JP2001026864A - Film forming device and film forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a film forming device and a film forming method capable of film formation to a linear or granular material to be treated by simple device constitution and process. SOLUTION: A film forming device 10 is provided with a chamber connected with an exhaust system duct line 7 and a gas introduction system duct line 6, a cylindrical type cathode 2 set in the chamber and additionally provided with a target material 3 on the inner circumferential face, a meshlike cylindrical type anode 4 concentrically arranged at the inside of the cylindrical type cathode 2, a high pressure power source 5 applying high voltage to the space between the cylindrical type cathode 2 and the cylindrical type anode 4 and a treating material carrying means for continuously feeding the material 8 to be treated from the outside of the chamber to the inside of the cylindrical type anode 4 and discharging the material 8 to be treated after the film formation to the outside of the chamber.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for coating a wire or a granular material with a thin film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vapor deposition apparatus has been widely used for forming a thin film on a surface of a material to be processed. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a plasma CVD apparatus as one of the vapor deposition apparatuses. In this plasma CVD apparatus 20, two flat electrodes 22a and 22b are installed in a chamber 21 so as to face each other in parallel. The material 2 to be treated is applied to one of the electrodes 22b.
3, and a high-frequency power is applied between the electrodes from a high-frequency power supply 24. Then, the material to be treated 23
While the heater is heated by the heater 25, the reaction gas for film formation is introduced from the reaction gas introduction port 26 and exhausted from the exhaust port 27 to maintain the pressure in the chamber 21 constant, and high-frequency power is applied between the electrodes. Then, a plasma of the reaction gas is generated to form a thin film on the surface of the material to be processed 23. Further, although not shown, a spattering device that attaches a target material to the other electrode 22a to generate sputter particles and deposits the sputter particles on the surface of the material to be processed 23 is also widely used. However, in such a vapor deposition apparatus,
The material to be processed 23 is limited to a plate-like material, and is not suitable for coating a linear or granular material to be processed as described later.

[0003] Today, composite materials such as fiber-reinforced metals, fiber-reinforced ceramics, and fiber-reinforced plastics are used for various industrial products. In such composite materials, fibers are used in a matrix material such as metal, ceramics, and resin. Therefore, it is required that the fibers do not cause a chemical reaction and have an appropriate wettability, and fibers whose surfaces have been modified by coating with metal, ceramic, or the like are generally used. For example, carbon fiber, which is widely used as a fiber material for various composite materials, has low wettability to metal as it is, and tends to cause a chemical reaction at high temperatures to generate metal carbides and reduce the strength of the fiber itself. There is. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-85644 and Japanese Patent Publication No.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 948 proposes that an organic silicon polymer compound is applied and heated in a non-oxidizing atmosphere to composite carbon fibers with a silicon carbide coating on the surface with a metal matrix. Further, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-51831, carbon fibers are plated with metal such as nickel. However, in any case, it is necessary to immerse the carbon fiber in a storage tank or a metal plating tank of the solution of the organosilicon polymer compound, or in a treatment tank before and after the tank, and further, a drying and firing step is also required. Generally, there is a problem that a manufacturing process is complicated and takes time.

[0004] In some cases, a particulate filler is blended in the matrix material. The particulate filler is also surface-modified for the same purpose as the above-mentioned carbon fiber, and is coated by the dipping method as described above. Is common. However, in the case of a granular filler, there is also a problem that continuous processing cannot be performed unlike a wire rod, in addition to the above-mentioned problem.

[0005]

