Patent Publication Number: US-2011056830-A1

Title: Sputtering deposition apparatus

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to film deposition apparatuses and, particularly, to a sputtering type deposition apparatus. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Generally, to deposit a thin film on a substrate by sputtering of a target, the following steps are required. First, the substrate and the target are placed in a chamber. Then, the chamber is vacuumized. A sputtering gas is introduced into the vacuumized chamber and ionized and accelerated to bombard the target. The target is caused to sputter to deposit the thin film on the substrate by the bombardment of the ionized sputtering gas. After the sputtering deposition, the substrate is taken out of the chamber. As such, the chamber needs to be vacuumized prior to every time of sputtering deposition, reducing convenience and efficiency while increasing cost. In addition, the target may be oxidized when the chamber device is opened, reducing purity of the target. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to provide a sputtering deposition apparatus, which can overcome the abovementioned shortcomings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the present sputtering deposition apparatus should be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present sputtering deposition apparatus. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIGS. 1-3  are schematic views of a sputtering deposition apparatus in different operating states respectively, according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments of the present sputtering deposition apparatus will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a sputtering deposition apparatus  100 , according to an exemplary embodiment, includes a chamber device  10  and a number of first targets  40   a  and second targets  40   b.    
     The chamber device  10  is substantially a cubic shell and defines an access chamber  120  and two depositing chambers  20  and  30  therein. 
     In this embodiment, the access chamber  120  is cubic and formed at a bottom portion of the chamber device  10 . Accordingly, the chamber device  10  forms a substantially rectangular bottom board  11  and sidewalls  12  uprightly extending upwards from edges of the bottom board  11 . The access chamber  10  is bounded by the bottom board  11  and the sidewalls  12 . Left and right sidewalls  12  define two entrances  12   a  respectively. The chamber device  10  includes two access doors  13 . The access doors  13  are disposed at the entrances  12   a  respectively and constructed to open or hermetically close the entrances  12   a  respectively. A front sidewall  12  defines an outlet  101  and two wire holes  102  and  103  through a left bottom portion thereof. The chamber device  10  also includes a control panel  16 . The control panel  16  is mounted to a right bottom portion of the outer surface of the front sidewall  12 . The control panel  16  includes key buttons  160  and  162 . 
     The depositing chambers  20  and  30  are substantially similar to each other in shape (cubic) and size but respectively positioned at a top left portion and a top right portion of the chamber device  10 . The chamber device  10  defines two chamber entrances  21  and  31  from the access chamber  120  to the depositing chambers  20  and  30  respectively. The chamber device  10  also defines two second inlets  22  and  32  that communicate with the depositing chambers  20  and  30  respectively. 
     The chamber device  10  further includes a separating door  50 . The separating door  50  is disposed at the chamber entrances  21  and  31  and constructed to open or hermetically close the chamber entrances  21  and  31 . As such, when the separating door  50  is opened, the depositing chambers  20  and  30  communicate with the access chamber  120 . When the separating door  50  is closed, the chamber entrances  21  and  31  are closed. The depositing chambers  20  and  30  and the access chamber  120  are hermetically separated from each other. 
     The chamber device  10  also includes a carrier  14  disposed within the access chamber  120 , substantially on the center of the bottom board  11 . The carrier  14  includes a motor  140 , a cylinder  142 , and a supporting plate  144 . The motor  140  is disposed on the bottom board  11 , substantially at the center thereof. The cylinder  142  is disposed on the motor  140 . The supporting plate  144  is disposed on the cylinder  142 . In particular, the supporting plate  144  is an elongated plate and a central portion thereof is connected to the cylinder  142 . Two holding rods  144   a  extend upwards from two distal ends of the supporting plate  144  and configured for holding two substrates  200 . The motor  140  is configured to rotate the cylinder  142 . The cylinder  142  is configured to lift or lower the supporting plate  144 . 
     The targets  40   a  and  40   b  are received within the depositing chambers  20  and  30  respectively. The targets  40   a  and  40   b  are typically different materials for depositing different layers of the thin film on the substrates  200  (see below). Also, the targets  40   a  and  40   b  can be of the same material. 
     In operation, the access doors  13  are closed and the separating door  50  is opened. The chamber device  10  is connected to an air pump (not shown) via the outlet  101  and the communicated chambers  120 ,  20 , and  30  are vacuumized by the air pump. Then, the separating door  50  is closed and the doors  13  are opened. The substrates  200  are placed in the access chambers  120  and held by the holding rods  144   a . The substrates  200  and the targets  40   a  and  40   b  are grounded via wires  102  and  103  that run through the wire holes  102  and  103  respectively. The access chamber  120  is vacuumized again. 
     Then, referring to  FIG. 2 , the separating door  50  is opened. The cylinder  142  lifts the substrates  200  to the depositing chambers  20  and  30  respectively. The chamber device  10  is connected to sputtering gas sources (not shown) via the inlets  22  and  32 . Then, sputtering gases are introduced into the depositing chambers  20  and  30  and are ionized and accelerated to bombard the targets  40   a  and  40   b . The targets  40   a  and  40   b  start to sputter to deposit layers of the thin film on the substrates  200 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , after the sputtering deposition has been finished, the cylinder  142  lowers the substrates  200  to the access chamber  120 . The motor  140  rotate the supporting plate  144  180 degrees. Then, the cylinder  142  lifts the substrates again to exchange the substrates  200  between the depositing chambers  20  and  30 . As such, the sputtering deposition apparatus  100  can deposit another layer of the thin film on the substrates  200 . 
     The access doors  13 , the carrier  14 , the separating door  50 , the air pump, and the sputtering gas sources can be connected to the control panel  16  and controlled by the control panel  16 . Alternatively, the access doors  13  and the separating door  50  can be manually operated. 
     It is noteworthy that the chamber device  10  is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the shape of the chamber device  10  can be other than a cubic shell. Only one or more than two depositing chambers can be deployed instead. Of course, if only one depositing chamber is employed the motor  140  can be omitted. If more than two depositing chambers are employed, the depositing chambers can be arranged at an upper portion of the chamber device in a manner that facilitates exchanging substrates  200  among the depositing chambers. As such, deposition of more than two layers of thin film can be carried out at a time. Also, one or more than two entrances and access doors can be employed depending on requirements. 
     It will be understood that the above particular embodiments and methods are shown and described by way of illustration only. The principles and the features of the present disclosure may be employed in various and numerous embodiment thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.