A high purity Ru powder wherein the content of the respective alkali metal
elements such as Na and K is 10 wtppm or less, and the content of Al is
in the range of 1 to 50 wtppm. Further provided is a manufacturing method
of such high purity Ru powder wherein Ru raw material having a purity of
3N (99.9%) or less is used as an anode and electrolytic refining is
performed in a solution. Further still, provided is a high purity Ru
powder for manufacturing a sputtering target which is capable of reducing
harmful substances as much as possible, generates few particles during
deposition, has a uniform film thickness distribution, has a purity of 4N
(99.99%) or higher, and is suitable in forming a capacitor electrode
material of a semiconductor memory; a sputtering target obtained by
sintering such high purity Ru powder; a thin film obtained by sputtering
this target; and a manufacturing method of the foregoing high purity Ru
powder.