Patent ID: 8500962

Claim:
A method for substrate processing, comprising: in a processing chamber, producing a magnetic field by a magnetron across a full width of a sputtering surface of a target in a first direction, wherein the magnetron is configured to produce two erosion grooves separated by a distance S on the sputtering surface, wherein each of the erosion grooves is characterized by a width W; moving the magnetron at a first speed by a distance T1 in (N−1) steps in a first segment along a linear travel path, wherein T1=(N−1)Q is a total travel distance in the first segment in which Q is step size and N is an integer number and N≧2, wherein Q is between 0.9 W and 1.1 W, wherein the magnetron is stopped at each of the N−1 steps, wherein the linear travel path is substantially parallel to a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction; sputtering a material off the sputtering surface and depositing the material on the substrate during the first segment; moving the magnetron by the distance S in a second segment along the linear travel path at a second speed higher than the first speed; and turning off power of the magnetron to reduce sputtering rate when the magnetron is moved in the second segment.