Patent ID: 9644261
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: C23C,H01J,H01L

Claim:
1. Apparatus for sputtering, comprising: a pedestal for supporting a substrate during sputtering, at least one target formed at least in part from electrically conductive material to be sputtered onto the substrate wherein the pedestal and the target are at least partially located inside a chamber of a reactor housing, a magnetic assembly for providing a magnetic field adjacent to a surface of the target, a first power supply for applying a plurality of pulses between an anode and a cathode, the cathode including the target, the pulses having a frequency in the range 10 Hz to 1000 Hz, a duty cycle of between 0.01% and 20% and producing a current density of between 0.1 A/cm2 and 10 A/cm2 on the target, an inert gas source to supply an inert gas to the inside of the chamber of the reactor housing, a reactive gas source to supply a reactive gas to the inside of the chamber of the reactor housing, a second power source electrically connected to the pedestal for applying a high-frequency signal to a pedestal supporting the substrate to generate a self bias field adjacent the substrate, wherein the high-frequency signal has a frequency within a range of 1 MHz to 70 MHz, a synchronization unit for synchronizing the pulses of the first power supply with the high-frequency signal applied to the pedestal in such a way that the high frequency signal is initiated before each pulse of the first power supply is applied between the anode and the cathode, the high-frequency signal is maintained while the first power supply is applied between the anode and the cathode and for a period of time after the pulse of first power supply between the anode and the cathode is terminated, and the high-frequency signal is terminated only after expiration of a period of time after the pulse of the first power supply between the anode and the cathode is terminated.