An object of the present invention is to provide a sputtering target that can suppress a generation amount of fine nodules which lead to an increase in substrate particles during sputtering, and a method for producing the same. A ceramic sputtering target, the sputtering target having a surface roughness Ra on a sputtering surface of 0.5 μm or less and an Svk value measured with a laser microscope on the sputtering surface of 1.1 μm or less.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate using improved shield configurations are provided herein. For example, a process kit for use in a physical vapor deposition chamber comprises a shield comprising an inner wall comprising an upper portion having a first wavy fin configuration and a bottom portion having a second wavy fin configuration different from the first wavy fin configuration such that a surface area of the shield is about 1400 in.sup.2 to about 1410 in.sup.2.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate using improved shield configurations are provided herein. For example, a process kit for use in a physical vapor deposition chamber comprises a shield comprising an inner wall comprising an upper portion having a first wavy fin configuration and a bottom portion having a second wavy fin configuration different from the first wavy fin configuration such that a surface area of the shield is about 1400 in.sup.2 to about 1410 in.sup.2.

The present disclosure provides a sputtering reaction chamber and a process assembly of the sputtering reaction chamber. The process assembly includes a shield, and the shield includes an integrally formed body member and a cover ring member, wherein the body member may be in a ring shape. The cover ring member may extend from a bottom of the body member to an inner side of the body member and may be configured to press an edge of a to-be-processed workpiece when a process is performed. A cooling channel may be arranged in the cover ring member and the body member and may be configured to cool the cover ring member and the body member by transferring coolant. The process assembly of the sputtering reaction chamber and the sputtering reaction chamber provided by the present disclosure can reduce heat radiation of the process assembly to the to-be-processed workpiece and released gases and impurities to effectively reduce a whisker defect and improve a product yield.

The present disclosure provides a sputtering reaction chamber and a process assembly of the sputtering reaction chamber. The process assembly includes a shield, and the shield includes an integrally formed body member and a cover ring member, wherein the body member may be in a ring shape. The cover ring member may extend from a bottom of the body member to an inner side of the body member and may be configured to press an edge of a to-be-processed workpiece when a process is performed. A cooling channel may be arranged in the cover ring member and the body member and may be configured to cool the cover ring member and the body member by transferring coolant. The process assembly of the sputtering reaction chamber and the sputtering reaction chamber provided by the present disclosure can reduce heat radiation of the process assembly to the to-be-processed workpiece and released gases and impurities to effectively reduce a whisker defect and improve a product yield.

Methods for forming anode structures are provided and include transferring a flexible substrate a first deposition chamber arranged downstream from a first spool chamber, the first deposition chamber containing a first coating drum capable of guiding the flexible substrate past a first plurality of deposition units, and guiding the flexible substrate past the first plurality of deposition units while depositing a lithium metal film on the flexible substrate via the first plurality of deposition units. The method also includes transferring the flexible substrate from the first deposition chamber to a second deposition chamber, the second deposition chamber containing a second coating drum capable of guiding the flexible substrate past a second deposition unit containing a crucible capable of depositing ceramic on the lithium metal film, and guiding the flexible substrate past the crucible while depositing a ceramic protective film on the lithium metal film via the evaporation crucible.

Methods for forming anode structures are provided and include transferring a flexible substrate a first deposition chamber arranged downstream from a first spool chamber, the first deposition chamber containing a first coating drum capable of guiding the flexible substrate past a first plurality of deposition units, and guiding the flexible substrate past the first plurality of deposition units while depositing a lithium metal film on the flexible substrate via the first plurality of deposition units. The method also includes transferring the flexible substrate from the first deposition chamber to a second deposition chamber, the second deposition chamber containing a second coating drum capable of guiding the flexible substrate past a second deposition unit containing a crucible capable of depositing ceramic on the lithium metal film, and guiding the flexible substrate past the crucible while depositing a ceramic protective film on the lithium metal film via the evaporation crucible.

Contacting a multiplicity of seed crystals with an amorphous metallic alloy layer to form an amorphous precursor film or depositing an amorphous precursor film on a substrate and annealing the amorphous precursor film at a temperature between 50° C. and 400° C. to yield the metallic film with grains separated by grain boundaries.

A metallic nano-twinned thin film structure and a method for forming the same are provided. The metallic nano-twinned thin film structure includes a substrate, an adhesive-lattice-buffer layer over the substrate, and a single-layer or multi-layer metallic nano-twinned thin film over the adhesive-lattice-buffer layer. The metallic nano-twinned thin film includes parallel-arranged twin boundaries (Σ3+Σ9). In a cross-sectional view of the metallic nano-twinned thin film, the parallel-arranged twin boundaries account for 30% to 90% of total twin boundaries. The parallel-arranged twin boundaries include 80% to 99% of crystal orientation [111]. The single-layer metallic nano-twinned thin film includes copper, gold, palladium or nickel. The multi-layer metallic nano-twinned thin films are respectively composed of silver, copper, gold, palladium or nickel.

The preparation method for a nano composite coating having a shell-simulated multi-arch structure includes: constructing a discontinuous metal seed layer using a vacuum plating technology; and inducing the deposition of a continuous multi-arch structure layer utilizing the discontinuous metal seed layer, thereby realizing the controllable orientated growth of the nano composite coating having the shell-simulated multi-arch structure. The nano composite coating having the shell-simulated multi-arch structure is of a red abalone shell-simulated nacreous layer aragonite structure, meanwhile has high hardness and high temperature resistance, has excellent performances such as high breaking strength, low friction coefficient and corrosion and abrasion resistance in seawater under the condition of maintaining good breaking tenacity, is simple and controllable in preparation process and low in cost, has unlimited workpiece shapes, is easily produced on large scale, and has huge potential in the fields of new energy, efficiency power, ocean engineering, nuclear energy, and micro-electronic/optoelectronic devices.