JP2000234164A - Vacuum deposition method and vacuum deposition device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the formation of a vapor deposition film at a high temp. by subjecting a base material heated in a preliminary heating stage to a vapor depositing stage. SOLUTION: A preliminary heating stage of heating a plastic lens base material is executed in a spare chamber 300 to heat the lens base material to a desired temp., and then, the lens base material is carried into a vacuum deposition chamber 200 and is subjected to a vapor depositing stage. In the preliminary heating stage, for heating the vapor depositing face (lower side) of the lens base material, the lens base material can efficiently be heated, and the vapor depositing face can swiftly be heated. Namely, since the lower side of the lens base material is directly irradiated with a halogen lamp 311, infrared radiation is absorbed on the lower side of the lens base material, and its temp. increases from the side of the vapor depositing face. As a result, by the efficient heating, the vapor depositing face can swiftly be heated, and also, the vapor depositing face can be heated to a higher temp. In this way, the adhesion between an optical thin film as the vapor depositing film and the lens base material is improved to improve the crack resistance of the lens.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vacuum deposition method and a vacuum deposition apparatus, and more particularly, to a vacuum deposition method and a vacuum deposition apparatus suitable for forming a deposition film on a plastic lens substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, plastic lenses have been formed with an anti-reflection film for improving light transmittance and preventing troublesomeness due to surface reflection, or an optical thin film such as a mirror coat. These optical thin films are composed of multilayer films of oxides such as silicon oxide and zirconium oxide,
The film is formed by a vacuum evaporation method.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional vacuum vapor deposition apparatus for forming a vapor deposition film on a plastic lens substrate. The vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 10 is of a three-chamber type, and includes a central vacuum vapor deposition chamber 20, a preliminary chamber 30 for performing preliminary exhaust, and a cooling chamber 40 for cooling a substrate on which vacuum vapor deposition has been completed.
The preliminary chamber and the vacuum deposition chamber 20 communicate with each other at a first partition 11, and the vacuum deposition chamber 20 and the cooling chamber 40 communicate with each other at a second partition 12,
It can be cut off. A plurality of lens substrates are placed on the substrate holder 50, and the lens substrates are placed together with the substrate holder 50 from the outside in the preliminary chamber 30, and are transferred from the preliminary chamber 30 to the vacuum vapor deposition chamber 20 by a transfer device (not shown). From the cooling chamber 40 to the outside.

The preliminary chamber 30 is connected to a vacuum device (not shown) so that a vacuum can be drawn. In addition, it is configured to be able to move up and down, so that the base material holder 50 is arranged at the lower end side from the outside in the air and connected to the vacuum deposition chamber 20 via the first partition 11 at the upper end side. ing.

[0005] The vacuum deposition chamber 20 is connected to a vacuum device (not shown), and can be evacuated. The substrate holder 50 is arranged on the upper side of the room. On the substrate holder 50, the halogen lamp 21 is installed, and the substrate holder 5
The lens base mounted on the lens substrate 0 can be heated by irradiating it from above. Two evaporation sources 22 are arranged below the chamber, and the evaporation materials such as silicon oxide and zirconium oxide are heated and melted and blown in a vacuum atmosphere to form the evaporation material on the lower surface of the lens substrate. It can be made to be. Although not shown, shutters are provided above the evaporation sources 22, respectively, so that the evaporation material can be released from the lens substrate or blocked.

The cooling chamber 40 is connected to a vacuum device (not shown) so that a vacuum can be evacuated. Also, it can be moved up and down, and the second partition 12
And the substrate holder 50 can be carried out to the outside in the atmosphere at the lower end side.

[0007] As shown in FIG.
A plurality of circular openings 52 slightly larger than the lens having the largest diameter are formed in the dome-shaped holder body 51. A ring-shaped adapter 53 is attached to the opening 52. The adapter 53 is for accommodating lenses having different diameters, and an inner peripheral edge of the adapter 53 is provided with a protruding portion 53a that protrudes inward. Lens substrate 1
Is placed with the edge of the lens substrate 1 on this projection 53a. When the lens substrate 1 is placed on the substrate holder 50 and the substrate holder 50 is placed in the vacuum evaporation chamber 20, most of the lower surface side of the lens substrate 1 is exposed to the evaporation source 23. Then, the upper surface side of the lens substrate 1 is exposed to the halogen lamp 21.