As described above, an effective film-forming technique has not been established for a linear material or a granular material, and the production cost of various products containing these materials has been reduced. It is a factor to increase. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a film forming apparatus and a film forming method capable of forming a film on a linear or granular material by a simple apparatus configuration and process.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a chamber to which an exhaust system pipeline and a gas introduction system pipeline are connected, a target installed in the chamber, and a target mounted on an inner peripheral surface. A cylindrical cathode to which a material is attached, a mesh-shaped cylindrical anode disposed concentrically inside the cylindrical cathode, and applying a high voltage between the cylindrical cathode and the cylindrical anode. A high-voltage power supply, and a material transfer means for continuously supplying the material to be processed into the cylindrical anode from the outside of the chamber, and taking out the material to be processed after film formation to the outside of the chamber; A film forming apparatus characterized by comprising: Further, in order to achieve the same object, in the present invention, a cylindrical cathode having a target material attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof, and a mesh-shaped cylindrical anode are concentrically installed with the cylindrical anode inside. A material to be processed is continuously supplied into the cylindrical anode while a predetermined voltage is applied between the cylindrical cathode and the cylindrical anode while introducing an inert gas or a reaction gas into the chamber. A film forming method is provided.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a first embodiment of the film forming apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the electrode section of FIG. 1, and FIG. It is an outline sectional view showing a 2nd embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cylindrical cathode 2 having a target material 3 attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof, and a mesh-shaped cylindrical anode 4 are provided inside a chamber 1 which is a film forming chamber. Are installed concentrically with the meshed cylindrical anode 4 inside. The distance between the target material 3 of the cylindrical cathode 2 and the cylindrical anode 4 is preferably about 10 mm. Further, a predetermined high voltage is applied between the cylindrical cathode 2 and the cylindrical anode 4 from a high voltage power supply 5. As the high-voltage power supply 5, a DC power supply and a high-frequency power supply can be used. The cylindrical cathode 2 is obtained by processing a known cathode material into a cylindrical shape. The cylindrical anode 4 is formed by processing a mesh material made of a known anode material into a cylindrical shape, and the opening thereof is preferably about 200 mesh. The target material 3 is selected according to the target thin film. For example, a metal such as copper, zinc, silver, gold, platinum, nickel, or chromium or an alloy thereof is processed into a cylindrical shape in accordance with the inner diameter of the cylindrical cathode 2. Obtained.

The chamber 1 is connected to a gas introduction line 6 and an exhaust line 7 that communicate with the outside. At the time of film formation, an inert gas such as an argon gas or a gas (oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, or the like) reacting with the target material 3 is introduced from the gas introduction line 6 depending on the type of the target thin film. On the other hand, by exhausting these gases through the exhaust system pipeline 7, the inside of the chamber 1 is maintained at a predetermined pressure.

Further, the chamber 1 is provided with seal members 9, 9 for introducing and delivering the material 8 to be processed while maintaining the internal pressure of the chamber 1, and the linear material 8 to be processed is sealed. After being supplied into the chamber 1 through the member 9 and passing through the inside of the cylindrical anode 4, it is sent to the outside of the chamber 1 again through the sealing member 9. At this time, the linear material 8 is conveyed, for example, by sending it out of a bobbin (not shown) and winding it up by a winding device. Further, it is preferable that the seal member 9 is made of fluororesin which is electrically insulating and has excellent corrosion resistance to a reaction gas. As the linear material 8 to be treated, various fibers including inorganic fibers such as carbon fibers, silicon carbide fibers, and alumina fibers, and organic fibers such as aramid fibers, which have been conventionally used as a fiber material of a composite material, are targeted. can do.

The formation of a thin film on the linear material 8 using the film forming apparatus 10 constructed as described above can be performed, for example, in the following procedure and under the same conditions as in ordinary spattering. That is, after the linear material 8 is inserted into the cylindrical anode 4, the chamber 1 is evacuated to a high vacuum through the exhaust pipe 7, and then the argon gas or the reactant gas is supplied from the gas introduction pipe 6. The gas is evacuated through the exhaust line 7 while introducing the gas, and the inside of the chamber 1 is 10 ⁻² (pressure at the time of sputtering) T
At about orr, a voltage of 500 V is applied from the high-voltage power supply 5 to generate sputtered particles from the target material 3. The sputtered particles pass through a large number of stitches of the cylindrical anode 4 and deposit on the surface of the linear material 8 to be processed therein. Therefore, by continuously winding the linear processed material 8 at a constant speed by the winding device, the linear processed material 8 in which the thin film made of the target material 3 is formed with a uniform film thickness is continuously formed. can get. At this time, the winding speed, the type of the target material 3, the internal pressure of the chamber 1, the applied voltage, and the like are appropriately adjusted so that the thin film has a desired thickness.

