Patent ID: 8518220

Claim:
A method of scanning a magnetron in back of a planar target in a plasma sputter chamber, comprising the steps of: applying power to the planar target to excite a plasma within the chamber and sputtering from the planar target; during the sputtering, scanning the magnetron about a central axis of the chamber along a selected path adjacent the planar target and having radial and azimuthal components with respect to the central axis; and calculating as a function of at least different radii from the central axis an erosion profile of the planar target which is produced by the sputtering, wherein the erosion profile is calculated from operational parameters applied to the plasma sputter chamber by a computer-based controller during the scanning to control the power being applied and the selected path being scanned including radial positions of the selected path, wherein the calculating includes updating a plurality of values of accumulated energy, wherein the values are associated with at least respective radii of the magnetron from the central axis during the scanning.