A physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber and a method of operation thereof are disclosed. Chambers and methods are described that provide a chamber comprising one or more of contours that reduce particle defects, temperature control and or measurement and and/or voltage particle traps to reduce processing defects.

A sputtering apparatus (SM) has a vacuum chamber in which is disposed a target. A plasma atmosphere is formed inside the vacuum chamber to thereby sputter the target. The sputtered particles splashed from the target are caused to get adhered to, and deposited on, a surface of a substrate disposed in the vacuum chamber, thereby forming a predetermined thin film thereon. At such a predetermined position inside the vacuum chamber as is subject to adhesion of the sputtered particles splashed from the target, there is disposed an adhesion body whose at least the surface of adhesion of the sputtered particles is made of a material equal in kind to that of the target. The adhesion body has connected thereto a bias power supply for applying a bias voltage having negative potential at the time of forming the plasma atmosphere.

A physical vapor deposition chamber comprising a rotating substrate support having a rotational axis, a first cathode having a radial center positioned off-center from a rotational axis of the substrate support is disclosed. A process controller comprising one or more process configurations selected from one or more of a first configuration to determine a rotation speed (v) for a substrate support to complete a whole number of rotations (n) around the rotational axis of the substrate support in a process window time (t) to form a layer of a first material on a substrate, or a second configuration to rotate the substrate support at the rotation speed (v).

A method for preparing a bactericidal film on fiber cloth, comprising cleansing a reel of fiber cloth; placing the reel of fiber cloth into a vacuum chamber; supplying a DC power and a mid-frequency power; introducing argon gas to increase the chamber pressure to 0.3 Pa; position sputtering targets in the following order: silicon target, silicon carbide target, silver target, silicon carbide target, silver target, silicon carbide target and silver target, and then sputtering the targets simultaneously; wherein the silicon targets act as a bonding layer between the bactericidal film and the substrate; stopping the silicon targets, the silicon carbide targets and the silver targets first, and then turning off the argon gas; injecting air into the chamber until the pressure in the chamber and the atmospheric pressure are balanced.

A structure includes a substrate including a wafer or a portion thereof; and a piezoelectric bulk material layer comprising a first portion deposited onto the substrate and a second portion deposited onto the first portion, the second portion comprising an outer surface having a surface roughness (Ra) of 4.5 nm or less. Methods for depositing a piezoelectric bulk material layer include depositing a first portion of bulk layer material at a first incidence angle to achieve a predetermined c-axis tilt, and depositing a second portion of the bulk material layer onto the first portion at a second incidence angle that is smaller than the first incidence angle. The second portion has a second c-axis tilt that substantially aligns with the first c-axis tilt.

A sputtering method including: performing a pre-sputtering by emitting sputter particles from a target provided in a sputtering apparatus in a state where the target is shielded by a shielding portion of a shutter provided closed to the target to be capable of opening/closing the target; and, after the pre-sputtering, performing a main-sputtering by emitting the sputter particles from the target in a state where an opening of the shutter is aligned with the target thereby depositing the sputter particles on a substrate. When the pre-sputtering and the main-sputtering are repeatedly performed, a shutter position is changed during the pre-sputtering so as to change a position of the shielding portion aligned with the target.

A thermal dual-barrier coating system is disclosed which includes a first thermal barrier layer having a first thermal conductivity, one or more composite structures vertically disposed adjacent the first thermal barrier layer, each of the one or more composite structures includes an ultra-thin disordered semi-continuous metallic film and a layer of a second thermal barrier layer.

There is provided a film formation apparatus which forms a film on a substrate by sputtering. The apparatus comprises: a substrate holder configured to hold the substrate; and a plurality of cathodes configured to hold targets that emit sputtered particles, and connected to a power supply. At least one of the plurality of cathodes holds the targets of a plurality of types.

The present specification relates to a conductive structure, a method of manufacturing the same, and an electrode including the conductive structure.

A method adjusts an output power of a power supply supplying electrical power to a plasma in a plasma chamber. The method includes: connecting the power supply to at least one electrode in the plasma chamber; transporting one or more substrates relative to the electrode using a substrate carrier; maintaining the plasma by the electrical power; processing the one or more substrates with the plasma; and adjusting the output power based on a parameter related to a distance between a surface of the electrode facing a carrier-substrate-assembly and a surface of the substrate-carrier-assembly facing the electrode.