1. An image forming system which comprises at least one terminal and first and second image forming apparatuses connected to said terminal via a communication line, for respectively effecting image formation on image forming media based on an image forming job from said terminal,
the image forming system characterized in that
said terminal comprises:
transmission means for transmitting an image forming job having a password to said first image forming apparatus, and
said first image forming apparatus comprises:
receiving means for receiving the image forming job having the password transmitted from said terminal,
storage means for sequentially storing image forming jobs received by said receiving means,
selecting means for selecting one of the image forming jobs having passwords,
input means for inputting a password of one of the image forming jobs,
determining means for determining whether the image forming job is permitted or not according to whether or not the password input by said input means and the password of the image forming job selected by said selecting means coincide, and
first display means for displaying a selection screen which indicates whether or not independent image formation by said first image forming apparatus is switched to distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses when it is determined by said determining means that the image forming job is permitted.
2. The image forming system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said first image forming apparatus further comprises second display means for displaying a selection screen which indicates image forming mode for distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses.
3. The image forming system as set forth in claim 2, wherein the first image forming apparatus comprises a controller for executing formation of image allocated according to the image forming mode selected by the second display means, when the distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses is performed.
4. The image forming system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the image forming mode equally allocates the image forming job in the first and second image forming apparatuses.
5. The image forming system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the image forming mode allocates the image forming job according to processing performances of the first and second image forming apparatuses.
6. The image forming system as set forth in claim 3, wherein the image forming mode freely sets printing numbers to be processed by the first and second image forming apparatuses before execution of the image forming job.
7. The image forming system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said first image forming apparatus further comprises a controller for executing independent image formation on image forming media by said first image forming apparatus when the distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses is not selected according to the display of said first display means.
8. An image forming method which manages first and second image forming apparatuses connected to at least one terminal via a communication line for respectively effecting image formation on image forming media based on an image forming job from said terminal, said image forming method comprising:
receiving image forming jobs having passwords transmitted from said terminal;
sequentially storing received image forming jobs;
selecting one of the stored image forming jobs having the passwords;
inputting a password of one of the image forming jobs;
determining whether the image forming job is permitted or not according to whether or not the input password and the password of the image forming job selected by said selection means coincide; and
displaying a selection screen which indicates whether or not independent image formation by said first image forming apparatus is switched to distributed image formation in said first, second image forming apparatuses when it is determined by said determining means that the image forming job is permitted.
9. The image forming method as set forth in claim 8, wherein:
said first image forming apparatus further comprises second display means for displaying a selection screen which indicates image forming mode for distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses.
10. The image forming method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the first image forming apparatus comprises a controller for executing formation of image distributed according to the image forming mode selected by the second display means, when the distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses is performed.
11. The image forming method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the image forming mode uniformly distributes the image forming job in the first and second image forming apparatuses.
12. The image forming method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the image forming mode distributes the image forming job according to processing ability of the first and second image forming apparatuses.
13. The image forming method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the image forming mode optionally sets the number of copies to be processed by the image forming job of the processing ability of the first and second image forming apparatuses.
14. The image forming method as set forth in claim 8, wherein:
said first image forming apparatus further comprises a controller for executing independent image formation on image forming media by said first image forming apparatus when the distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses is not selected according to the display of said first display means.
15. An image forming apparatus which manages first and second image forming apparatuses connected to at least one terminal via a communication line for respectively effecting image formation on image forming media based on an image forming job from said terminal; comprising
receiving means for receiving image forming jobs having passwords transmitted from said terminal;
storage means for sequentially storing image forming jobs received by said receiving means;
selecting means for selecting one of the image forming jobs having the passwords;
input means for inputting a password of one of the image forming jobs;
determining means for determining whether the image forming job is permitted or not according to whether or not the password input by said input means and the password of the image forming job selected by said selecting means coincide; and
display means for displaying a selection screen which indicates whether or not independent image formation by said first image forming apparatus is switched to distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses when it is determined by said determining means that the image forming job is permitted.
16. The image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein:
said first image forming apparatus further comprises second display means for displaying a selection screen which indicates image forming mode for distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses.
17. The image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the first image forming apparatus comprises a controller for executing formation of image allocated according to the image forming mode selected by the second display means, when the distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses is performed.
18. The image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the image forming mode equally allocates the image forming job in the first and second image forming apparatuses.
19. The image forming system as set forth in claim 17, wherein the image forming mode allocates the image forming job according to processing performances of the first and second image forming apparatuses.
20. The image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the image forming mode freely sets printing numbers to be processed by the first and second image forming apparatuses before execution of the image forming job.
21. The image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein:
said first image forming apparatus further comprises a controller for executing independent image formation on image forming media by said first image forming apparatus when the distributed image formation in said first and second image forming apparatuses is not selected according to the display of said first display means.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of performing plasma-enhanced physical vapor deposition on a workpiece in a chamber, comprising:
providing near a ceiling of the chamber a sputter target comprising a material or precursor of a material to be deposited on the workpiece;
supporting the workpiece in the chamber facing the sputter target;
introducing a carrier gas into the chamber;
providing a magnet overlying said target;
applying RF power and D.C. power to said target to generate a plasma near said target and produce a corresponding deposition of material from said target onto said workpiece, said deposition having a radial distribution of a deposition rate on said workpiece;
performing one of:
(A) first correcting one of: (a) a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution or (b) an edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by increasing a power level of said RF power relative to a power level of said D.C. power;
(B) second correcting the other one of: (a) a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution or (b) an edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by increasing a power level of said D.C. power relative to a power level of said RF power.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
said first correcting comprises correcting a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution; and
said second correcting comprises correcting an edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein said increasing a power level of said RF power is carried out until the center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution is at least nearly minimized.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein said increasing a power level of said D.C. power is carried out until the edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution is at least nearly minimized.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein:
said first correcting comprises correcting an edger-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution; and
said second correcting comprises correcting a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein said increasing a power level of said RF power is carried out until the edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution is at least nearly minimized.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein said increasing a power level of said D.C. power is carried out until the center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution is at least nearly minimized.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising regulating said radial distribution by adjusting a distance between said magnet and said target.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein said adjusting comprises decreasing a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by decreasing the distance between said magnet and said target.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein said adjusting comprises decreasing an edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by increasing the distance between said magnet and said target.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein said magnet is located outside of said chamber and above said ceiling, and wherein said adjusting comprises raising and lowering said magnet relative to said ceiling.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein said adjusting comprises reducing a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by increasing immersion of said target in field lines of said magnetic having a shallow trajectory relative to an axis of symmetry.
13. The method of claim 8 wherein said adjusting comprises reducing an edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by increasing immersion of said target in field lines of said magnetic having a steep trajectory relative to an axis of symmetry.
14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
continuously circulating said magnet in a plane overlying said target and generally parallel to said workpiece in an orbital motion defined by an orbital radius.
15. The method of claim 14 further comprising reducing a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by increasing said orbital radius of said orbital motion of said magnet.
16. The method of claim 14 further comprising reducing an edge-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by decreasing said orbital radius of said orbital motion of said target.
17. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing said target as a solid piece comprising: (a) a central surface parallel to and facing said workpiece, and (b) an edge surface transverse to surrounding said central surface, said method further comprising reducing a center-high non-uniformity in said radial distribution by orienting said edge surface at an angle less than 90\xb0 relative to said central surface, said edge surface facing radially outwardly.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein said orienting comprises orienting said edge surface at an angle in a range of 3\xb0 to 70\xb0.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein said applying comprises applying said RF power and said D.C. power to said target one of:
(a) simultaneously;
(b) in alternating sequence.