A gold sputtering target is made of gold and inevitable impurities, and has a surface to be sputtered. In the gold sputtering target, an average value of Vickers hardness is 40 or more and 60 or less, and an average crystal grain size is 15 μm or more and 200 μm or less. A {110} plane of gold is preferentially oriented at the surface to be sputtered.

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, which are in direct contact with one another. 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 addition to the improved electrochromic devices and methods for fabrication, integrated deposition systems for forming such improved devices are also disclosed.

Physical vapor deposition methods for reducing the particulates deposited on the substrate are disclosed. The pressure during sputtering can be increased to cause agglomeration of the particulates formed in the plasma. The agglomerated particulates can be moved to an outer portion of the process chamber prior to extinguishing the plasma so that the agglomerates fall harmlessly outside of the diameter of the substrate.

A component for a plasma processing apparatus includes a substrate and a film on at least a part of the substrate. The film includes an oxide, a fluoride, an oxyfluoride, or a nitride of a rare earth element. A ratio σ22/σ11 of a compressive stress σ11 to occur across a surface of the film to be exposed to plasma and a compressive stress σ22 to occur across the surface in a direction perpendicular to the compressive stress σ11 is 5 or less. A plasma processing apparatus includes the above component.

Embodiments are directed to a method of optimizing thickness of a target material film deposited on a semiconductor substrate in a semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the semiconductor processing chamber includes a magnetic assembly positioned on the semiconductor processing chamber, the magnetic assembly including a plurality of magnetic columns within the magnetic assembly. The method includes operating the semiconductor processing chamber to deposit a film of target material on a semiconductor substrate positioned within the semiconductor processing chamber, measuring an uniformity of the deposited film, adjusting a position of one or more magnetic columns in the magnetic assembly, and operating the semiconductor processing chamber to deposit the film of the target material after adjusting position of the one or more magnetic columns.

A sputtering target according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a plate-shaped target body formed of a metal material. The target body includes a target portion and a base portion. The target portion has a sputtering surface. The base portion has a cooling surface and includes a gradient strength layer, the cooling surface being positioned on a side opposite to the sputtering surface and having hardness higher than that of the sputtering surface, the gradient strength layer having tensile strength that gradually decreases from the cooling surface toward the target portion.

Embodiments of the disclosure relate to methods for enlarging the opening width of substrate features by reducing the overhang of deposited films. Some embodiments of the disclosure utilize a high power bias pulse to etch the deposited film near the opening of the substrate feature. Some embodiments of the disclosure etch the deposited film without damaging the underlying substrate.

A ruthenium-based sputtering target having a cast structure, in which a sputter surface of the sputtering target includes at least two or more types of regions, and crystal surfaces in the regions are different from each other, each of the crystal surfaces being specified by a main peak of X-ray diffraction.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a Ru-based sputtering target having no void, having high purity and a low degree of structural anisotropy, and capable of forming a Ru-based film having low particle properties, high film thickness uniformity, and high surface uniformity, and a method for manufacturing the same. According to the present disclosure, there is provided a ruthenium-based sputtering target having a cast structure, in which a sputter surface of the sputtering target includes at least two or more types of regions, and crystal surfaces in the regions are different from each other, each of the crystal surfaces being specified by a main peak of X-ray diffraction.

A sputtering-target material (2) is composed of aluminum having a purity of 99.999 mass % or higher and unavoidable impurities. When an average crystal-grain diameter at the plate surface (21) is given as D.sub.s [μm], an average crystal-grain diameter at a depth of ¼.sup.th of the plate thickness (22) is given as D.sub.q [μm], and an average crystal-grain diameter at a depth of ½ of the plate thickness (23) is given as D.sub.c [μm], the formulas below are satisfied, and the average crystal-grain diameter changes continuously in a plate-thickness direction.
D.sub.s≤230
D.sub.q≤280
D.sub.c≤300
1.2≤D.sub.q/D.sub.s
1.3≤D.sub.c/D.sub.s

Provided is a sputtering target, the sputtering target containing 0.05 at % or more of Bi and having a total content of metal oxides of from 10 vol % to 60 vol %, the balance containing at least Co and Pt.