Contoured quartz anode plate

Claim 2

In a sputter deposition system for coating workpieces with a layer of material, said system including, a low pressure ionization chamber containing an anode plate having recesses in its upper surface for supporting workpieces in a common plane, a cathode source of coating material, and a source of power for producing a glow discharge in a gas contained in said chamber, the improvement which comprises: A contoured anode plate which provides a thinner region of said plate at the edge of at least one recess and a substantially uniform but greater thickness directly under the workpieces so as to provide a more uniform coating layer of material on the workpieces.

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 wherein the power source is a radio frequency power source.

Claim 4

The system of claim 1 wherein the system is a driven anode system.

Claim 5

The system of claim 1 wherein the system is a tuned anode system.

Claim 6

The system of claim 1 wherein the thinner region is formed by cutouts in the anode plate along portions of the edges of the recesses which are located at the outer portion of the anode plate where there is no adjacent recess.

Claim 7

The system of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the anode under the workpieces is adjustable to provide an equal potential on each workpiece.

Claim 8

In a process for sputter coating workpieces with a layer of material in which the workpieces are supported in a common plane within recesses formed in an anode plate in a low pressure atmosphere of an ionizable gas and power is supplied to a cathode source of coating material to produce a glow discharge in said gas so that material is sputtered from the source onto the workpieces, the improvement which comprises providing the anode plate with a thinner region at the edge of at least one said recess while maintaining the thickness of the anode plate directly under said work pieces substantially constant and greater than said thinner region so as to provide a more uniform coating layer of material on the workpieces.

Claim 9

In a process for sputter coating workpieces with a layer of material in which the workpieces are supported in a common plane within recesses formed in an anode plate in a low pressure atmosphere of an ionizable gas and power is supplied to a cathode source of coating material to produce a glow discharge in said gas so that material is sputtered from the source onto the workpieces, the improvement which comprises providing the anode plate with a thinner region at the edge of at least one said recess while maintaining the thickness of the anode plate directly under said work pieces substantially constant and greater than said thinner region so as to provide a more uniform coating layer of material on the workpieces.

Claim 10

The process of claim 7 wherein the workpieces are semiconductor wafers and the thinner region is formed by a cutout located along a portion of the edge of at least one said recess which is located at the outer portion of the anode plate, which portion of the edge is not adjacent to another wafer.