Patent
Methodology for recycling Ru and Ru-alloy deposition targets and targets made of recycled Ru and Ru-based alloy powders
| العنوان: | Methodology for recycling Ru and Ru-alloy deposition targets and targets made of recycled Ru and Ru-based alloy powders |
|---|---|
| Patent Number: | 8,118,906 |
| تاريخ النشر: | February 21, 2012 |
| Appl. No: | 11/927325 |
| Application Filed: | October 29, 2007 |
| مستخلص: | A method of recycling ruthenium (Ru) and Ru-based alloys comprises steps of: providing a solid body of Ru or a Ru-based alloy; segmenting the body to form a particulate material; removing contaminants, including Fe, from the particulate material; reducing the sizes of the particulate material to form a powder material; removing contaminants, including Fe, from the powder material; reducing oxygen content of the powder material to below a predetermined level to form a purified powder material; and removing particles greater than a predetermined size from the purified powder material. The purified powder material may be utilized for forming deposition sources, e.g., sputtering targets. |
| Inventors: | Yi, Wuwen (Tempe, AZ, US); Heckman, William (Montague, MI, US); Kunkel, Bernd (Phoenix, AZ, US); Derrington, Carl (Tempe, AZ, US); Griffin, Patrick (Chandler, AZ, US) |
| Assignees: | Heraeus Inc. (Chandler, AZ, US) |
| Claim: | 1. A method of recycling ruthenium (Ru) and Ru-based alloys, comprising steps of: (a) providing a solid body of Ru or a Ru-based alloy; (b) segmenting said solid body to form a particulate material; (c) removing contaminants, including iron (Fe), from said particulate material; (d) reducing particle sizes of said particulate material to form a powder material; (e) removing contaminants, including Fe, from said powder material; (f) reducing oxygen content of said powder material to form a purified powder material; and (g) removing particles greater than a predetermined size from said purified powder material. |
| Claim: | 2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: step (a) comprises providing a solid body in the form of a spent deposition source. |
| Claim: | 3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein: said spent deposition source comprises a sputtering target. |
| Claim: | 4. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising a step of: (h) forming a deposition source from said purified powder material. |
| Claim: | 5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein: said deposition source comprises a sputtering target. |
| Claim: | 6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein: step (h) comprises consolidating said purified powder to have a tap density >˜5 gm/cm 3 . |
| Claim: | 7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein: step (h) comprises hot isostatic pressing, vacuum hot pressing, or spark plasma sintering and optionally further comprises cold isostatic pressing. |
| Claim: | 8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein: step (h) comprises addition of at least one element to said purified powder prior to said consolidating. |
| Claim: | 9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein: step (a) comprises providing a solid body of a RuCr alloy; and step (h) comprises adding chromium (Cr) to said purified powder. |
| Claim: | 10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: step (b) comprises optional jaw crushing followed by hammer milling. |
| Claim: | 11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: step (c) comprises a first leaching to remove iron (Fe) and other contaminants, followed by drying. |
| Claim: | 12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: step (d) comprises impact milling. |
| Claim: | 13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: step (e) comprises a second leaching to reduce Fe content to <˜500 ppm and remove other contaminants, followed by drying. |
| Claim: | 14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein: step (e) further comprises performing a magnetic separation to remove Fe prior to said second leaching. |
| Claim: | 15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: step (f) comprises reducing oxygen content to <˜500 ppm. |
| Claim: | 16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein: step (f) comprises performing a reduction process in an atmosphere containing hydrogen gas. |
| Claim: | 17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein: step (f) further comprises annealing said purified powder material during said reduction process. |
| Claim: | 18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein: step (e) comprises reducing Fe content to <˜500 ppm; and step (f) comprises reducing oxygen content <˜500 ppm. |
| Current U.S. Class: | 75/354 |
| Patent References Cited: | 6036741 March 2000 Shindo et al. 6071323 June 2000 Kawaguchi et al. 6077983 June 2000 Ono et al. 6635219 October 2003 Wen et al. 2002/0130041 September 2002 Jyh-Chung et al. 2005/0066774 March 2005 Asano et al. 2005/0279637 December 2005 Pinter et al. 199 22 144 November 1999 1 066 899 July 2000 1 026 283 August 2000 1 066 899 January 2001 05-247641 September 1993 06-158300 June 1994 09-227965 September 1997 11-328648 November 1999 2002-327265 November 2002 2002-332528 November 2002 2002-332528 November 2002 2004-225091 August 2004 |
| Other References: | Office Action and translation of Chinese Application No. 200810083606.0 dated Nov. 23, 2011, 3 pages. cited by other |
| Primary Examiner: | Wyszomierski, George |
| Attorney, Agent or Firm: | McDermott Will & Emery LLP |
| رقم الانضمام: | edspgr.08118906 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | USPTO Patent Grants |
| الوصف غير متاح. |