Provided is a cylindrical sputtering target made of a metal material, which has reduced particles. The sputtering target includes at least a target material, wherein the target material comprises one or more metal elements, the target material has a crystal grain size of 50 μm or less, and the target material has an oxygen concentration of 1000 ppm by mass or less.

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.

A method for preparing a CeO.sub.x coating on a surface of a substrate includes depositing a CeO.sub.x coating on the surface by means of a reactive magnetron sputtering from a pure cerium target. The CeO.sub.x coating can be transparent for visible light. A method for reducing the adhesion of a tissue material such as from a human to a surface of a medical instrument, for reducing the water condensation and improving the heat transfer performance of a heat exchanger surface of a substrate, and for reducing corrosion of a surface of a substrate includes depositing a CeO.sub.x coating on the substrate by means of a reactive magnetron sputtering from a pure cerium target. This provides an environmentally friendly preparation of the CeO.sub.x coating with no need for organic solvents or volatile organic compounds. The CeO.sub.x coating has good hydrophobicity, enhanced hardness, exceptionally high wear resistance, and superior thermal stability.

Provided is a master alloy for a sputtering target, wherein, when elements constituting the master alloy are following X1, X2, Y1, Y2, Y2, and Y3; specifically, where X1 is one or two types of Ta or W; X2 is at least one type of Ru, Mo, Nb or Hf; Y1 is one or two types of Cr or Mn; Y2 is one or two types of Co or Ni; and Y3 is one or two types of Ti or V, the master alloy comprises any one combination of X1-Y1, X1-Y2, X1-Y3, X2-Y1, and X2-Y2 of the foregoing constituent elements. The present invention consequently yields superior effects of being able to obtain a sintered sputtering target with few defects and having a high-density and uniform alloy composition, and, by using this target, to realize the deposition of an alloy barrier film with uniform quality and few particles at a high speed.

Described are methods of fabricating lithium sputter targets, lithium sputter targets, associated handling apparatus, and sputter methods including lithium targets. Various embodiments address adhesion of the lithium metal target to a support structure, avoiding and/or removing passivating coatings formed on the lithium target, uniformity of the lithium target as well as efficient cooling of lithium during sputtering. Target configurations used to compensate for non-uniformities in sputter plasma are described. Modular format lithium tiles and methods of fabrication are described. Rotary lithium sputter targets are also described.

Disclosed is an MgO target for sputtering, which can accelerate a film formation rate even when MgO is used as a target for sputtering in the formation of an MgO film. The MgO target for sputtering, which includes MgO and an electroconductive material as main components, and in which the electroconductive material is capable of imparting orientation to a MgO film when the MgO film containing the electroconductive material is formed by a DC sputtering.

A high-purity copper sputtering target, wherein a Vickers hardness of a flange part of the target is in a range of 90 to 100 Hv, a Vickers hardness of an erosion part in the central area of the target is in a range of 55 to 70 Hv, and a crystal grain size of the erosion part is 80 μm or less. This invention relates to a high-purity copper sputtering target that does not need to be bonded to a backing plate (BP), and aims to provide a high-purity copper sputtering target capable of forming a thin film having superior uniformity by enhancing a strength (hardness) of the flange part of the target, and reducing an amount of warpage of the target. Moreover, the uniformity of the film thickness is improved by adjusting the (111) orientation ratio of the erosion part and the flange part in the target. The present invention thereby aims to provide a high-purity copper sputtering target, which is capable of improving the yield and reliability of semiconductor products that are being subject to further miniaturization and higher integration, and useful for forming a copper alloy wiring for semiconductors.

A lithium cobalt oxide sintered body having a bending strength of 100 MPa or more, and a sputtering target formed using the sintered body are provided. In particular, a cylindrical sputtering target for use in rotary sputtering is provided. The sputtering target is useful in forming a cathode material thin film in an all-solid thin film lithium ion secondary battery for use in vehicles, telecommunication equipment and household equipment.

Various embodiments provide Molten Target Sputtering (MTS) methods and devices. The various embodiments may provide increases in the kinetic energy, increases in the energy latency, and/or increases in the flux density of molecules for better crystal formation at low temperature operation. The various embodiment MTS methods and devices may enable the growth of a single crystal Si.sub.1-xGe.sub.x film on a substrate heated to less than about 500° C. The various embodiment MTS methods and devices may provide increases in the kinetic energy, increases in the energy latency, and/or increases in the flux density of molecules without requiring the addition of extra systems.