| HERAEUS INC. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120111723 | METHODOLOGY FOR RECYCLING RU AND RU-ALLOY DEPOSITION TARGETS & TARGETS MADE OF RECYCLED RU AND RU-BASED ALLOY POWDERS - A recycled deposition source is ruthenium (Ru) or Ru-based alloy material in the form of a powder material having a size not greater than a 325 mesh size and having an average tap density greater than about 5 gm/cm | 05-10-2012 |
| 20090258238 | SILICIDE FORMATION UTILIZING NI-DOPED COBALT DEPOSITION SOURCE - A method of forming a layer of an electrically conductive metal-silicide material, comprises steps of: providing a Si-containing workpiece; forming a Ni-doped Co layer on a surface of the workpiece, as by sputter deposition utilizing a Ni-doped Co sputtering target; and reacting the Ni-doped Co layer and workpiece. Embodiments include performing a salicide process to form electrically conductive Ni-doped Co silicide functioning as electrically conductive contacts to the gate electrode and source and drain regions of a MOS transistor. Also disclosed are PVD sources, e.g., sputtering targets, comprising Ni-doped Co and utilized for forming the Ni-doped Co layer. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090134015 | ENHANCED OXYGEN NON-STOICHIOMETRY COMPENSATION FOR THIN FILMS - A method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium, including the step of reactively or non-reactively sputtering at least a first data storing thin film layer over a substrate from a sputter target. The sputter target is comprised of cobalt (Co), platinum (Pt), a first metal oxide further comprised of a first metal and oxygen (O) and, when non-reactively sputtering, a second metal oxide. The first data storing thin film layer is comprised of cobalt (Co), platinum (Pt), and a stoichiometric third metal oxide comprising the first metal and oxygen (O). During sputtering, any non-stoichiometry of the third metal oxide in the first data storing thin film layer is compensated for using oxygen (O) from the second metal oxide in the sputter target, or using oxygen (O) from the oxygen-rich gas atmosphere. The first metal is selected from boron (B), silicon (Si), aluminum (Al), tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), hafnium (Hf), zirconium (Zr), titanium (Ti), tin (Sn), lanthanum (La), tungsten (W), cobalt (Co), yttrium (Y), chromium (Cr), cerium (Ce), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), vanadium (V), samarium (Sm), praseodymium (Pr), manganese (Mn), iridium (Ir), rhenium (Re), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn). The sputter target is further comprised of chromium (Cr) and/or boron (B). | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090120237 | ENHANCED FORMULATION OF COBALT ALLOY MATRIX COMPOSITIONS - A method for manufacturing a single-element matrix cobalt-based granular media alloy composition formulated as Co | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090107837 | METHODOLOGY FOR RECYCLING RU AND RU-ALLOY DEPOSITION TARGETS & TARGETS MADE OF RECYCLED RU AND RU-BASED ALLOY POWDERS - A method of recycling ruthenium (Ru) and Ru-based alloys comprises steps of: providing a solid body of Ru or a Ru-based alloy; segmenting the body to form a particulate material; removing contaminants, including Fe, from the particulate material; reducing the sizes of the particulate material to form a powder material; removing contaminants, including Fe, from the powder material; reducing oxygen content of the powder material to below a predetermined level to form a purified powder material; and removing particles greater than a predetermined size from the purified powder material. The purified powder material may be utilized for forming deposition sources, e.g., sputtering targets. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090053089 | HOMOGENEOUS GRANULATED METAL BASED and METAL-CERAMIC BASED POWDERS - A method of making a homogeneous granulated metal-based powder, comprises steps of: providing preselected amounts of at least one metal element or metal alloy, at least one ceramic compound, and/or at least one non-metallic element; forming a homogeneous slurry/suspension or wet mixture comprising the preselected amounts of metal element(s) and/or metal alloys, ceramic compound(s), and/or non-metallic element(s), a liquid phase comprising at least one liquid, and at least one binder material; drying the slurry/suspension or mixture to remove at least a portion of the liquid phase and form a powder mixture comprising partially or completely dried granules; and subjecting the granules to a thermal de-binder process for effecting: additional removal of any remaining liquid phase, if necessary; removal of the at least one binder material; reduction of carbon content; reduction of oxygen on the surfaces or interior of the metal or metal alloy phases in the granules; and optional partial sintering for strengthening for withstanding subsequent processing. The resultant granules are useful in fabricating magnetic sputtering targets employed in the manufacture of magnetic data/information storage and retrieval media. