Sputtering target grinding device and processing method

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of target material processing, and discloses a sputtering target material grinding device and a processing method. The sputtering target material grinding device includes a frame and a grinding wheel. A tail top is movably provided at one end of the frame, and a working head is rotatably provided at the other end of the frame corresponding to the tail top. A fixture is provided on the working head, and a target material sleeve is detachably inserted into the fixture. The grinding wheel is movably arranged between the fixture and the tail top. When the sputtering target material grinding device and the processing method of the present invention are used, the target material sleeve is installed on the fixture when grinding the inner diameter of the target material, and then the target material blank is fixed in the target material sleeve to grind the inner surface, thereby avoiding circular runout during the grinding process. Not only is it convenient to grind the inner surface, but it is also unnecessary to grind the outer surface multiple times, thereby improving the grinding accuracy and grinding rate of the long tubular sputtering target material, improving the product qualification rate, and reducing costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of target material processing, and in particular to a sputtering target material grinding device and a processing method. Background Art

[0002] As LCDs and light-excited displays develop towards larger sizes, the size of ITO targets will inevitably increase. ITO targets will develop towards larger areas, and the size requirements for ITO targets will become larger and larger.

[0003] The larger the ITO target, the more challenging both the forming and grinding processes become. Because ITO targets are indium tin oxide ceramics, a product derived from deep processing of metallic indium, tubular ITO targets are not only relatively brittle after forming, but also experience significant deformation at both ends, with concavities in the inner and outer diameters. Furthermore, strict requirements are placed on the inner and outer diameter dimensions and tolerances of the finished product, necessitating grinding of the target blank to obtain qualified sputtering targets.

[0004] However, for long tubular sputtering targets with a large length (greater than 500 mm), the existing processing methods and equipment are used for grinding. Since the target material jumps during the grinding process, multiple grindings are required for the inner and outer surfaces. Not only is the processing procedure complicated and the processing rate low, but the complexity of the procedure also increases the error rate of personnel and the processing qualification rate is low, resulting in waste of target material and increased production costs. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a sputtering target grinding device and processing method, which improves the grinding accuracy and grinding rate of long tubular sputtering targets, improves product qualification rate and reduces costs.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problem is:

[0007] A sputtering target grinding device includes a frame and a grinding wheel. A tail top is movably provided at one end of the frame, and a working head is rotatably provided at the other end of the frame corresponding to the tail top. A tooling fixture is provided on the working head, and a target sleeve is detachably inserted into the tooling fixture. The grinding wheel is movably arranged between the tooling fixture and the tail top.

[0008] Preferably, a fastening assembly is provided on the target sleeve, and a protective device is provided inside the target sleeve at one end close to the working head.

[0009] Preferably, the fastening assembly includes a plurality of threaded holes evenly distributed on the target sleeve and an end face fixing buckle provided on the inner wall of the other end of the target sleeve, and bolts are threadedly connected to the threaded holes.

[0010] Preferably, the target sleeve includes a main body and a clamping part connected to each other, the main body has a circular cross section, the clamping part has an arc cross section, the end face fixing buckle is provided on the clamping part, and the threaded hole is provided on the main body.

[0011] Preferably, the protection device includes a mounting plate and an elastic rubber plate covering the inner surface of the mounting plate.

[0012] Preferably, an inner wall of the target sleeve is provided with an elongated coolant guide groove, and the coolant guide groove extends along the length direction of the target sleeve.

[0013] Preferably, the inner diameter of the target sleeve is 154-165 mm.

[0014] A sputtering target processing method comprises the following steps:

[0015] (1) Cutting the deformed ports at both ends of the target blank;

[0016] (2) Roughly grind the outer surface of the target blank until a margin of 0.4-0.6 mm remains;

[0017] (3) Grinding the inner surface of the target blank to the target size;

[0018] (4) Fine grinding the outer surface of the target blank to obtain a finished blank;

[0019] (5) Cut the finished blank to obtain the sputtering target.

[0020] Preferably, in step (3), when grinding the inner surface of the target material blank, the target material sleeve is first installed in a fixture, and then the target material blank is installed in the target material sleeve and fixed, and then grinding is performed after fixing.

[0021] Preferably, after the target sleeve is mounted on the fixture, a dial indicator is used to mark the target sleeve, and the marking range is ±0.07 mm for the inner diameter and ±0.1 mm for the outer diameter.

