REFRACTORY METAL ALLOY TARGETS FOR PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION

• Main Authors: CHAUDHRY, Anurag, YASHAR, Philip, WIEGAND, Christopher J
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 15.11.2018
• Subjects: ALLOYS; BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; CHEMISTRY; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATIONOR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY IONIMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS; ELECTRICITY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION INGENERAL; METALLURGY; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THESURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS

Refractory metal alloy targets for reducing particles in physical vapor deposition processing and refractory metal-based layer for integrated circuit applications (for example, crystallization barrier layers in non-volatile memory devices) are disclosed herein. An exemplary method for reducing particles in a PVD chamber include positioning a refractory metal alloy target in the PVD chamber, positioning a substrate in the PVD chamber a distance from the refractory metal alloy target, and sputtering material from the refractory metal alloy target to form a refractory metal-based layer over the substrate. The refractory metal alloy target includes a refractory metal (for example, tungsten or molybdenum) alloyed with a body-centered cubic (BCC) metal (for example, niobium, tantalum, vanadium, or a combination thereof). The BCC metal has a Young's modulus lower than a Young's modulus of the refractory metal.