Substrate coating systems and methods are disclosed. A substrate coating system comprises a deposition chamber enclosing at least a first electrode and a second electrode and a power supply coupled to the first electrode and the second electrode. The power supply is configured to apply a first voltage at the first electrode that alternates between positive and negative during each of multiple cycles to sputter target material from the electrodes onto a substrate positioned on the substrate support. A non-contact voltmeter is positioned above the substrate support to provide a sensor signal indicative of a voltage of a layer of the sputtered target material without mechanically contacting the layer, and a controller is configured to receive the sensor signal from the non-contact voltmeter and at least one of provide an alarm or adjust an application of power to the first and second electrodes in response to the signal.

A sputtering apparatus is provided. The sputtering apparatus comprises a vacuum chamber in which a substrate is located; a target having one surface facing an inner surface of the vacuum chamber; a gas supplier configured to supply a gas for generating plasma in the vacuum chamber; a power supplier configured to supply a power to the target to generate the plasma, sputter the target, and form a film on the substrate; and an abnormality detector configured to detect abnormality caused by a temperature of the target.

A magnetic shield reduces external noise in a chamber including a target and at least one electromagnet for copper physical vapor deposition (PVD). The shield may have a thickness in a range from approximately 0.1 mm to approximately 10 mm to provide sufficient protection from radio frequency and other electromagnetic signals. As a result, copper atoms in the chamber undergo less re-direction from external noise. Additionally, even when hardware failure occurs during PVD (e.g., an electromagnet malfunctions, a wafer stage is not level, and/or a flow optimizer induces too much shift, among other examples), the copper atoms are less susceptible to small re-directions from external noise. As a result, back end of line (BEOL) and/or middle end of line (MEOL) conductive structures are formed in a more uniform manner, which increases conductivity and improves lifetime of an electronic device including the BEOL and/or MEOL conductive structures.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. A method, for example, includes igniting a plasma at a first pressure within a processing volume of a process chamber; depositing sputter material from a target disposed within the processing volume while decreasing the first pressure to a second pressure within a first time frame while maintaining the plasma; continuing to deposit sputter material from the target while decreasing the second pressure to a third pressure within a second time frame less than the first time frame while maintaining the plasma; and continuing to deposit sputter material from the target while maintaining the third pressure for a third time frame that is greater than or equal to the second time frame while maintaining the plasma.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. A method, for example, includes igniting a plasma at a first pressure within a processing volume of a process chamber; depositing sputter material from a target disposed within the processing volume while decreasing the first pressure to a second pressure within a first time frame while maintaining the plasma; continuing to deposit sputter material from the target while decreasing the second pressure to a third pressure within a second time frame less than the first time frame while maintaining the plasma; and continuing to deposit sputter material from the target while maintaining the third pressure for a third time frame that is greater than or equal to the second time frame while maintaining the plasma.

A sputtering device includes: a vacuum chamber in which a target material and a substrate are disposable in a manner of facing each other; a DC power supply being electrically connectable to the target material; a gas supply source configured to introduce a film forming gas containing a nitrogen gas into the vacuum chamber; and a pulsing unit configured to pulse a current flowing from the DC power supply to the target material. The sputtering device forms a nitride thin film having a ternary or more composition containing nitrogen on the substrate by generating plasma in the vacuum chamber using a sintered alloy target material having a binary or more composition as the target material.

An electrical power pulse generator system and a method of the system's operation are described herein. A main energy storage capacitor supplies a negative DC power and a kick energy storage capacitor supplies a positive DC power. A main pulse power transistor is interposed between the main energy storage capacitor and an output pulse rail and includes a main power transmission control input for controlling power transmission from the main energy storage capacitor to the output pulse rail. A positive kick pulse power transistor is interposed between the kick energy storage capacitor and the output pulse rail and includes a kick power transmission control input for controlling power transmission from the kick energy storage capacitor to the output pulse rail. A positive kick pulse power transistor control line is connected to the kick power transmission control input of the positive kick pulse transistor.

The present disclosure provides embodiments of a system and method for detecting processing chamber condition. The embodiments include performing a wafer-less processing step in a processing chamber to determine the condition of the chamber walls. Based on an analysis of the residual gas resulting from the wafer-less processing step, an operator or a process controller can determine whether the chamber walls have deteriorated to such an extent as to be cleaned.

Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided herein. For example, a method for processing a substrate comprises applying a DC target voltage to a target disposed within a processing volume of a plasma processing chamber, rotating a magnet disposed above the target at a default speed to direct sputter material from the target toward a substrate support disposed within the processing volume, measuring in-situ DC voltage in the processing volume, the in-situ DC voltage different from the DC target voltage, determining if a measured in-situ DC voltage is greater than a preset value, if the measured in-situ DC voltage is less than or equal to the preset value, maintaining the magnet at the default speed, and if the measured in-situ DC voltage is greater than the preset value, rotating the magnet at a speed less than the default speed to decrease the in-situ DC voltage.

Electrochromic devices and methods may employ the addition of a defect-mitigating insulating layer which prevents electronically conducting layers and/or electrochromically active layers from contacting layers of the opposite polarity and creating a short circuit in regions where defects form. In some embodiments, an encapsulating layer is provided to encapsulate particles and prevent them from ejecting from the device stack and risking a short circuit when subsequent layers are deposited. The insulating layer may have an electronic resistivity of between about 1 and 10.sup.8 Ohm-cm. In some embodiments, the insulating layer contains one or more of the following metal oxides: aluminum oxide, zinc oxide, tin oxide, silicon aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, tungsten oxide, nickel tungsten oxide, and oxidized indium tin oxide. Carbides, nitrides, oxynitrides, and oxycarbides may also be used.