Refractory metal plates
View Patent ↗A refractory metal plate is provided. The plate has a center, a thickness, an edge, a top surface and a bottom surface, and has a crystallographic texture (as characterized by through thickness gradient, banding severity; and variation across the plate, for each of the texture components 100//ND and 111//ND, which is substantially uniform throughout the plate.
1. A refractory metal plate having a center, a thickness, an edge, a top surface and a bottom surface, the refractory metal plate having a crystallographic texture as characterized by through thickness gradient, banding severity; and variation across the plate, for each of the texture components 100//ND and 111//ND using electron back-scatter diffraction with a 15 μm step in both the horizontal and vertical directions for each measurement, wherein the average through-thickness gradient is less than or equal to 3% per mm for 100//ND and 111//ND.
2. The refractory metal plate of claim 1 , wherein the metal plate is at least 99.95% pure refractory metal.
3. The refractory metal plate of claim 2 , wherein the metal plate has a grain size that is less than 60 μm.
4. The refractory metal plate of claim 3 , wherein the metal plate is at least 99.995% pure refractory metal.
5. The refractory metal plate of claim 4 , wherein the refractory metal is tantalum.
6. The refractory metal plate of claim 4 , wherein the refractory metal is niobium.
7. The refractory metal plate of claim 1 , wherein the metal plate is manufactured by ingot metallurgy and the metal plate is a sputtering target.
8. The refractory metal plate of claim 1 , wherein the metal plate is manufactured by powder metallurgy and the metal plate is a sputtering target.
9. The refractory metal plate of claim 8 , wherein the metal plate is manufactured using a process including rolling the plate asymmetrically, wherein the asymmetric rolling is carried out on an inclined plane having an angle of incline between 2 and 20 degrees.
10. The refractory metal plate of claim 8 , wherein the metal plate has a texture as characterized by through-thickness gradient, where the average through-thickness gradient for the texture components 100//ND and 111//ND is less than or equal to 2% per mm.
11. The refractory metal plate of claim 8 , wherein the metal plate has an average banding severity of 6% or less for 100//ND and 111//ND.
12. The refractory metal plate of claim 11 , wherein the metal plate has an average banding severity of 5% or less for 100//ND and 111//ND.
13. The refractory metal plate of claim 12 , wherein the metal plate has an average variation across the plate of less than or equal to 4%.
14. The refractory metal plate of claim 1 , wherein the texture is determined from grains maps with grains separately identified for 100 and 111 within 15° of the normal direction.
15. A refractory metal plate having a center, a thickness, an edge, a top surface and a bottom surface, the refractory metal plate having a crystallographic texture as characterized by
through thickness gradient;
banding severity; and
variation across the plate,
for the texture components 100//ND and 111//ND using electron back-scatter diffraction with a 15 μm step in both the horizontal and vertical directions for each measurement,
wherein the average banding severity is less than or equal to 6% for 100//ND and 111//ND;
wherein the refractory metal plate is manufactured by ingot metallurgy.
16. The refractory metal plate of claim 15 , wherein the metal plate is at least 99.95% pure refractory metal, the metal plate has a grain size that is less than 60 μm, and the metal plate is a sputtering target.
17. The refractory metal plate of claim 16 , wherein the refractory metal is tantalum or niobium, the metal plate is a sputtering target, and the metal plate has a purity of at least 99.995% refractory metal.
18. A refractory metal plate having a center, a thickness, an edge, a top surface and a bottom surface, the refractory metal plate having a crystallographic texture as characterized by
banding severity for the texture components 100//ND and 111//ND using electron back-scatter diffraction with a 15 μm step in both the horizontal and vertical directions for each measurement,
wherein the average banding severity is less than or equal to 5% for 100//ND and 111//ND.
19. The refractory metal plate of claim 18 , wherein the metal plate is manufactured by powder metallurgy and the average through-thickness gradient is less than 2%/mm for 100//ND and 111//ND.
20. The refractory metal plate of claim 19 , wherein the refractory metal is tantalum or niobium, the metal plate is a sputtering target, and the metal plate has a purity of at least 99.995% refractory metal.