The film forming apparatus 10 described above is applied when the material to be processed 8 is a wire such as a fiber, but when the material to be processed 8 is a granular material, the film forming apparatus 10a shown in FIG. Is applied. As the granular material to be treated, various granular materials including alumina, mullite, talc particles, or hollow particles thereof, which have been conventionally used as a filler such as a composite material, can be used.

As shown, the film forming apparatus 10a
As in the case of the film forming apparatus 10, a gas introduction system pipe 6 and an exhaust system pipe 7 are connected, and a cylindrical cathode 2 having a target material 3 attached thereto and a mesh cylindrical cylinder It has a chamber 1 in which an anode 4 is installed concentrically.
A high voltage from a high-voltage power supply is applied between the cylindrical cathode 2 and the cylindrical anode 4.

However, the cylindrical anode 4 is extended to the seal members 9 and 9, and the chamber 1 is installed so as to be inclined so that one side (the left side in the figure) as a whole becomes higher.
Further, a container 11 filled with a granular material to be treated 12 is connected to the seal member 9 located above, and the granular material 12 is continuously introduced into the cylindrical anode 4. And
The granular material 12 introduced into the cylindrical anode 4 moves to the lower sealing member 9 while rolling inside the cylindrical anode 4 by its own weight, during which sputter particles from the target material 3 are deposited. At this time, the inclination angle of the cylindrical anode 4 and the cylindrical cathode 3 (that is, the moving speed of the granular material 12), the type of the target material 3, and the type of the target material 3 are adjusted so that the film of the granular material 12 has a desired film thickness. The internal pressure of the chamber 1, the applied voltage, and the like are appropriately adjusted. Therefore, it is preferable to add an elevating function to the support member 15 that supports the lower surface of the chamber 1 to make the inclination angle of the chamber 1 variable. Then, the granular material 13 covered with the thin film composed of the target material 3 is stored in the container 14 installed outside the chamber 1 via the lower sealing member 9.

In the film forming apparatus 10a, the entire chamber does not need to be inclined, and the cylindrical cathode 2 and the cylindrical anode 4 may be inclined while the chamber 1 is kept horizontal. Further, the cylindrical anode 4 may have the same length as the cylindrical cathode 2, and the space up to the seal member 9 may be connected by an appropriate connecting member. The operating procedure and conditions during film formation are the same as those of the film forming apparatus 10 described above.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to uniformly coat a wire or a granular material without involving a complicated process, and it is possible to coat various products containing these, for example, a composite material. It can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a first embodiment of a film forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the electrode section of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing a second embodiment of the film forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional film forming apparatus (plasma CVD apparatus).

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Chamber 2 Cylindrical cathode 3 Target material 4 Cylindrical anode 5 High voltage power supply 6 Gas introduction system pipeline 7 Exhaust system pipeline 8 Linear processing target material 9 Sealing member 10, 10a Film forming device 12 Granular processing target material

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A chamber to which an exhaust system pipeline and a gas introduction system pipeline are connected, a cylindrical cathode installed in the chamber and having a target material attached to an inner peripheral surface thereof; A mesh-shaped cylindrical anode concentrically disposed therein; a high-voltage power supply for applying a high voltage between the cylindrical cathode and the cylindrical anode; and an inside of the cylindrical anode from outside the chamber. A film forming apparatus, comprising: a material transfer means for continuously supplying a material to be processed and taking out the material to be processed after film formation to the outside of the chamber. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical cathode and the cylindrical anode are installed at an angle, and a granular material to be processed is continuously supplied to an upper end of the cylindrical anode. Film forming equipment. 3. The film forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an angle adjusting mechanism for changing an inclination angle of said cylindrical cathode and said cylindrical anode. 4. An inert gas or a reactive gas is placed in a chamber in which a cylindrical cathode having a target material attached to its inner peripheral surface and a mesh cylindrical anode are concentrically installed with the cylindrical anode inside. A film forming method, wherein a material to be processed is continuously supplied into the cylindrical anode while a predetermined voltage is applied between the cylindrical cathode and the cylindrical anode while introducing the material. 5. The film forming method according to claim 4, wherein the material to be processed is a wire, and is continuously inserted into the cylindrical anode. 6. The film forming method according to claim 4, wherein the material to be processed is a granular material, and is moved while rolling inside the cylindrical anode.