This invention relates to improvements in prosthetic cardiac and venous valves and implantable medical devices (10) having moveable septa. The inventive prosthetic cardiac and venous valves have metallic or pseudometallic valves coupled to metallic or pseudometallic stents that permit percutaneous delivery of the devices.

Valvular prostheses having metal or pseudometallic construction and methods of manufacture

Methods are provided herein for treating substrate surfaces in preparation for subsequent nucleation-sensitive depositions (e.g., polysilicon or poly-SiGe) and adsorption-driven deposition (e.g. atomic layer deposition or ALD). Prior to depositing, the surface is treated with non-depositing plasma products. The treated surface more readily nucleates polysilicon and poly-SiGe (such as for a gate electrode), or more readily adsorbs ALD reactants (such as for a gate dielectric). The surface treatment provides surface moieties more readily susceptible to a subsequent deposition reaction, or more readily susceptible to further surface treatment prior to deposition. By changing the surface termination of the substrate with a low temperature radical treatment, subsequent deposition is advantageously facilitated without depositing a layer of any appreciable thickness and without significantly affecting the bulk properties of the underlying material. Preferably less than 10 Å of the bulk material incorporates the excited species, which can include fluorine, chlorine and particularly nitrogen excited species.

Surface preparation prior to deposition

A high k dielectric film and methods for forming the same are disclosed. The high k material includes two peaks of impurity concentration, particularly nitrogen, such as at a lower interface and upper interface, making the layer particularly suitable for transistor gate dielectric applications. The methods of formation include low temperature processes, particularly CVD using a remote plasma generator and atomic layer deposition using selective incorporation of nitrogen in the cyclic process. Advantageously, nitrogen levels are tailored during the deposition process and temperatures are low enough to avoid interdiffusion and allow maintenance of the desired impurity profile.

Incorporation of nitrogen into high k dielectric film

Ionized Physical Vapor Deposition (IPVD) is provided by a method of apparatus (500) particularly useful for sputtering conductive metal coating material from an annular magnetron sputterin target (10). The sputtered material is ionized in a processing space between the target (10) and a substrate (100) by generating a dense plasma in the space with energy coupled from a coil (39) located outside of the vacuum chamber (501) behind a dielectric window (33) in the chamber wall (502) at the center of the opening (421) in the sputtering target. A Faraday type shield (26) physically shields the window to prevent coating material from coating the window, while allowing the inductive coupling of energy from the coil into the processing space. The location of the coil in the plane of the target or behind the target allows the target-to-wafer spacing to be chosen to optimize film deposition rate and uniformity, and also provides for the advantages of a ring-shaped source without the problems associated with unwanted deposition in the opening at the target center.

Method and apparatus for ionized physical vapor deposition

In a state that a plate-shaped insulator is disposed adjacent to a plate-shaped electrode, a discharge gas containing an inert gas is supplied to a vicinity of a processing object from one gas exhaust port located nearer from the plate-shaped electrode, out of at least two-line gas exhaust ports which are disposed around the plate-shaped electrode and which are formed so as to be surrounded by the plate-shaped insulator and moreover which are different in distance to the plate-shaped electrode from each other, while a discharge control gas is supplied from the other gas exhaust port to the vicinity of the processing object. Simultaneously with the supply of the gases, electric power is supplied to the plate-shaped electrode or the processing object, by which plasma processing of the processing object is carried out. Thus, plasma processing method and apparatus capable of processing for desired fine linear portions with high precision are provided.

Plasma processing method and apparatus

A sputtering process and an apparatus for carrying out the same for forming a film of a film forming material over the surface of a substrate (25). A target (5) formed of the film forming material is held on a sputtering electrode (4) receiving a voltage, and the substrate (25) is disposed at a predetermined distance and opposite to the target (5). A high-density plasma is produced by producing a cusp field between the target (5) and the substrate (25) and a bias voltage is applied to the surface of the substrate (25) to make ions of the high-density plasma fall on the surface of the substrate (25) in order to make the particles of the film forming material sputtered from the target deposit in a thin film over the surface of the substrate (25).

