Patent ID: 7335282

Claim:
A method of sputtering material from a target comprising a metal onto a working planar substrate supported on a pedestal in a system including a magnetron disposed on a side of said target opposite said pedestal along a central axis of said target, said pedestal, and a vacuum chamber containing said pedestal, asymmetrically placed with respect to the central axis, and including an outer pole having a first magnetic polarity and a first total magnetic flux and an inner pole surrounded by said outer pole, totally displaced away from said central axis on one side thereof, and having a second magnetic polarity opposite said first magnetic polarity and a second total magnetic flux, wherein said first total magnetic flux is larger than said second total magnetic flux by a factor of at least 1.5, said method comprising the steps of: rotating said magnetron about said central axis; admitting a working gas into said vacuum chamber; biasing the pedestal to create a negative voltage thereon; and applying DC power to said target to excite said working gas into a plasma to thereby sputter said metal of said target onto said substrate.