Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
Sputtering target assembly to prevent overetch of backing plate and methods of using the same

Abstract:

A sputtering target assembly, sputtering apparatus, and method, the target assembly including a backing plate having an aperture formed therein; and a target bonded to a front surface of the backing plate. The aperture is disposed on the backing plate such that a first end of the aperture is sealed by a portion of the target that is predicted by a sputtering target erosion profile to have the highest etching rate during a corresponding sputtering process.