Target wear detection mechanism, sputtering apparatus having the target wear detection method, and target wear detection method

摘要

To detect wear of a target reaching replacement timing easily and speedily at low cost and then stop sputtering.SOLUTION: A target wear detection mechanism has: a substrate mounted in a chamber; a target made of a material for forming a thin film on the substrate by sputtering; a back plate coming into contact with a reverse surface of the target to support and cool the target in the chamber; and optical detection means fitted on the side of the back plate so as to detect the reverse surface of the target. The target has a previously cut back groove formed not projecting from the side of the reverse surface to an outer peripheral side up to a depth position of an erosion region where the sputtering is stopped. The optical detection means is arranged within a range where the back groove is formed, and detects whether there is plasma light passing through a wear hole penetrating as the erosion region of the target reaches the back groove through the sputtering.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1