A method of forming a vapor deposition film on the lens substrate 1 by using such a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 10 is as follows.
And a vacuum deposition chamber 20 is evacuated, and the deposition material is heated and melted. On the other hand, the substrate holder 50 on which the lens substrate 1 is placed is loaded into the preliminary chamber 30 which is disposed at the descending end and has an atmospheric pressure inside.
Deploy. Thereafter, the preliminary chamber 30 is raised, vacuum is drawn, and the inside of the preliminary chamber 30 is evacuated. When the inside of the preliminary chamber 30 is evacuated, the first partition 11 is released to allow communication between the inside of the preliminary chamber 30 and the vacuum vapor deposition chamber 20, and the substrate holder 50 is moved from the preliminary chamber 30 to the vacuum vapor deposition chamber 20 by a transfer device (not shown). And the substrate holder 50 is arranged above the vacuum evaporation chamber 20. Then, the lens base 1 is heated from above by the halogen lamp 21, and when the lens base 1 reaches a predetermined temperature,
Open the shutter and fly the deposition material to remove the lens substrate 1
Is formed on the lower surface of. The evaporation material is alternately blown off from the two evaporation sources 22 by a shutter, and a multilayer film is formed on the lower surface of the lens substrate 1 to perform an evaporation process.

When the vapor deposition step is completed, the cooling chamber 40
Is evacuated and connected to the vacuum deposition chamber 20,
The second partition 12 is closed. After the vapor deposition step, the shutter is closed, the second partition 12 is released, and the substrate holder 5 is opened.
0 is a transfer device (not shown) from the vacuum deposition chamber 20 to the cooling chamber 4
0 and the second partition 12 is closed. After the lens substrate 1 is cooled, the cooling chamber 40 is returned to the atmospheric pressure, the cooling chamber 40 is lowered, the substrate holder 50 is taken out, and the vapor deposition is completed.

The deposition of a deposited film on the plastic lens substrate 1 in the conventional vacuum deposition apparatus 10 is performed in this manner.

[0011]

However, in such a conventional vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 10, the lens substrate 1 cannot be heated to a sufficient temperature, and vapor deposition must be performed at a relatively low temperature. There is a problem.

That is, since the plastic lens is a synthetic resin and the deposited film deposited on the plastic lens is an inorganic oxide, the base material and the deposited film have different coefficients of thermal expansion. Therefore, when the plastic lens is exposed to a high temperature, such as when the plastic lens is left on a dashboard of a car, fine cracks may occur on the surface of the plastic lens. In order to suppress the occurrence of cracks at such a high temperature, it is known that it is effective to raise the temperature of the lens substrate as much as possible during vacuum deposition.

However, in the conventional vacuum deposition apparatus 10,
Heating the plastic lens substrate 1 to about 40 to 50 ° C. is the limit, and is insufficient to suppress the occurrence of cracks.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum deposition method capable of forming a deposition film on a substrate at a higher temperature than conventionally.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus capable of forming a vapor deposition film on a substrate at a higher temperature than conventionally.

[0016]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of diligent studies to achieve the above object, the present inventor has found that a preliminary chamber for converting an atmosphere from the atmospheric pressure of a conventional vacuum deposition apparatus to a vacuum atmosphere has a basic structure. It has been found that it is effective to preheat the material, and in the preheating, it is effective to heat the surface on which the vapor deposition film is formed on the substrate (vapor deposition surface), that is, the lower surface side of the substrate.

That is, in the conventional vacuum vapor deposition method, a method of irradiating the upper surface of the base material with a halogen lamp and forming a deposition material on the lower surface side of the base material has been adopted. This is because the structure in which the halogen lamp is arranged between the base material and the deposition source cannot be adopted because the deposition material flies from the deposition source toward the base material. If the halogen lamp is arranged below the base material at a place where the vapor deposition is not affected, the distance between the halogen lamp and the base material is too large to sufficiently heat the lamp.

However, in the spare room, the arrangement of the halogen lamp is free, and a method of arranging the halogen lamp immediately below the base material and heating the base material from immediately below is possible. Unlike the conventional method of heating from the upper surface side by heating the lower surface of the substrate, the surface to be vapor-deposited of the substrate is directly heated. Higher temperatures can be used.

In the preparatory room, the vapor deposition surface of the substrate is heated under vacuum, so that moisture and other gases adhering to the vapor deposition surface can be removed. Is improved.

