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US5126165A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Laser deposition method and apparatus

Assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
•
Filing: 1990-07-06
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Granted: 1992-06-30
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Expires: 2010-07-06
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Abstract

Abstract For forming a metal film of a desired property on a substrate, a target and the substrate are placed in a pressure-reducing chamber, and then pulse laser is irradiated to the target. This causes the component materials, such as ions, electrons, neutral atoms, cluster, fine grains and liquid drops, of the target to be emitted from the target, and then laser induced plasma is produced. These emissions of substances have spatial and timewise distribution determined by physical and chemical states. Then, a shielding plate having an opening is placed between the target and the substrate, and from the materials, only the material emitted in a predetermined direction is selected to control the property of the film deposited on the substrate. By locating a filter between the target and the substrate to open for a predetermined period of time, only the material emitted at a predetermined velocity can be selected. Further, by applying a predetermined d.c. voltage between the target and the substrate to control the spatial and timewise distribution of charged particles in the emitted materials, it is possible to control the velocity, order and quantity of the charged particles as the latter arrive at the substrate.

Inventors

  • 👤 Kazuhiro Akihama
  • 👤 Yoshimi Kizaki
  • 👤 Noboru Takayanagi

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-30 14:57
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C14/00; C23C14/06; C23C14/14; C23C14/16; C23C14/22; C23C14/24; C23C14/28; C23C14/54

