US 12,134,125 B2
Systems and methods for casting sputtering targets
Dean Plaisted, Kennebunk, ME (US); Nancy Norberg, South Portland, ME (US); Paul Carter, Waterboro, ME (US); Larry Ferrin, Lebanon, ME (US); and Patrick Morse, Tucson, AZ (US)
Assigned to Junora LTD, Biddeford, ME (US)
Appl. No. 17/798,950
Filed by Junora LTD, Biddeford, ME (US)
PCT Filed Feb. 12, 2021, PCT No. PCT/IB2021/051195
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 11, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/161255, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 19, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/975,848, filed on Feb. 13, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0075617 A1, Mar. 9, 2023
Int. Cl. B22D 23/00 (2006.01); B22D 23/06 (2006.01); B22D 25/00 (2006.01); B22D 27/04 (2006.01); B22D 27/08 (2006.01); C23C 14/34 (2006.01)
CPC B22D 23/006 (2013.01) [B22D 23/06 (2013.01); B22D 25/00 (2013.01); B22D 27/04 (2013.01); B22D 27/08 (2013.01); C23C 14/3414 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A rotatable sputtering target casting manufacturing process, comprising the steps of:
loading a material to be melted into a melt zone within a casting vessel;
sealing the casting vessel and reducing an internal pressure with a vacuum pump;
heating the material in the melt zone until it is a liquid metal;
creating a temperature gradient within a casting zone of the casting vessel that promotes wetting of the liquid metal onto a rotatable target backing tube and minimizes wetting onto an external mold pipe;
rotating the casting vessel to pour the liquid metal from the melt zone into the casting zone;
actively cooling the casting zone through the rotatable target backing tube to create a cast rotatable target material, wherein the cast rotatable target material is formed in the casting zone between an outside of a first hollow cylinder of a casting zone wall and an inside of a second hollow cylinder maintained concentric to each other; and
removing the cast rotatable target material from the casting vessel by removing the external mold pipe and retaining an inner backing tube.