Sputter etching chamber having a gas baffle with improved uniformity

摘要

The uniformity of material removal, as well as contamination due to deposited particulate matter, has been reduced in single wafer sputter-etchers by providing an improved gas baffle. Said gas baffle presents a smooth surface to the incoming sputtering gas so that it disperses uniformly throughout the sputtering chamber, thereby avoiding local fluctuations in pressure which, in turn, can lead to local differences in material removal rate as well as to particulate contamination of the surface that is being etched. The design of the baffle is described along with a method for attaching it to the inside of the sputtering shield.