Tubular ceramic structures, e.g., anode components of tubular fuel cells, are manufactured by applying ceramic-forming composition to the external surface of the heat shrinkable polymeric tubular mandrel component of a rotating mandrel-spindle assembly, removing the spindle from the assembly after a predetermined thickness of tubular ceramic structure has been built up on the mandrel and thereafter heat shrinking the mandrel to cause the mandrel to separate from the tubular ceramic structure.

A sputtering target including an oxide with a low impurity concentration is provided. Provided is a method for manufacturing a sputtering target, including a first step of preparing a mixture including indium, zinc, an element M (the element M is aluminum, gallium, yttrium, or tin), and oxygen; a second step of raising a temperature of the mixture from a first temperature to a second temperature in a first atmosphere containing nitrogen at a concentration of higher than or equal to 90 vol % and lower than or equal to 100 vol %; and a third step of lowering the temperature of the mixture from the second temperature to a third temperature in a second atmosphere containing oxygen at a concentration of higher than or equal to 10 vol % and lower than or equal to 100 vol %.

A novel oxide semiconductor, a novel oxynitride semiconductor, a transistor including them, or a novel sputtering target is provided. A composite target includes a first region and a second region. The first region includes an insulating material and the second region includes a conductive material. The first region and the second region each include a microcrystal whose diameter is greater than or equal to 0.5 nm and less than or equal to 3 nm or a value in the neighborhood thereof. A semiconductor film is formed using the composite target.

Methods and apparatus for passivating a target are provided herein. For example, a method includes a) supplying an oxidizing gas into an inner volume of the process chamber; b) igniting the oxidizing gas to form a plasma and oxidize at least one of a target or target material deposited on a process kit disposed in the inner volume of the process chamber; and c) performing a cycle purge comprising: c1) providing air into the process chamber to react with the at least one of the target or target material deposited on the process kit; c2) maintaining a predetermined pressure for a predetermined time within the process chamber to generate a toxic by-product caused by the air reacting with the at least one of the target or target material deposited on the process kit; and c3) exhausting the process chamber to remove the toxic by-product.

A bismuth ferrite film material, a method for integrally preparing a bismuth ferrite film on a silicon substrate at a low temperature, and an application, includes: magnetron sputtering a bottom electrode, a buffer layer and a bismuth ferrite film on one surface of a Si substrate in sequence from bottom to top at a processing temperature of 300-400° C.; reducing the temperature to room temperature; and a top electrode is deposited via magnetron sputtering on the surface of the bismuth ferrite film; the buffer layer mentioned hereof is a conductive oxide which matches the lattice of bismuth ferrite and is of a perovskite structure (AB03). According to the present invention, the temperature for preparing the bismuth ferrite film material can be reduced to 450° C. or below, and the bismuth ferrite film material has a high spontaneous electric polarization.

The invention is directed at sputter targets including 50 atomic % or more molybdenum, a second metal element of titanium, and a third metal element of chromium or tantalum, and deposited films prepared by the sputter targets. In a preferred aspect of the invention, the sputter target includes a phase that is rich in molybdenum, a phase that is rich in titanium, and a phase that is rich in the third metal element.

An in-plane magnetized film for use as a hard bias layer of a magnetoresistive effect element contains metal Co, metal Pt, and an oxide and has a thickness of 20 nm or more and 80 nm or less, wherein: the in-plane magnetized film contains the metal Co in an amount of 45 at% or more and 80 at% or less and the metal Pt in an amount of 20 at% or more and 55 at% or less relative to a total of metal components of the in-plane magnetized film; the in-plane magnetized film contains the oxide in an amount of 3 vol% or more and 25 vol% or less relative to a whole amount of the in-plane magnetized film; and the in-plane direction average grain diameter of magnetic crystal grains of the in-plane magnetized film is 15 nm or more and 30 nm or less.

[Object] Provided are a Zn—Sn—O-based oxide sintered body which is used as a sputtering target or a tablet for vapor deposition and which is resistant to crack formation and the like during film formation, and a method for producing the same. [Solving means] The oxide sintered body is characterized in that tin is contained with an atomic ratio of Sn/(Zn+Sn) being 0.01 to 0.6, an average crystal particle diameter of the sintered body is 4.5 μm or less, and a degree of orientation represented by I.sub.(222)/[I.sub.(222)+I.sub.(400)] is 0.52 or more, where I.sub.(222) and I.sub.(400) represent integrated intensities of the (222) plane and the (400) plane of a Zn.sub.2SnO.sub.4 phase measured by X-ray diffraction using the CuKα radiation. The oxide sintered body has an improved mechanical strength, so that the oxide sintered body is resistant to breakage during processing of the sintered body and also is resistant to breakage and crack formation during film formation of transparent conductive films when used as a sputtering target or a tablet for vapor deposition.

The invention provides an oxide semiconductor target including an oxide sintered body including zinc, tin, oxygen, and aluminum in a content ratio of from 0.005% by mass to 0.2% by mass with respect to the total mass of the oxide sintered body, in which the content ratio of silicon to the total mass of the oxide sintered body is less than 0.03% by mass.

A cylindrical sputtering target includes a plurality of cylindrical sintered compacts adjacent to each other while having a space therebetween. The plurality of cylindrical sintered compacts have a relative density of 99.7% or higher and 99.9% or lower. The plurality of cylindrical sintered compacts adjacent to each other have a difference therebetween in the relative density of 0.1% or smaller.