shaped base plate when assembled.

15. The magnet assembly according to claim 9, wherein the base plate comprises a non-conductive material, the housing comprises aluminum, the top plate comprises stainless steel, and the cover plate comprises aluminum.

16. The magnet assembly according to claim 9, further comprising at least one shim between the base plate and the housing.

17. The magnet assembly according to claim 16, wherein each of the at least one shims includes at least two portions that form a ring-shaped shim when assembled.

18. The magnet assembly according to claim 16, further comprising a top flange positioned on the top of the annular wall, wherein the top flange extends outward from the outer circumferential surface of the annular wall.

19. The magnet assembly according to claim 9, further comprising a plurality of magnets disposed between the housing and the top plate, each of the magnets being positioned within an aligned opening in the housing and the top plate.

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