Patent ID: 7431782

Claim:
A process of making a sputtering component from tantalum metal, comprising: a) mechanically or chemically clean surfaces of the tantalum metal, wherein the tantalum metal has a sufficient starting cross-sectional area to permit steps b) through g); b) flat forging the tantalum metal into at least one rolling slab, wherein the at least one rolling slab has sufficient deformation to achieve substantially uniform recrystallization after annealing in step d); c) mechanically or chemically clean surfaces of the at least one rolling slab; d) annealing the at least one rolling slab at a sufficient temperature and for a sufficient time to achieve at least partial recrystallization of the at least one rolling slab; e) cold or warm rolling the at least one rolling slab in both the perpendicular and parallel directions to the axis of the starting tantalum metal to form at least one plate; f) flattening the at least one plate; and g) annealing the at least one plate to have an average grain size equal to or less than about 150 microns and a texture substantially void of (100) textural bands;