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 is a vacuum deposition method having a vapor deposition step of depositing the vapor deposition material on a substrate by blowing the vapor deposition material in a vacuum atmosphere. There is provided a vacuum deposition method, comprising: a preheating step of heating a material; and performing the deposition step on the substrate heated in the preheating step.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum deposition method of the first aspect, the preheating step heats a surface of the base material on which the deposition material is formed. Provide a way.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the vacuum deposition method according to the first or second aspect, wherein the preheating step is performed in a vacuum.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum vapor deposition chamber in which a vapor deposition substance is blown in a vacuum atmosphere to form a film of the vapor deposition substance on a substrate, and the vacuum vapor deposition chamber can be communicated with and blocked from the substrate. A vacuum chamber disposed in the vacuum deposition chamber, wherein the preliminary chamber is configured to be capable of transporting the substrate into the vacuum vapor deposition chamber. The present invention provides a vacuum evaporation apparatus characterized by comprising:

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the fourth aspect, the heating means is disposed below the base material and heats a lower surface of the base material. An evaporation apparatus is provided.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the vacuum evaporation method and the vacuum evaporation apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the vacuum evaporation apparatus of the present invention. The vacuum deposition apparatus 100 has basically the same structure as the vacuum deposition apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2 except for the method of heating the lens substrate.

The vacuum deposition apparatus 100 is of a three-chamber type, and includes a vacuum deposition chamber 200 for performing a central deposition step,
A preliminary chamber 300 for performing a preliminary exhausting step and a preliminary heating step, and a cooling chamber 400 for performing a cooling step of cooling the lens substrate on which the vacuum deposition has been completed are provided. The preliminary chamber and the vacuum deposition chamber 200 are a first partition 110, and the vacuum deposition chamber 200 and the cooling chamber 400
And the second partition 120 can communicate and shut off respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the lens substrate 1
A plurality of base material holders 50 are placed on the base material holder 50.
It is transported and processed every zero. The substrate holder 50 has a projection 54 on the center upper surface, and can be attached to a transport device (not shown) of the preliminary chamber 300 and can be disposed above the preliminary chamber 300. The substrate holder 50 is carried into the preliminary chamber 300 at the lower end, and is horizontally transported from the elevated preliminary chamber 300 to the vacuum deposition chamber 200 by the transport device, and further horizontally from the vacuum deposition chamber 200 to the cooling chamber 400. It is conveyed and carried out from the lowered cooling chamber 400 to the outside in the atmosphere.

The preliminary chamber 300 is connected to a vacuum device (not shown) so as to be able to evacuate. Further, it is configured to be able to move up and down, and the substrate holder 50 is arranged in the preliminary chamber 300 from the outside in the atmosphere at the lower end side,
The structure is such that it can be connected to the vacuum deposition chamber 200 via the first partition 110 on the rising end side.

The preliminary chamber 300 is conventionally provided with the substrate holder 5.
This is a chamber for performing a pre-evacuation step for changing the environment where 0 is placed from the atmospheric atmosphere to a vacuum atmosphere. In the present invention, the pre-heating chamber is also used so that the pre-heating step can be performed. On the floor side of the preparatory room 300, for example, six heating means 313 combining a halogen lamp 311 of 500 W and a reflecting mirror 312 are arranged.
The lower surface of the lens substrate 1 placed on the substrate holder 50 disposed on the upper portion of the lens substrate 0 can be irradiated. The arrangement of the heating means 313 in the preliminary chamber 300 is free, and it may be arranged above the substrate holder 50 to heat the lens substrate from above and below.

The vacuum deposition chamber 200 is connected to a vacuum device (not shown), and can be evacuated. The substrate holder 50 transferred from the preliminary chamber 300 by a transfer device (not shown) is disposed on the upper side of the chamber. On the floor side of the chamber, two evaporation sources 210 are provided so as to face the substrate holder 50. The two deposition sources 210 contain different deposition materials such as silicon oxide and zirconium oxide. Each of the evaporation sources 210 heats and melts the evaporation material by heating means (not shown) such as resistance heating, electron gun heating, or a combination thereof, and flies the evaporation material in a vacuum atmosphere to mount the evaporation material on the substrate holder 50. A vapor deposition process for depositing on the placed lens substrate 1 can be performed. Although not shown, a shutter is provided above each of the vapor deposition sources 210 so that the vaporized substance can be prevented from coming to the lens substrate 1 and released.

