Patent ID: 7378002

Claim:
A method of sputtering aluminum onto a substrate, comprising: a first deposition step performed in a first plasma sputter reactor fit with a first aluminum target facing an interior of the first reactor, the first step including supporting the substrate on a first pedestal within the reactor, biasing the pedestal with RF power having an RF power level of between 1 and 700 W normalized to an area of a 200 mm diameter circular substrate, maintaining the substrate at a first temperature of less than 150° C., rotating about a central axis of the first aluminum target a first magnetron, admitting a sputter working gas into the first reactor, applying DC power to the first aluminum target to thereby sputter the first aluminum target to form a first aluminum layer on the substrate, the aluminum being formed to a first thickness on a top planar surface of the substrate; and a second deposition step performed in a second plasma sputter reactor fit with a second target having an aluminum front surface facing an interior of the second reactor, the second step including supporting the substrate on a second pedestal within the second reactor, maintaining the substrate at a second temperature of greater than 250° C., rotating about a central axis of the second aluminum target a second magnetron producing a substantially different magnetic field distribution than the first magnetron, admitting a sputter working gas into the second reactor, applying DC power to the second aluminum target to thereby sputter the second target to form a second aluminum layer on top of the first aluminum layer on the substrate, the second aluminum layer being formed to a second thickness on the top planar surface of the substrate.