SILICON CARBIDE SPUTTERING TARGET

摘要

The invention provides a silicon carbide sputtering target comprising non-stoichiometric silicon carbide, SiCx, where x is the molar ratio of carbon to silicon and x is greater than about 1.1 but less than about 1.45. The sputtering target of this invention is superior to sputtering targets prepared from presently available non-stoichiometric silicon carbide in that the DC magnetron sputtering rate using the new sputtering target is nearly an order of magnitude higher than the rate achievable with presently available targets. The invention also includes processes for making the new sputtering target from a raw batch and preparing superior silicon carbide films by sputtering the target.