In the vacuum deposition chamber 200 according to the present invention, unlike the related art, a halogen lamp is not provided above the substrate holder 50, so that the evaporation material flying from the deposition source on the side of the deposition source 210 does not hit. In a position like
Four heating means 223 in which a 00 W halogen lamp 221 and a reflecting mirror 222 are combined are provided. Since the heating means 223 is relatively far away from the base material holder 50, the lens base material pre-heated in the pre-chamber 300 rather than heating the lens base material 1 to increase the temperature of the lens base material 1 It is used for the purpose of keeping warm so that the temperature of 1 does not fall. Of course, as in the prior art, the substrate holder 50
A heating means may also be provided above the lens substrate to heat the lens substrate 1 from above.

The cooling chamber 400 is the same as a conventional apparatus, and is connected to a vacuum device (not shown) so that a vacuum can be evacuated. Further, it can be moved up and down, and a vacuum deposition chamber 2 is provided at the upper end via a second partition 120.
00, so that the base material holder 50 can be carried out to the outside in the atmosphere at the lower end side.

In order to form a vapor deposition film on the lens substrate 1 using the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 100 of the present invention, first, two vapor deposition sources 210 are charged with different vapor deposition materials, and the vacuum vapor deposition chamber 200
The inside is evacuated, and the deposition material in the deposition source 210 is heated and melted.

On the other hand, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, a substrate holder 50 on which the lens substrate 1 is placed is loaded into the preliminary chamber 300 which is disposed at the lower end and has an atmospheric pressure inside. Deploy. Thereafter, the preliminary chamber 300 is raised and evacuated to evacuate the preliminary chamber, and the halogen lamp 311 is turned on to irradiate the lower surface of the lens substrate 1.
The infrared rays emitted from the halogen lamp 311 are mainly absorbed on the lower surface side of the lens substrate 1, so that the lens substrate 1 is heated from the lower surface side. Heating time is about 10
About 15 minutes, so that the lower surface of the lens substrate 1
It can be heated to a temperature of about 0 to 80 ° C. In addition,
The heating temperature of the lens substrate 1 is preferably set to be as high as possible as long as it is lower than the glass transition temperature in view of the adhesion between the deposited film and the lens substrate. By this heating and evacuation, water, carbon dioxide, low molecular organic substances, and the like evaporate from the lower surface of the lens substrate 1, and the vapor deposition surface of the lens substrate 1 is cleaned.

After heating the lens substrate 1 to a predetermined temperature,
The first partition 110 is released to allow the inside of the preliminary chamber 300 to communicate with the vacuum deposition chamber 200, and the substrate holder 50 is transported from the preliminary chamber 300 to the vacuum deposition chamber 200 by a transport device (not shown).
The substrate holder 50 is arranged above the vacuum deposition chamber 200. Then, the shutters of the two evaporation sources 210 are alternately opened, and different evaporation materials are alternately evaporated on the lens substrate 1, and a multilayer film is formed on the lower surface of the lens substrate 1. During this vapor deposition step, the lens substrate 1 is heated from below by the halogen lamp 221 to keep the lower surface of the lens substrate 1 warm.

At the end of the vapor deposition step, the cooling chamber 400 is placed on the upper end side, evacuated and connected to the vacuum vapor deposition chamber 200, but the second partition 120 is closed.

After the deposition step is completed, the shutter is closed, the second partition 120 is released, and the substrate holder 50 is transported from the vacuum deposition chamber 200 to the cooling chamber 400 by a transport device (not shown), and the second partition 120 is closed. . After the lens substrate 1 is cooled, the cooling chamber 400 is returned to the atmospheric pressure, the cooling chamber 400 is lowered, the substrate holder 50 is taken out, and the lens substrate 1 is removed.
Is completed on one side. In order to form a vapor deposition film on both surfaces of the lens substrate 1, the lens substrate 1 is turned upside down and placed on the substrate holder 50, and the same process is repeated.

According to the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the preliminary heating step of heating the lens substrate 1 in the preliminary chamber 300 is performed to heat the lens substrate 1 to a desired temperature and to heat the lens substrate 1 to a desired temperature. The lens substrate thus obtained is carried into the vacuum evaporation chamber 200 to perform an evaporation step. In the preheating step, since the vapor deposition surface (lower surface) of the lens substrate 1 is heated, the lens substrate 1 can be efficiently heated, and the vapor deposition surface of the lens substrate 1 can be quickly heated.

