Patent ID: 6472867
Filing Date: 2002-10-29
Classification: C23C

Abstract:
A target certifying method for certifying lots of ferromagnetic targets for use in a DC_magnetron PVD system adapted to receive said targets for installation therein, wherein each said target of a given lot is manufactured in essentially a same manner as other members of the given lot to have a deposition-producing portion composed primarily of an electrically and magnetically conductive, to-be-deposited metal, said certifying method comprising the steps of:(a) selecting one or more representative samples from a given lot; (b) testing each selected sample target for compliance with two or more of the following characteristics: (b.1) an average texture mix that is at least 20% <200> texture and less than 50% <111> texture; (b.2) an initial pass-through flux factor (% PTF) of about 30% or greater; and (b.3) a homogeneous grain size of about 200 &mgr;m or less; and (c) certifying for commercial use each given lot whose selected samples comply with the two or more characteristics while not certifying each given lot for which a statistically significant number of the selected samples do not comply with said two or more characteristics.