[0022] The present invention provides a sputtering target grinding device and processing method. Compared with the prior art, the device has the following advantages: by detachably inserting a target sleeve into a fixture, installing the target sleeve on the fixture when grinding the target inner diameter, and then fixing the target blank in the target sleeve for grinding the inner surface, the target blank is fixed by the target sleeve, thereby avoiding circular runout during the grinding process. This not only facilitates grinding the inner surface, but also eliminates the need for multiple grinding when grinding the outer surface, thereby improving the grinding accuracy and grinding rate of long tubular sputtering targets, increasing product qualification rate, and reducing costs and grinding processing time. The present invention is simple to operate, has good performance, and is easy to promote and use. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the sputtering target grinding device of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the target sleeve of the present invention.

[0025] Among them: 1-frame, 2-grinding wheel, 3-tail top, 4-working head, 5-fixture, 6-target sleeve, 61-threaded hole, 62-end face fixing buckle, 63-main body, 64-clamping part, 65-mounting plate, 66-elastic rubber plate, 67-cooling liquid guide groove, 100-sputtering target. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The following embodiments of the present invention are described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. The following examples are used to illustrate the present invention but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0027] like Figure 1-2 As shown, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a sputtering target grinding device, comprising a frame 1 and a grinding wheel 2. A tail top 3 is movably provided at one end of the frame 1, and a working head 4 is rotatably provided at the other end of the frame 1, corresponding to the tail top 3. A fixture 5 is provided on the working head 4, and a target sleeve 6 is detachably inserted into the fixture 5. The inner diameter of the target sleeve 6 is 154-165 mm, such as 155 mm or 160 mm. When grinding the outer surface of the sputtering target 100, the target sleeve 6 is not installed. When grinding the inner surface of the target, the target sleeve 6 can be directly installed on the fixture 5. The grinding wheel 2 is movably arranged between the fixture 5 and the tail top 3. At the same time, a driving mechanism is provided on the frame 1 for driving the grinding wheel 2 to move along the axial and radial directions of the sputtering target 100 and for driving the sputtering target 100 to rotate, so as to achieve grinding of the sputtering target 100 by the grinding wheel 2 .

[0028] The sputtering target grinding device based on the above technical features is characterized in that the target sleeve 6 is detachably inserted into the fixture 5, the target sleeve 6 is installed on the fixture 5 when grinding the inner diameter of the target, and then the target blank is fixed in the target sleeve 6 for grinding the inner surface. Since the target blank is fixed by the target sleeve 6, its circular runout during the grinding process is avoided, which not only facilitates grinding the inner surface, but also eliminates the need for multiple grinding when grinding the outer surface, thereby improving the grinding accuracy and grinding rate of the long tubular sputtering target 100, improving the product qualification rate, and reducing the cost and grinding processing time. The present invention is simple to operate, has good use effect, and is easy to promote and use.

[0029] In this embodiment, the target sleeve 6 is provided with a fastening assembly, which includes a plurality of threaded holes 61 evenly distributed on the target sleeve 6 and an end face fixing buckle 62 provided on the inner wall of the other end of the target sleeve 6. The threaded holes 61 are threaded with bolts. After the target blank is installed in the target sleeve 6, the bolts are tightened to fix the target blank. At the same time, the end face fixing buckle 62 fixes the end face away from the fixture 5, thereby ensuring the stability of the sputtering target 100 after installation. At the same time, in order to prevent the target sleeve 6 from affecting the grinding wheel 2 from extending into the target for grinding, the target sleeve 6 includes a main body 63 and a clamping part 64 connected to each other. The cross section of the main body 63 is circular, and the cross section of the clamping part 64 is arc-shaped, preferably semicircular. The end face fixing buckle 62 is provided on the clamping part 64, and the threaded hole 61 is provided on the main body 63.

[0030] At the same time, since the sputtering target 100 is relatively brittle, in order to avoid chipping caused by direct contact between the target and the metal, a protective device is provided inside the target sleeve 6 near one end of the working head 4. The protective device includes a mounting plate 65 and an elastic rubber plate 66 covered on the inner surface of the mounting plate 65. The mounting plate 65 is made of stainless steel to ensure its strength. The elastic rubber plate 66 is used to provide a buffer to avoid chipping of the end face of the tubular ITO target during installation and grinding. It can be made of PP glue, rubber or other materials.

[0031] In addition, in order to prevent the vibration of the target sleeve 6 itself from affecting the grinding accuracy of the sputtering target 100, the material of the target sleeve 6 is selected to be stainless steel.

