Material mixture, sputter target and method for producing a sputter target

Abstract

A material mixture is produced having a cobalt-based alloy as the predominant component and an additional component of at least TiOx. The material mixture may be formed into a sputter target by hot pressing.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a Continuation of International Application No. PCT / EP2006 / 009766, filed Oct. 10, 2006, which was published in the German language on Apr. 19, 2007, under International Publication No. WO 2007 / 042255 A1 and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to a material mixture comprising a cobalt-based alloy as the predominant component, a sputter target, and a method of producing the target.[0003]Material mixtures comprising a cobalt-based alloy as the predominant component are known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,005 or from German published patent application DE 195 08 535 A1. These material mixtures are used, inter alia, to create thin layers as magnetic function layers, especially in magnetic data storage technology; or the material mixtures form these layers. Due to the requirements for a high capacity of these layers, the requirements on t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005]The objective is achieved by a material mixture having a cobalt-based alloy as the predominant component, i.e., having a percentage of more than 50 weight %, which additionally comprises at least TiOx as the lesser component. The material mixture has significantly improved magnetic properties and is thus, as a thin layer, more suitable for magnetic data storage. Such materials are preferably deposited as thin layers by a sputter technique. Particularly good homogeneity in depositing sputter material on a substrate from a sputter target comprising the material will be achieved by the oxygen-reduced (sub-stoichiometric, i.e., x<2), electrically conductive titanium oxide being present as a powder with a particle size ranging from 0.1 to 50 μm. In the TiOx compound, x is preferably between 1.5 and 1.998.

Problems solved by technology

A metallurgical melt production of these material mixtures or the corresponding sputter targets is difficult or impossible, since the ceramic TiOx does not alloy with the cobalt-based alloy.

Powder metallurgical production methods are also problematic, since there is, on the one hand, a mixing problem between metallic particles and ceramic particles and, on the other hand, a technical sputter problem because failures in the sputter process will result if electrically insulating ceramic particles are present in sputter targets.