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim 191 words
A laser deposition apparatus comprising: (a) an airtight chamber for keeping an interior thereof at a reduced pressure; (b) a target holder disposed in the interior of said chamber for holding a target having a target surface to be irradiated; (c) a laser for outputting laser light; (d) a focusing means for focusing the laser light from said laser to irradiate the focused laser light to a laser radiating point at the target surface, so as to cause an emitting material to emit from the target and so as to generate laser induced plasma; (e) a substrate holder for holding a substrate to which the emitting material emitted from the target is to be deposited; and (f) a direction selecting means, having an opening, disposed in a traveling path of the emitting material extending between said target holder and said substrate holder, said aperture of said direction selecting means selecting, from the emitting material that is emitted in a direction of a solid angle of 0.022 steradian with the normal to the target surface of the target, the laser radiating point being the center of the solid angle of 0.022 steradian.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 191 words
A laser deposition apparatus comprising: (a) an airtight chamber for keeping an interior thereof at a reduced pressure; (b) a target holder disposed in the interior of said chamber for holding a target having a target surface to be irradiated; (c) a laser for outputting laser light; (d) a focusing means for focusing the laser light from said laser to irradiate the focused laser light to a laser radiating point at the target surface, so as to cause an emitting material to emit from the target and so as to generate laser induced plasma; (e) a substrate holder for holding a substrate to which the emitting material emitted from the target is to be deposited; and (f) a direction selecting means, having an opening, disposed in a traveling path of the emitting material extending between said target holder and said substrate holder, said aperture of said direction selecting means selecting, from the emitting material that is emitted in a direction of a solid angle of 0.022 steradian with the normal to the target surface of the target, the laser radiating point being the center of the solid angle of 0.022 steradian.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 35 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said target holder is mounted on a rotary table which is angularly movable to vary the angle of irradiation of the laser light to the target.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 24 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said direction selecting means is a shielding plate having an opening at a predetermined position.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 83 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a velocity selecting means disposed in the traveling path of the emitting material for selecting, from the emitting material emitted from the target, a part of the emitting material that is emitted at a predetermined velocity, said velocity selecting means including a chopping element through which the emitting material is allowed to pass only for a predetermined period of time, the laser light to be irradiated to the target being pulse laser light.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 63 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said chopper element includes a plate having a predetermined opening, and a motor for angularly moving said plate, said chopper element being disposed in the traveling path of the emitting material during the predetermined period of time and operable to allow the emitting material to pass therethrough only for the predetermined period of time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 34 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said direction selecting means is a shielding plate and the opening of said direction selecting means is at a predetermined position at the shielding plate.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 35 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said target holder is mounted on a rotary table which is angularly movable to vary the angle of irradiation of the laser light to the target.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 26 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an emitting-material controlling means for controlling the state of the emitting material emitted from the target.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 30 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said emitting-material controlling means is a voltage applying means for applying a predetermined d.c. voltage between the target and the substrate.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 24 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said voltage applying means is capable of varying the predetermined d.c. voltage to be applied.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 73 words
A laser deposition apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a velocity selecting means disposed in the traveling path of the emitting material for selecting, from the emitting material emitted from the target, a part of the emitting material that is emitted at a predetermined velocity, wherein said target holder is mounted on a rotary table which is angularly movable to vary the angle of irradiation of the laser light to the target.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 197 words
A laser deposition apparatus comprising: (a) an airtight chamber for keeping an interior thereof at a reduced pressure; (b) a target holder disposed in the interior of said chamber for holding a target having a target surface to be irradiated; (c) a laser for outputting laser light; (d) a focusing means for focusing the laser light from said laser to irradiate the focused laser light to a laser radiating point at the target surface, so as to cause an emitting material to emit from the target and so as to generate laser induced plasma; (e) a substrate holder for holding a substrate to which the emitting material emitted from the target is to be deposited; and (f) a velocity selecting means, disposed in a traveling path of the emitting material extending between said target holder and said substrate holder, for selecting, from the emitting material emitted from the target, only a part of the emitting material that is emitted at a predetermined velocity in a direction of a solid angle of 0.022 steradian with the normal to the target surface of the target, the laser radiating point being the center of the solid angle of 0.022 steradian.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 197 words
A laser deposition apparatus comprising: (a) an airtight chamber for keeping an interior thereof at a reduced pressure; (b) a target holder disposed in the interior of said chamber for holding a target having a target surface to be irradiated; (c) a laser for outputting laser light; (d) a focusing means for focusing the laser light from said laser to irradiate the focused laser light to a laser radiating point at the target surface, so as to cause an emitting material to emit from the target and so as to generate laser induced plasma; (e) a substrate holder for holding a substrate to which the emitting material emitted from the target is to be deposited; and (f) a velocity selecting means, disposed in a traveling path of the emitting material extending between said target holder and said substrate holder, for selecting, from the emitting material emitted from the target, only a part of the emitting material that is emitted at a predetermined velocity in a direction of a solid angle of 0.022 steradian with the normal to the target surface of the target, the laser radiating point being the center of the solid angle of 0.022 steradian.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 121 words
A laser deposition method comprising: (a) placing a target having a target surface and a substrate in a chamber, wherein the interior of the chamber is kept at a reduced pressure; (b) focusing laser light and irradiating said light onto the target surface at a selected region to cause an emitting material to emit from the target and generate a laser induced plasma; (c) selecting, from the emitting material emitted from the target, only a part of the emitting material that is emitted in a direction of a solid angle of 0.022 steradian with respect to a normal to the target surface which intersects the selected region of the target surface; and (d) depositing the selected emitting material onto the substrate.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 121 words
A laser deposition method comprising: (a) placing a target having a target surface and a substrate in a chamber, wherein the interior of the chamber is kept at a reduced pressure; (b) focusing laser light and irradiating said light onto the target surface at a selected region to cause an emitting material to emit from the target and generate a laser induced plasma; (c) selecting, from the emitting material emitted from the target, only a part of the emitting material that is emitted in a direction of a solid angle of 0.022 steradian with respect to a normal to the target surface which intersects the selected region of the target surface; and (d) depositing the selected emitting material onto the substrate.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 13 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 13, wherein the target comprises tungsten.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 20 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 13, wherein the target is composed of separate portions of copper and iron.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 22 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 13, wherein the laser light to be irradiated to the target is pulsed laser light.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 33 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 16, further including: selecting, from the emitting material emitted from the target, a part of the emitting material that is emitted only at a predetermined velocity.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 33 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 13, further comprising: applying a predetermined d.c. voltage between the target and the substrate; and controlling the state of the emitting material emitted from the target.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 33 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 17, further comprising: applying a predetermined direct voltage between the target and the substrate; and controlling the state of the emitting material emitted from the target.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 31 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 13, wherein said part of the emitting material to be selected in said selecting step is that part emitted only to a predetermined velocity.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 18 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 13, wherein the target comprises an element capable of allotropically transforming.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 13 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 21, wherein the target is tungsten.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 20 words
A laser deposition method according to claim 13, wherein the target is composed of separate portion of copper and iron.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4281030A Cited
US4701592A Cited
JPS59116373A Cited
US4619691A Cited
US4987007A Cited
US5017277A Cited
US4921348A Cited
US5015492A Cited
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1995-06-30 1995-12-30 1996-06-30 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1999-06-30 1999-12-30 2000-06-30 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2003-06-30 2003-12-30 2004-06-30 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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