[0032] In this embodiment, the inner wall of the target sleeve 6 is provided with an elongated coolant guide groove 67, and the coolant guide groove 67 extends along the length of the target sleeve 6. Since coolant needs to be sprayed during the grinding process, the coolant guide groove 67 can be provided to drain excess coolant into the equipment and avoid coolant waste.

[0033] In this embodiment, a control box is mounted on the frame 1, which is provided with an operation panel. A controller is housed within the control box, and the drive mechanism is electrically connected to the controller. During grinding, the grinding amount, feed rate, and grinding speed of the sputtering target 100 are all controlled by the controller. Operation requires only inputting the corresponding parameters on the operation panel, resulting in simple, convenient operation and precise control.

[0034] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention also provides a sputtering target processing method, comprising the following steps:

[0035] (1) Cut the deformed ports at both ends of the target blank. Because the ports on both sides of the tubular ITO target are greatly deformed after sintering, and the inner diameter exceeds the requirements of the drawing, it cannot be used and needs to be cut. This may reduce the grinding length and save grinding time.

[0036] (2) Roughly grind the outer surface of the target blank until a margin of 0.4-0.6 mm is left, preferably 0.5 mm. To rough grind the outer surface of the target blank, simply install it between the fixture 5 and the tail top 3 and grind it. The main purpose of grinding the outer surface first is to ensure that the outer diameter is tightly attached to the fixture sleeve 6 to avoid circular runout, thereby ensuring the grinding effect.

[0037] In the existing technology, when grinding the outer surface of the target material, the outer diameter is first processed to a margin of 1.5mm, then the outer diameter is ground to within 1mm, and finally ground to 0.5mm. During the grinding process, a dial indicator is required to be used for metering. The purpose of metering is to adjust the wall thickness of both sides of the tubular ITO target material to be consistent, and the smaller the meter value, the higher the qualified rate of the tubular ITO target material after grinding. However, if the meter value is adjusted to a smaller value, it will take longer (about 10 minutes each time), and if the meter value is not accurate, it is easy to make mistakes, which may cause the tubular ITO target material to be unqualified or scrapped. Therefore, each employee must have a very high level of proficiency in operation. Therefore, the traditional processing method is not only slow in processing efficiency, but also prone to errors caused by multiple processing, resulting in the scrapping of the target material. However, the traditional process requires multiple grindings because the target material is long and will vibrate during the grinding process. The greater the circular runout of the tubular ITO target material during the grinding process, the greater the swing amplitude. The ground tubular ITO target material will have black skin, depressions and other undesirable conditions. Therefore, in order to reduce the swing amplitude of the tubular ITO target material caused by the circular runout under the action of high-speed rotation, multiple grindings are required.

[0038] In this solution, the target sleeve 6 is added, which does not vibrate during the grinding process. Therefore, the inner surface grinding will not cause errors that will affect the target size. Therefore, the outer surface of the target blank can be directly coarse ground to a 0.5 mm margin, thereby improving processing efficiency and quality.

[0039] (3) Grind the inner surface of the target material blank to the target size. When grinding the inner surface of the target material blank, first install the target sleeve 6 in the fixture 5, then install the target material blank in the target sleeve 6 and fix it, and then grind it after fixing. Among them, after the target sleeve 6 is installed on the fixture 5, it is necessary to use a dial indicator to mark the target sleeve. The marking range is ±0.07mm for the inner diameter and ±0.1mm for the outer diameter, so as to ensure the installation accuracy of the target material blank and the dimensional accuracy after grinding. In this solution, the operator only needs to clamp and mark the fixture sleeve once, and then the tubular ITO target can be continuously ground. It is not necessary to mark each tubular ITO target after grinding. This saves marking time, improves production efficiency, reduces the probability of error, and improves the production qualification rate.

[0040] (4) Finely grind the outer surface of the target blank to obtain the finished blank.

[0041] (5) Cut the finished blank to obtain the sputtering target.

[0042] The present invention is different from the existing technology in that a target sleeve is added to clamp the workpiece when grinding the inner surface. The length of the long tubular ceramic sputtering target to be processed is generally greater than 500 mm. When grinding the outer surface of the target, it is directly ground to a remaining margin of 0.4-0.6 mm, which effectively reduces the scrapping of ITO tubular sputtering targets due to human error and improves productivity.

