JPH0711170Y2 - Thin film forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus having a rotary support and forming a continuous film by a physical vapor deposition method or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus for forming a thin film while continuously supporting and transferring a long flexible substrate in a vacuum chamber by a rotary support.

[Prior art and its problems] In recent years, as a highly functional material, a magnetic recording medium having a CoNi-based alloy in-plane magnetized film on a polymer substrate, a magnetic recording medium having a CoCr-based alloy perpendicularly magnetized film, and an amorphous material have been used. The development of solar cells with silicon is strongly promoted in various fields.

In order to realize these highly functional materials, it is as important as the characteristics of the thin film formed on the polymer substrate that abnormal surface irregularities due to foreign matter on the surface-a thin film with excellent surface properties without "bugs" is continuously formed. And stable formation. Particularly, in the above-mentioned thin film magnetic recording medium using a metal thin film as a recording layer, such "bugs" are associated with medium durability, recording error, and interface with the head, and reduction of such "bugs" is practically important. It's a problem.

On the other hand, JP-A-62-4867 and JP-A-62-186971
The Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication proposes to provide a dust removing means for removing fine powder adhering to a rotating roll for transferring the substrate. Although the above-mentioned "butsu" is reduced to about half by these proposed methods,
The thin film magnetic recording medium described above requires further improvement.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thin film forming apparatus capable of greatly reducing the above-mentioned "butsu".

[Configuration and Operation of the Invention] The above-mentioned object is achieved by the following invention. That is, according to the present invention, a long flexible substrate is supported and transferred by a rotary support in a vacuum chamber, while particles scattered from an evaporation source are deposited on the substrate on the rotary support to form a thin film. In the thin film forming apparatus for forming, at least two dust removing rolls having an adhesive surface are provided on the substrate transport path on the upstream side of the rotary support, and the substrate is transferred so that each surface thereof is in contact with each dust removing roll, The thin film forming apparatus is characterized in that foreign substances on both sides of the substrate are removed.

As described above, in the present invention, the dust removing roll is used to remove the foreign matter on the substrate surface before entering the film forming area. Therefore, the foreign matter is removed before the substrate is deformed. It is possible to effectively prevent the "butsu". Therefore, "spots" that cannot be removed by the conventional device that removes dust from the surface of the rotary support in the film forming region described above.
There is an effect that can prevent.

Further, in the present invention, by using the dust removing roll also as the transfer roll, the structure is the same as that of the conventional device, and it is possible to greatly reduce the generation of "bugs".

From the above-mentioned point, the dust removing roll of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has an adhesive surface capable of transferring foreign matters attached to the substrate surface from the substrate surface to the dust removing roll surface. As the dust removing roll, a roll made of an adhesive resin, such as the silicone rubber used in the examples, or a roll having a surface coated with these is used.

The thin film forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied is such that particles are scattered from an evaporation source in a vacuum chamber, and a long flexible substrate is closely attached to the surface of a rotary support that faces the thin film while transferring the thin film on the surface. There is no particular limitation as long as it is formed continuously. Examples of such a film forming apparatus include those using a physical deposition method (PVD) such as a known sputtering apparatus or vacuum evaporation apparatus. Flexible long substrates include polymer films,
The present invention is particularly effective for a polymer film in which thermal deformation due to foreign matter sandwiched between a rotary support and a substrate during film formation also causes "bugs", such as a metal film. As the polymer film, all known films having heat resistance such as a polyester film, a polyamide film, a polyimide film and the like, which can withstand the film forming temperature, can be applied.

Further, in the present invention, the surface of the rotary support means is further removed by a dust removing roll, or the substrate transfer system is separated from the evaporation source except for the substrate in the film forming region to further reduce the "butsu". Can be reduced.

The present invention as described above has a great practical effect that a long-term continuous film can be formed because a dust removing roll is used.

The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment in which it is applied to a sputtering apparatus.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a main part of the above embodiment. In the figure, 10 is a vacuum chamber, 20 is a target, and 30 is a substrate transport system for transporting a long flexible substrate 1. This basic configuration is the same as a known one.

The sputter device of this example is disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 63-20304
The target 20 is a facing target type sputtering apparatus known in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-270461. Therefore, the target 20 is a facing target in which a pair of rectangular targets 21, 22 facing the substrate 1 are opposed to each other. That is, since the film is formed by the facing target sputtering method, plasma is formed in the space between the facing targets, and a thin film is formed on the substrate arranged on the side of this space, as disclosed in the above publication. To be done.

Therefore, the substrate transfer system 30 is centered on the rotary support 35 which is arranged on the side of the target 20 and is capable of temperature adjustment of a predetermined length.
An upstream substrate transport path consisting of a supply roll 31 for setting a roll of the substrate 1 and intermediate guide rolls 32 to 34 for guiding the roll, intermediate guide rolls 36 to 38, and winding for winding the film-formed substrate 1 The substrate 1 is unrolled from the supply roll 31, and is brought into close contact with the surface of the rotary support 35 facing the target 20 to form a film while being transported and wound. It is designed to be wound up on a roll 39.