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090028744 | Ultra-high purity NiPt alloys and sputtering targets comprising same - A method of making a NiPt alloy having an ultra-high purity of at least about 4N5 and suitable for use as a sputtering target, comprises steps of: heating predetermined amounts of lesser purity Ni and Pt at an elevated temperature in a crucible to form a NiPt alloy melt, the crucible being composed of a material which is inert to the melt at the elevated temperature; and transferring the melt to a mold having a cavity with a surface coated with a release agent which does not contaminate the melt with impurity elements. The resultant NiPt alloy has a very low concentration of impurity elements and is subjected to cross-directional hot rolling for reducing thickness and grain size. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090010792 | Brittle metal alloy sputtering targets and method of fabricating same - A method of fabricating a sputtering target assembly comprises steps of mixing/blending selected amounts of powders of at least one noble or near-noble Group VIII metal at least one Group IVB, VB, or VIB refractory metal; forming the mixed/blended powder into a green compact having increased density; forming a full density compact from the green compact; cutting a target plate slice from the full density compact; diffusion bonding a backing plate to a surface of the target plate slice to form a target/backing plate assembly; and machining the target/backing plate assembly to a selected final dimension. The disclosed method is particularly useful for fabricating large diameter Ru—Ta alloy targets utilized in semiconductor metallization processing. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20080268292 | Hexagonal close-packed ceramic seedlayers for perpendicular magnetic recording media - A magnetic recording medium is provided, comprising a substrate, a hexagonal close-packed seedlayer deposited over the substrate, a hexagonal close-packed underlayer deposited over the seedlayer, and a hexagonal close-packed recording layer deposited over the underlayer. The seedlayer is comprised of a ceramic. A method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium is also provided, comprising the steps of sputtering a first sputter target to deposit a hexagonal close-packed seedlayer over a substrate, sputtering a second sputter target to deposit a hexagonal close-packed underlayer over the seedlayer, and sputtering a third sputter target to deposit a hexagonal close-packed magnetic recording layer over the underlayer. The seedlayer comprises a ceramic. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080238601 | Inductive devices with granular magnetic materials - An inductive device is provided, comprising a conductor configured in a spiral and a first layer of granular magnetic material having a plurality of magnetic grains embedded in an amorphous ceramic matrix. The amorphous ceramic matrix has a dielectric constant greater than 3. A transformer is also provided, comprising a core and a first inductor. The first inductor includes a first conductor configured in a spiral surrounding a first portion of the core, and a first layer of granular magnetic material. The transformer further comprises a second inductor. The second inductor includes a second conductor configured in a spiral surrounding a second portion of the core, and a second layer of granular magnetic material. The first and second layers of granular magnetic material have a plurality of magnetic grains embedded in an amorphous ceramic matrix. The amorphous ceramic matrix has a dielectric constant greater than 3. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080210555 | HIGH DENSITY CERAMIC AND CERMET SPUTTERING TARGETS BY MICROWAVE SINTERING - A method of manufacturing sputtering targets from powder materials, comprising steps of: providing at least one raw powder material; forming the at least one raw powder material into a green body with density greater than about 40 % of theoretical maximum density; treating the green body with microwaves to form a sintered body with density greater than about 97% of theoretical maximum density; and forming a sputtering target from the sintered body. The methodology is especially useful in the fabrication of targets comprising dielectric and cermet materials. | 09-04-2008 |