[0043] To illustrate the effect of the processing method of the present application, a comparative example of grinding a long tube according to the existing process is listed here, and an example of the grinding effect obtained by grinding according to the present method is listed here for comparison;

[0044] Comparative Example

[0045] According to the original technical process, the tubular ITO target is first loaded into the working chuck, and the outer diameter is first ground to a 1.5mm allowance. The outer diameter needs to be marked with a dial indicator to within 1mm. Then the inner diameter is ground to a 1mm allowance. The inner diameter needs to be marked with a dial indicator to within 0.2mm. The tubular ITO target is ground to an outer diameter with a 0.5mm allowance. The outer diameter is finely ground to the requirements of the drawing, the density is measured and recorded, and the corresponding length of the drawing is cut. Since inaccurate marking can easily lead to errors, the tubular ITO target may be unqualified or scrapped. The pass rate and production efficiency are not very high.

[0046] Example

[0047] Add a set of fixture sleeves to the original technical process. First, install the fixture sleeve into the fixture fixture, use a dial indicator to check the inner diameter to ±0.07mm and the outer diameter to ±0.1mm. The dial indicator only needs to be used when the fixture sleeve is installed for the first time. No dial indicator is required during the subsequent grinding process. Then install the tubular ITO target and fix the fixture sleeve. Then grind the tubular ITO target to a 0.5mm margin on the outer diameter. Then grind the inner diameter of the tubular ITO target to the requirements of the drawing, and then fine-grind the outer diameter to the requirements of the drawing. Measure and record the density, and cut to the corresponding length of the drawing. There is no need to check the dial indicator every time a tubular ITO target is ground, which saves dial indicator time, improves production efficiency, reduces the probability of error, and improves the production qualification rate.

[0048] In summary, the use of the processing method of the present application to process the long tubular sputtering target not only improves the grinding accuracy and grinding rate of the long tubular sputtering target 100, but also improves the product qualification rate and reduces the cost.

[0049] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and substitutions can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present invention. These improvements and substitutions should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A sputtering target grinding device, characterized in that: The machine comprises a frame and a grinding wheel, wherein a tail top is movably provided at one end of the frame, a working head is rotatably provided at the other end of the frame corresponding to the tail top, a fixture is provided on the working head, a target sleeve is detachably inserted into the fixture, and the grinding wheel is movably arranged between the fixture and the tail top; The target sleeve comprises a main body portion and a clamping portion connected to each other, the main body portion has a circular cross section, and the clamping portion has an arc cross section; The frame is provided with a driving mechanism, which is used to drive the grinding wheel to move along the axial direction and radial direction of the sputtering target, and to drive the sputtering target to rotate, so that the grinding wheel can grind the inner and outer surfaces of the sputtering target; The target sleeve is provided with a fastening assembly; The fastening assembly includes a plurality of threaded holes evenly distributed on the target sleeve and an end face fixing buckle provided on the inner wall of the other end of the target sleeve, and the threaded holes are threadedly connected with bolts; The end surface fixing buckle is arranged on the clamping portion, and the threaded hole is arranged on the main body portion.

2. The sputtering target polishing device according to claim 1, wherein: A protective device is provided inside the target sleeve at one end close to the working head.

3. The sputtering target grinding device according to claim 2, wherein: The protection device includes a mounting plate and an elastic rubber plate covering the inner surface of the mounting plate.

4. The sputtering target grinding device according to claim 1, wherein: An elongated coolant guide groove is provided on the inner wall of the target sleeve, and the coolant guide groove extends along the length direction of the target sleeve.

5. The sputtering target grinding device according to claim 1, wherein: The inner diameter of the target sleeve is 154-165 mm.

6. A method for processing a sputtering target using the sputtering target grinding device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: (1) Cutting the deformed ports at both ends of the target blank; (2) Roughly grind the outer surface of the target blank until a margin of 0.4-0.6 mm remains; (3) Grinding the inner surface of the target blank to the target size; (4) Fine grinding the outer surface of the target blank to obtain a finished blank; (5) Cut the finished blank to obtain the sputtering target.

7. The sputtering target processing method according to claim 6, wherein: In the step (3), when grinding the inner surface of the target material blank, the target material sleeve is first installed in the fixture, and then the target material blank is installed in the target material sleeve and fixed, and then grinding is performed after fixing.

8. The sputtering target processing method according to claim 7, wherein: After the target sleeve is installed on the fixture, a dial indicator is used to mark the target sleeve. The marking range is ±0.07mm for the inner diameter and ±0.1mm for the outer diameter.

Images