Method of enhancing the performance of a magnetron sputtering target
CA 2089645 C · Owner: Tokyo Electron Limited · Inventors: Aronson, Arnold J.; Van Nutt, Charles; Hurwitt, Steven D.
Overview
Its claims, description and drawings are in the Canadian Patents Database.
Open the CIPO recordAbstract From the Canadian patent
A plasma confining magnetic field (202,302) is generated over the sputtering region (105,106) of a sputtering target (40) with a critical field line (202b,302b) which determines the shape of the plasma (204,304). The critical field line is progressively flattened over the course of the life of the target as the target erodes. Preferably the magnet (51,52) is configured with poles (57,61,65) spaced around the portion of the target below the sputtering region to provide a magnetic field that flattens as its strength decreases. A regulated power supply (122), maintains a regulated power level that is increased as the target erodes to maintain a constant deposition rate. The voltage delivered …
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Listed from its CIPO record in Patent Yard's archive of Canadian patents past their term. Its claims, description and drawings are in the CIPO record and on Google Patents, and the Claude kit works from them.
Why it's free to use
- Filed August 22, 1991 and granted May 5, 1998. A Canadian patent filed from October 1, 1989 lasts 20 years from filing, so its term ended August 22, 2011.
- A certificate of supplementary protection adds at most two years for a drug, so even that would have ended by August 22, 2013.
- We check Canadian rights only. A patent in its family in another country could still be in force: check its family on Google Patents.
Timeline
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Official CIPO records
Everything on this page comes from the CIPO record linked above. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.