Methods and apparatus for forming a thin film transistor (TFT) having a metal oxide layer. The method may include forming an amorphous metal oxide layer and treating the metal oxide layer with a silicon containing gas or plasma including Si.sup.4+ ions. The silicon treatment of the metal oxide layer helps fill the oxygen vacancies in the metal oxide channel layer, leading to a more stable TFT and preventing a negative threshold voltage in the TFT.

A target assembly is provided which is capable of preventing abnormal discharging from being generated between a projected portion of a backing plate and a side surface of a target, and which is also capable of surely preventing a bonding material that bonds the target and the backing plate together from seeping to the outside. The backing plate has a projected portion which is projected outward beyond an outer peripheral end of the target, and an annular shield plate is disposed to lie opposite to the projected portion so as to enclose the target in a state in which the target assembly is assembled onto a sputtering apparatus (SM). That portion of the backing plate to which the target gets bonded is defined as a bonding portion, and this bonding portion is protruded relative to the projected portion.

A sputtering target assembly for use in a vapor deposition apparatus, the sputtering target assembly comprising a sputtering surface; a sidewall extending from the sputtering surface at an angle to the sputtering surface; a particle trap formed of a roughness located along the sidewall and extending radially from the sputtering surface, wherein the roughness of the particle trap has a macrostructure and a microstructure.

Evaporation source, in particular for use in a sputtering process or in a vacuum arc evaporation process, preferably a cathode vacuum arc evaporation process. The evaporation source includes an inner base body which is arranged in an outer carrier body and which is arranged with respect to the outer carrier body such that a cooling space in flow communication with an inlet and an outlet is formed between the base body and the carrier body. In accordance with the invention, the cooling space includes an inflow space and an outflow space, and the inflow space is in flow communication with the outflow space via an overflow connection for the cooling of the evaporation source such that a cooling fluid can be conveyed from the inlet via the inflow space the overflow connection and the outflow space to the outlet.

Methods and systems for depositing a thin film are disclosed. The methods and systems can be used to deposit a film having a uniform thickness on a substrate surface that has a non-planar three-dimensional geometry, such as a curved surface. The methods involve the use of a deposition source that has a shape in accordance with the non-planar three-dimensional geometry of the substrate surface. In some embodiments, multiple layers of films are deposited onto each other forming multi-layered coatings. In some embodiments, the multi-layered coatings are antireflective (AR) coatings for windows or lenses.

A magnetron sputtering electrode for use in a rotatable cylindrical magnetron sputtering device, the electrode including a cathode body defining a magnet receiving chamber and a cylindrical target surrounding the cathode body. The target is rotatable about the cathode body. A magnet arrangement is received within the magnet receiving chamber, the magnet arrangement including a plurality of magnets. A shunt is secured to the cathode body and proximate to a side of the magnet arrangement, the shunt extending in a plane substantially parallel to the side of the magnet arrangement. A method of fine-tuning a magnetron sputtering electrode in a rotatable cylindrical magnetron sputtering device is also disclosed.

An indium sputtering target with a short time to attain a stable film deposition rate once sputtering has begun is provided. An indium sputtering target having a surface to be sputtered with an arithmetic average roughness Ra of from 5 μm to 70 μm prior to sputtering.

A sputtering target having a one-piece top coat comprising a mixture of oxides of zinc, tin, and optionally gallium, characterized in that said one-piece top coat has a length of at least 80 cm; a method for forming such a sputtering target and the use of such a target for forming films.

Provided are an indium cylindrical sputtering target capable of providing good film thickness distribution and a method for production thereof. The indium cylindrical target comprises crystal grains whose average size is 1 mm to 20 mm over its surface to be sputtered. The method for manufacturing the indium cylindrical target includes the steps of: casting a semi-finished product of an indium cylindrical target integrated with a backing tube; and subjecting the semi-finished product to plastic working in its radial direction, wherein the plastic working is performed with a total thickness reduction rate of at least 10% over its longitudinal direction.

Conventional electrochromic devices frequently suffer from poor reliability and poor performance. Improvements are made using entirely solid and inorganic materials. Electrochromic devices are fabricated by forming an ion conducting electronically-insulating interfacial region that serves as an IC layer. In some methods, the interfacial region is formed after formation of an electrochromic and a counter electrode layer. The interfacial region contains an ion conducting electronically-insulating material along with components of the electrochromic and/or the counter electrode layer. Materials and microstructure of the electrochromic devices provide improvements in performance and reliability over conventional devices. In various embodiments, a counter electrode is fabricated to include a base anodically coloring material and one or more additives.