That is, in the conventional method of irradiating a halogen lamp from above a lens substrate, infrared rays radiated from the halogen lamp are absorbed on the upper surface side of the lens substrate 1, and the resin has poor thermal conductivity. Therefore, the temperature on the opposite side of the deposition surface is unlikely to rise, and the heating is indirect. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the lower surface of the lens substrate 1 is directly irradiated with the halogen lamp, infrared rays are absorbed on the lower surface side of the lens substrate 1 and the temperature rises from the vapor deposition surface side. Therefore, the vapor deposition surface can be quickly heated by efficient heating, and the vapor deposition surface of the lens substrate 1 can be heated to a higher temperature than before.

Table 1 shows the substrate surface temperature and the occurrence of cracks during vacuum deposition of the lens substrate. This substrate surface temperature is the temperature of the deposition surface.

[0041]

[Table 1]

The lens substrate used in the experiment shown in Table 1 was polycarbonate, and its glass transition temperature was 120 ° C.
It is. When the temperature of the deposition surface of the lens substrate rises, 12
In the 0 ° C. heat resistance test, it is clearly recognized that the generation of cracks is suppressed. It is considered that the adhesion between the lens substrate and the deposited film was improved, and the crack resistance was improved.

As described above, according to the vacuum deposition apparatus and the vacuum deposition method of the present invention, the temperature of the deposition surface at the time of deposition of the lens base material is set to 6
The temperature can be raised to 0 to 80 ° C., and the adhesion between the optical thin film as a vapor-deposited film and the lens substrate can be improved, and the crack resistance of the plastic lens can be improved.

Further, in the vacuum deposition apparatus of the present embodiment, gas can be vented from the deposition surface of the lens substrate 1 in advance. Conventionally, since vapor deposition was performed while heating, it was considered that gases adsorbed on the surface or gases inside the lens substrate 1 heated during vapor deposition jumped out and hindered adhesion of the deposited film. . Therefore, also in this respect, the adhesion between the lens substrate 1 and the deposited film is improved as compared with the conventional case, and the crack resistance is improved.

Further, the degree of vacuum in the vacuum evaporation chamber 200 is not reduced by degassing the lens substrate 1. Moreover,
During vacuum deposition in the vacuum deposition chamber 200, the preliminary chamber 300
, The productivity is also good.

In the above description, as the substrate holder 50 for holding the lens substrate 1, a perforated holder body 51 having an opening 52 is used as in the conventional case.
Since it is not necessary to heat from above, it is possible to attach a dustproof cover to prevent dust and dust falling from above from adhering to the lens substrate 1. Also, the holder body is configured as a reflector with no opening,
For example, by holding the lens substrate 1 with a leaf spring, it is possible to prevent dust and dust from being attached.

In the above description, the plastic lens substrate is used as the substrate, but the type of the substrate is not limited to this.

[0048]

According to the vacuum vapor deposition method of the present invention, the provision of the preheating step of the base material allows the formation of a vapor deposited film on the base material at a higher temperature than before.

Further, in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention, the pre-heating of the substrate is performed in the pre-chamber, so that the vapor-deposited film can be formed on the substrate at a higher temperature than before.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a vacuum deposition apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a conventional vacuum evaporation apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of holding a lens substrate by a substrate holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Plastic lens (lens) base material 50 ... Substrate holder 100 ... Vacuum deposition device 110 ... First partition 120 ... Second partition 200 ... Vacuum deposition chamber 210 ... Deposition source 221 ... Halogen lamp 222 ... Reflection mirror 223 ... Heating means 300: preliminary room 311: halogen lamp 312: reflecting mirror 313: heating means 400: cooling room

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum deposition method comprising a vapor deposition step of forming a vapor deposition material on a substrate by blowing the vapor deposition material in a vacuum atmosphere, wherein a preliminary heating step of heating the substrate is performed before the vapor deposition step. A vacuum deposition method comprising: performing the deposition step on the substrate heated in the preheating step. 2. The vacuum deposition method according to claim 1, wherein the preheating step heats a surface of the substrate on which the deposition material is formed. 3. The vacuum deposition method according to claim 1, wherein the preheating step is performed in a vacuum. 4. A vacuum deposition chamber in which a deposition material is blown in a vacuum atmosphere to form the deposition material on a substrate, and a vacuum deposition chamber capable of communicating with and interrupting the vacuum deposition chamber. A vacuum deposition apparatus that forms an atmosphere and includes a preliminary chamber configured to be able to transport the substrate into the vacuum vapor deposition chamber, wherein the preliminary chamber includes a heating unit that heats the substrate. Vacuum deposition equipment. 5. The vacuum deposition apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said heating means is disposed below said base material and heats a lower surface of said base material.