Patent ID: 11894222
Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  C | IPC C  H

Claim 2:
3. A film forming apparatus comprising:
a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate for forming a film thereon by a magnetron sputtering;
a target holder configured to hold a target made of a ferromagnetic material to face the substrate holder;
a magnet provided on a surface of the target holder opposite to the substrate holder, and configured to leak a magnetic field to a front surface of the target held by the target holder that is a surface close to the substrate holder;
a motor configured to move the magnet with respect to the target holder;
a torque sensor configured to detect a torque value of the motor; and
a controller configured to control an overall operation of the film forming apparatus,
wherein the controller determines a timing for replacing the target based on the torque value detected by the torque sensor.