By the way, of the intermediate guide rolls 32-34, 36-38,
Intermediate guide rolls 32 and 33 that support and transfer both front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 on the side of the substrate 1 on the side of the rotary support 25 in the film forming region.
It is a dust removal roll in which silicone rubber tubes 32a and 33a are mounted on the two surfaces. Therefore, since both surfaces of the substrate 1 are transferred while being supported by the dust removing rolls 32 and 33 at a predetermined contact pressure, foreign matter such as dust on the surface thereof is removed by the dust removing roll 3
Transferred to the surface of 2,33. That is, since the foreign matter on the front and back sides of the substrate 1 is removed before the substrate 1 is supported by the rotary support 35 in the film forming region, unlike the conventional example, the substrate 1 and the rotary support 35 are different from each other.
Since the foreign matter that is caught between the foreign matter and the foreign matter is greatly reduced, the "butsu" caused by the deformation of the substrate due to the foreign matter is greatly reduced. Since the film forming surface side is also removed in the same manner as in the conventional example, it is possible to effectively prevent "bugs" as a whole. Since the dust removing rolls 32 and 33 are fitted with silicone rubber tubes, they can be operated for a long period of time only by exchanging the silicone rubber tubes, and the mechanical dimensional accuracy of the rolls is good and maintenance is advantageous.

In the present example, an example in which the dust removing roller and the guide roller are combined is shown, but the dust removing roller is preferably closer to the entrance side of the rotary support 35, and is installed as a separate body from the guide roller when necessary. It goes without saying that it is good.

Further, in this example, similarly to the conventional example, the dust removing roller 40 mounted with the silicon tube 40a which is in contact with the surface of the rotary support 35 other than the supporting portion of the substrate 1 at a predetermined pressure, and the film forming area, that is, the target of the rotary support 35. The partition wall 11 is provided to isolate the substrate 1 other than the facing portion of 20 from the target 20 of the evaporation source, and prevents foreign matter from flying into the substrate transport system 30 and foreign matter adhered to the surface of the rotary support 35. By removing the slag, the amount of "butsu" is further reduced. However, these may be omitted in some cases.

The effect will be described with reference to a specific film forming example according to the present example.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, only the dust removing means was changed, and the other film forming conditions were the same. A polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) film having a thickness of 30 μm was used for the substrate 1, a permalloy alloy plate was set on the target 20, and the permalloy thin film was made to have a thickness of 0.3 μm. Formed. The surface of the obtained permalloy thin film was visually observed to find and evaluate the number of "bugs" per unit area due to the adhesion of foreign matter.

The results dust rolls 33, 34 and mere guide rolls, and without providing the dust removal roll 40 simply strengthen only cleaning, when the film formed as cleanliness 100 following the clean working space, said per 1 m ² " It was found that the number of "bugs" was about 90, but when the dust removing roll 40 was provided on the rotary support 35, the number was reduced to about 30. When the dust removing rolls 33 and 34 are provided on the entrance side of the rotary support 35, the number of dust removing rolls 33 and 34 becomes about four. And the dust removing roll of the rotary support 35
If only 33 and 34 are used, it increases slightly with time, and it is necessary to strengthen cleaning of the surface of the rotary support 35 before starting. In this respect, the combination of the dust removing roll 40 and the dust removing rolls 33 and 34 is particularly effective. It was also found that the above-mentioned configuration can provide continuous operation for several days or more within a range in which the increase in the occurrence of "butsu" is hardly caused.

As described above, the present invention can remove foreign matter effectively with a simple structure.
It is intended to provide a thin film forming apparatus capable of forming a continuous thin film free from defects due to foreign matters, which makes a great industrial contribution.

[Brief description of drawings]

 FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the main configuration of the embodiment. 1: Substrate, 10: Vacuum chamber, 11: Partition wall 20: Target, 30: Substrate transfer system

Claims (6)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A thin film formed by depositing particles scattered from an evaporation source on a substrate on the rotary support while transporting a long flexible substrate supported by the rotary support in a vacuum chamber. In the thin film forming apparatus for forming, at least two dust removing rolls having an adhesive surface are provided on the substrate transport path on the upstream side of the rotary support, and the substrate is transferred so that each surface thereof is in contact with each dust removing roll, A thin film forming apparatus characterized in that foreign substances on both sides of the substrate are removed. 2. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dust removing roll is a guide roll for transferring the substrate. 3. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a partition wall is provided to isolate the substrate transport system other than the film forming region of the rotary support from the evaporation source. 4. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein a dust removing roll having an adhesive surface is provided so as to be in contact with the surface of the rotary support other than the substrate support part. 5. The dust removing roll is a roll in which a silicone rubber tube is removably inserted on the peripheral surface.
The thin film forming apparatus as described in the item (1), (2), (3) or (4). 6. The first substrate, wherein the substrate is a polymer film,
The thin film forming apparatus according to item 2, 3, 4, or 5.