Appeal No. 1997-3172
Application 08/045,989
Appellants claim a magnetron sputtering apparatus which
includes a shield for shielding substrates from obliquely
incident deposition. Claim 1 is illustrative and reads as
follows:
1. A high throughput sputtering apparatus for providing
a single or multi-layer coating to the surface of a plurality
of substrates, said apparatus comprising:
a plurality of buffer and sputtering chambers, said
sputtering chambers including:
a plurality of planar cathodes, each with first and
second surfaces, wherein the cathodes are mounted within said
sputtering chambers in a plane oriented substantially parallel
to a plane including the plurality of substrates,
a plurality of targets positioned on the first surfaces
to provide sources for films to be sputtered,
magnet means for generating magnetic flux lines over the
first surfaces and the targets, which lines are sufficient to
support sputtering and form substantially horizontal flux
paths parallel to the first surfaces and the targets, and
a shield for shielding the substrates from obliquely
incident deposition from the targets, the shield including
flanges extending from the cathodes and projecting toward the
substrates.
THE REFERENCES
Flint et al. (Flint) 4,749,465 Jun. 7,
1988 Bloomquist et al. (Bloomquist) 4,790,921 Dec.
13, 1988
Welty 4,892,633 Jan. 9,
1990
2
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