Patent ID: 6080287
Filing Date: 2000-06-27
Classification: C23C,H01J

Abstract:
An ionized physical vapor deposition apparatus comprising:a vacuum chamber having a chamber wall surrounding a vacuum processing space inside of the chamber;a ring-shaped source of electrically conductive coating material from which electrically conductive coating material is supplied to the processing space, the ring-shaped source having a central opening and at least one surface in communication with the vacuum processing space;a substrate support inside of the chamber opposite the processing space from the ring-shaped source;the chamber wall including a dielectric window in the central opening of the ring shaped source;an RF energy source outside of the chamber;a coil outside of the chamber adjacent the dielectric window and connected to the RF energy source to inductively couple energy through the window and into the chamber to form an inductively coupled plasma in the processing space that is sufficiently dense to ionize electrically conductive coating material moving from the ring-shaped source through the processing space; anda shield structure inside of the window between the window and the processing space, the shield being configured to reduce capacitive coupling of RF energy therethrough and to permit an effective substantially inductive coupling of RF energy from the coil into the processing space and to physically shield the dielectric window from electrically conductive coating material from the processing space.