An ion source with an insertable target holder for holding a solid dopant material is disclosed. The insertable target holder includes a pocket or cavity into which the solid dopant material is disposed. When the solid dopant material melts, it remains contained within the pocket, thus not damaging or degrading the arc chamber. Additionally, the target holder can be moved from one or more positions where the pocket is at least partially in the arc chamber to one or more positions where the pocket is entirely outside the arc chamber. In certain embodiments, a sleeve may be used to cover at least a portion of the open top of the pocket.

To provide an ion gun of a penning discharge type capable of achieving a milling rate which is remarkably higher than that in the related art, an ion milling device including the same, and an ion milling method. An ion generation unit includes a cathode that emits electrons, an anode that is provided within the ion generation unit and has an inner diameter of 5.2 mm or less, and magnetic-field generation means using a permanent magnet of which a maximum energy product ranges from 110 kJ/m.sup.3 to 191 kJ/m.sup.3.

A method for manufacturing a sputtering target with which an oxide semiconductor film with a small amount of defects can be formed is provided. Alternatively, an oxide semiconductor film with a small amount of defects is formed. A method for manufacturing a sputtering target is provided, which includes the steps of: forming a polycrystalline In-M-Zn oxide (M represents a metal chosen among aluminum, titanium, gallium, yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, cesium, neodymium, and hafnium) powder by mixing, sintering, and grinding indium oxide, an oxide of the metal, and zinc oxide; forming a mixture by mixing the polycrystalline In-M-Zn oxide powder and a zinc oxide powder; forming a compact by compacting the mixture; and sintering the compact.

The present disclosure provides a magnetron sputtering equipment, including: a mesh shielding plate disposed in a vacuum chamber of the magnetron sputtering equipment; the vacuum chamber includes one or more coating chambers, and the mesh shielding plate is disposed on a sidewall within the coating chamber, which facilitates the smooth operation of the magnetron sputtering target, and avoids the gas pollution of the vacuum chamber, and the installation and disassembly are simple and fast. The present disclosure provides an important solution and approach for a production line of the magnetic sputtering equipment.

A device for generating negative ions comprises: a) an ionizer (14) including a heatable ionizer surface; b) a heater (60) for heating said ionizer whereby positive ions (30) are generated at said ionizer surface (14e); c) a target (34) including a material for generating negative ions when said positive ions impigne on said material;
wherein d) said ionizer is arranged opposite the target; e) said target is electrically negatively biased in respect to said ionizer; f) said ionizer comprises an aperture (22) through which said generated negative ions are extracted from said target to generate a beam (50) of negative ions; and
wherein g) said ionizer surface (14e) is planar.

Disclosed are embodiments of an ion beam sample preparation and coating apparatus and methods. A sample may be prepared in one or more ion beams and then a coating may be sputtered onto the prepared sample within the same apparatus. A vacuum transfer device may be used with the apparatus in order to transfer a sample into and out of the apparatus while in a controlled environment. Various methods to improve preparation and coating uniformity are disclosed including: rotating the sample retention stage; modulating the sample retention stage; variable tilt ion beam irradiating means, more than one ion beam irradiating means, coating thickness monitoring, selective shielding of the sample, and modulating the coating donor holder.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for reducing a phenomenon in which fine particles derived from a sample and bounced off by ion beam irradiation are reattached to an ion milling surface. An ion milling device of the invention includes an ion source which emits an ion beam, a chamber, a sample table in which a sample is placed in the chamber, and a shielding plate placed on the sample, and by having a magnet disposed in the chamber, reattachment of fine particles derived from the sample can be reduced.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for reducing a phenomenon in which fine particles derived from a sample and bounced off by ion beam irradiation are reattached to an ion milling surface. An ion milling device of the invention includes an ion source which emits an ion beam, a chamber, a sample table in which a sample is placed in the chamber, and a shielding plate placed on the sample, and by having a magnet disposed in the chamber, reattachment of fine particles derived from the sample can be reduced.

A method for manufacturing a sputtering target with which an oxide semiconductor film with a small amount of defects can be formed is provided. Alternatively, an oxide semiconductor film with a small amount of defects is formed. A method for manufacturing a sputtering target is provided, which includes the steps of: forming a polycrystalline In-M-Zn oxide (M represents a metal chosen among aluminum, titanium, gallium, yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, cesium, neodymium, and hafnium) powder by mixing, sintering, and grinding indium oxide, an oxide of the metal, and zinc oxide; forming a mixture by mixing the polycrystalline In-M-Zn oxide powder and a zinc oxide powder; forming a compact by compacting the mixture; and sintering the compact.

In various embodiments, eroded sputtering targets are partially refurbished by spray-depositing particles of target material to at least partially fill certain regions (e.g., regions of deepest erosion) without spray-deposition within other eroded regions (e.g., regions of less erosion). The partially refurbished sputtering targets may be sputtered after the partial refurbishment without substantive changes in sputtering properties (e.g., sputtering rate) and/or properties of the sputtered films.