Sputtering process and an apparatus for carrying out the same

A pair of magnets (41, 42; 58, 59) for producing a mirror magnetic field are disposed outside of an electrode structure (33) carrying a target (21). Microwaves from a microwave source (35) are introduced toward and into a space defined by the mirror magnetic field for generating high-density plasma. While maintaining this high-density plasma over a wide area of the surface of the target, an electric field substantially perpendicular to the surface of the target is applied for sputtering of the target material. The optimized conditions for plasma generation can be selected when the high-density plasma formed outside of a processing chamber (29) is guided to migrate toward an area above the target in the processing chamber. Capability of sputtering of the material from the entire surface of the target increases the rate of film deposition on a substrate (31) and improves the target utilization rate (the quantity of the material deposited on the substrate/the usable area of the target).

Method and apparatus for sputtering

Disclosed herein are apparatuses of several types for forming a film at an increased rate that is necessary for putting the microwave assisting sputtering into practice on an industrial scale. The feature resides in that a plasma is maintained uniformly on the whole surface of target composed of a material to be sputtered. This makes it possible to avoid the target from being thermally destroyed by the increased energy of sputtering. Further, in order to prevent damage on a substrate on which the film is to be sputtered by plasma for sputtering, consideration is given to the arrangement of magnetic devices in order to form the film by positively introducing the plasma onto the substrate on which the film is to be formed and, at the same time, effecting the sputtering. There are further disclosed an apparatus in which the plasma is generated by microwaves at a position close to the target to effectively utilize the energy of microwaves for the sputtering, and a cathode structure on which a conical target is placed by taking into consideration the fact that the sputtered particles emitted from the target travel in compliance with the cosine law.

Method and apparatus for microwave assisting sputtering

A sputter etching apparatus including a vacuum chamber provided with a gas supply system and an evacuator, a sputter etching electrode disposed within the vacuum chamber on which a substrate is disposed, a plasma generator for generating plasma by applying microwave energy and disposed in opposition to the sputter etching electrode, a voltage applying stud provided in association with the sputter etching electrode for causing ions in the plasma to impact against the substrate, a first power supply source provided in association with the plasma generator for generating the plasma, and a second power supply source provided independent of the first power supply source for supplying the voltage for causing the ions to impact against the substrate. A magnetic field generating magnet or coil assembly can be incorporated in the apparatus for generating a magnetic field in such a manner in which the plasma produced within a space defined between the substrate and the microwave inlet window is peripherally surrounded by the magnetic lines of forces. Further disclosed in a plasma treatment apparatus which includes an activating chamber equipped with plasma generator and a first raw gas supplying system, a reaction chamber spatially coupled to the activating chamber and containing an electrode for supporting thereon a substrate to be treated, an evacuator for evacuating the activating chamber and the reaction chamber down to a predetermined pressure. The activating chamber is directly connected to the reaction chamber for shortening the distance between the activating chamber and the substrate to be treated. A second raw gas supplying system for supplying a raw gas to the reaction chamber is provided in the connecting portion between the activating chamber and the reacting chamber.

Apparatus for treating material by using plasma

A plasma processing method for processing a thin film formed on a substrate or forming a thin film on a substrate within a vacuum vessel provides for supplying a gas into the vacuum vessel, producing a plasma in the vacuum vessel by applying a microwave to the gas, and creating a static magnetic field represented by magnetic lines of force parallel to the direction of propagation of the microwave in the vacuum vessel by a magnetic circuit. The field intensity of the static magnetic field is determined taking into consideration the frequency of the microwave so that the same is lower than the field intensity at which electron cyclotron resonance occurs. The magnetic flux density of the static magnetic field is determined, taking into consideration the frequency of the high-frequency wave or the microwave, so that the same is not lower than the magnetic flux density at which electron cyclotron resonance occurs, and the density of the plasma is determined so that the left-hand circularly polarized wave is cut off.

Hiroshi Saito

Papers

Sputtering process and an apparatus for carrying out the same

Method and apparatus for sputtering

Method and apparatus for microwave assisting sputtering

Apparatus for treating material by using plasma

Plasma processing method and an apparatus for carrying out the same