Patent ID: 7635440

Claim:
A sputtering target having a relative density of 90% or more and containing a compound having as its principal component zinc oxide satisfying A x ByO (KaX +KbY)/2 (ZnO) m , where 2≦m, 0<Y≦0.9, X+Y=2, and where A and B are respectively different positive elements of trivalence or more and are selected from the group consisting of aluminum, gallium, indium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, niobium, tantalum, germanium, tin and antimony, and the valencies thereof are respectively Ka and Kb, wherein a range of variation of positive elements other than zinc in the target is within 0.5% and a range of variation of density in the target is within 3%.