Provided is a method of producing a target material with reduced particle generation during sputtering, which is a method of producing a sputtering target material whose material is an alloy M, including a sintering step of sintering a mixed powder obtained by mixing a first powder and a second powder. A material of the first powder is an alloy M1 in which the proportion of a B content is from 40 at. % to 60 at. %. A material of the second powder is an alloy M2 in which the proportion of a B content is from 20 at. % to 35 at. %. The proportion of a B content in the mixed powder is from 33 at. % to 50 at. %. A metallographic structure including a (CoFe).sub.2B phase and a (CoFe)B phase is formed in the sintering step. A boundary length per unit area Y (1/μm), which is obtained by measuring a boundary length between the (CoFe).sub.2B phase and the (CoFe)B phase using a scanning electron microscope, and a proportion X (at. %) of a B content of the alloy M satisfy the expression

Y<−0.0015×(X−42.5).sup.2+0.15.

The PVD apparatus includes a chamber, a plurality of stages, a first target holder, a power supply mechanism, and a shield. The plurality of stages are provided inside the chamber, and each of the plurality of stages is configured to place at least one substrate on an upper surface thereof. The first target holder is configured to hold at least one target provided for one stage, the target being exposed to a space inside the chamber. The power supply mechanism supplies power to the target via the first target holder. The shield is provided inside the chamber and a part of the shield is disposed between a first stage and a second stage in the plurality of stages, and between a first processing space on the first stage and a second processing space on the second stage.

A multiple sputtering target for magnetron arrangements has a tubular magnetron, for coating substrates in a vacuum chamber. The tubular magnetron is mounted in an end block or some other drive unit. A magnet bar is located in the tubular magnetron. Substrates transported along a circular path through a vacuum chamber can be coated with a selectable multiplicity of materials by magnetron sputtering. At least one polygonal carrier tube having an angular cross section has a plurality of longitudinally extending outer surfaces for receiving targets. A free extends longitudinally through the polygonal carrier tube. A magnet bar for forming plasma clouds outside the polygonal carrier tube is located in a working position in front of a target which can be selected by rotating the polygonal carrier tube. The moving or stationary substrate is located at a predetermined distance in front of the plasma clouds.

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.

A novel metal oxide or a novel sputtering target is provided. A sputtering target includes a conductive material and an insulating material. The insulating material includes an oxide, a nitride, or an oxynitride including an element M1. The element M1 is one or more kinds of elements selected from Al, Ga, Si, Mg, Zr, Be, and B. The conductive material includes an oxide, a nitride, or an oxynitride including indium and zinc. A metal oxide film is deposited using the sputtering target in which the conductive material and the insulating material are separated from each other.

A sputtering target containing molybdenum and at least one metal from the group tantalum and niobium. The average content of tantalum and/or niobium is from 5 to 15 at % and the molybdenum content is greater than or equal to 80 at %. The sputtering target has at least a matrix with an average molybdenum content of greater than or equal to 92 at % and particles which are composed of a solid solution containing at least one metal from the group of tantalum and niobium, and molybdenum, with an average molybdenum content of greater than or equal to 15 at % and are embedded in the matrix. There is also described a method of producing a sputtering target.

The present invention relates to a sputtering target comprising Ni, W and, optionally, one or more further metal(s) X selected from the group of the refractory metals, Sn, Al and Si, which has a normalized peak intensity ratio
PIR=I.sub.Ni/I.sub.W.Math.(A.sub.W+A.sub.x)/A.sub.Ni of 0.40 or greater, wherein I.sub.Ni is the intensity of the (111) peak of Ni, I.sub.W is the intensity of the (110) peak of W, A.sub.w is the fraction of W in the target in atom %, A.sub.x is the total fraction of the one or more further metals selected from the group of the refractory metals, Sn, Al and Si in the target in atom %, A.sub.Ni is the fraction of Ni in the target in atom %, and wherein the intensities of the peaks are determined by X-ray powder diffraction using Cu-K.sub.alpha radiation.

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.

A method for forming a film of an oxide of In, Ga, and Zn, having a spinel crystalline phase comprises providing a substrate in a chamber; providing a sputtering target in said chamber, the target comprising an oxide of In, Ga, and Zn, wherein: In, Ga, and Zn represent together at least 95 at % of the elements other than oxygen, In represents from 0.6 to 44 at % of In, Ga, and Zn, Ga represents from 22 to 66 at % of In, Ga, and Zn, and Zn represents from 20 to 46 at % of In, Ga, and Zn; and forming a film on the substrate, the substrate being at a temperature of from 125° C. to 250° C., by sputtering the target with a sputtering gas comprising O.sub.2, the sputtering being performed at a sputtering power of at least 200 W.

A method of manufacturing an electronic component including a substrate is provided. The method includes generating a plasma remote from a sputter target, generating sputtered material from the sputter target using the plasma, and depositing the sputtered material on a substrate as a crystalline layer.