Segmented Dark Room Shield for Sputtering Target
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rotatable targets in sputtering processes face issues with material deposition on dark room shields leading to frequent maintenance and increased costs due to film breakage and fragment contamination on substrates, which affects deposition quality and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A device and method featuring a ring-shaped part connected to the drive unit with a segmented, rotationally symmetric dark room shield that covers the ring-shaped part, allowing the shield to rotate with the target, ensuring uniform material deposition and reducing maintenance needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional dark room shield is used, then the shield protects the drive unit from ion bombardment, but material deposition on the shield leads to film breakage and fragment contamination on substrates
Solution Approach 1:
The dark room shield is divided into multiple segments that can rotate independently around the rotatable target. This segmentation allows the shield to rotate along with the target, distributing material deposition more uniformly across all shield segments and preventing localized film thickening and breakage that causes fragment contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The dark room shield is designed to rotate dynamically together with the rotatable target rather than remaining stationary. This dynamic rotation ensures that material deposition occurs uniformly across the entire shield surface over time, preventing localized accumulation and subsequent film breakage that would contaminate the substrate.
2Device complexity
If the dark room shield is stationary, then the structure is simple, but material deposition is uneven leading to frequent maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The dark room shield rotates together with the rotatable target, transforming from a stationary component to a dynamic one. This rotation distributes material deposition uniformly across the shield segments, significantly extending the maintenance interval despite the added complexity of the rotating mechanism.
3Productivity
If a rotatable target is used, then target utilization and operation time are increased, but material deposition on the shield becomes uneven causing film breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The shield is segmented into multiple parts that rotate with the target. This segmentation combined with rotation ensures that material deposition is distributed evenly across all segments over time, maintaining deposition uniformity even during extended operation with rotatable targets.
Solution Approach 2:
The shield rotates dynamically with the rotatable target, ensuring that material deposition occurs uniformly across the entire shield surface. This dynamic configuration maintains manufacturing precision and deposition uniformity while enabling extended operation times with rotatable targets.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a more uniform coating across the dark room shield, reducing the risk of contamination and extending the time before maintenance is required, thereby improving deposition quality and reducing costs.
Implementation Method 1
the shield is adapted to rotate together with the ring-shaped part
Implementation Method 2
the coating material is transported from a sputtering target consisting of material to be coated by bombarding the surface of the target with ions of a typically inert processing gas at low pressure
Data Source
AI summary
It is provided a device for supporting a rotatable target of a deposition apparatus for sputtering material onto a substrate, wherein the device includes a drive unit for rotating the rotatable target; a ring-shaped part connected to the drive unit for attaching the drive unit to the rotatable target; and, a shield for covering the ring-shaped part. The shield is adapted for rotating together with the ring-shaped part and includes a plurality of parts assembled together. Furthermore, a sputtering apparatus and a method for supporting a rotatable target are provided.