JP2001073136A - Optical thin film producing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical thin film producing system capable of efficiently producing an optical thin film element having desired characteristics at a high packing ratio in a short time. SOLUTION: This system is equipped with a mechanism for applying high frequency electric power to a rotating substrate dome 5 and heating a substrate 4 for making the device usable also for the conventional vacuum deposition method. In order for efficiently applying high frequency electric power even in the case the substrate dome lies in a high temp. state, a high frequency electric power feeding mechanism 16 composed of tungsten disulfide (WS2) or molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as a self-lubricant is provided. At the time of feeding the electric power equal to the high frequency electric power to be applied to the substrate domes to a monitoring substrate 11, for suppressing abnormal discharge, a monitor cylinder 17 and a monitor set plate 22 are insulated from a vacuum tank 1 by using an insulating member. Moreover, for suppressing abnormal discharge between the substrate dome and a substrate heating heater dome 23, a shield 13 fitted between the dome is provided with a mesh structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an optical thin film manufacturing apparatus and its structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An optical thin film element uses an optical interference effect to obtain desired characteristics by observing and controlling the thickness of an optical thin film of a dielectric material: nxd (n: refractive index, d: physical thickness). is necessary. Commonly applied products include various lenses such as glasses and CD pickups, anti-reflective coatings applied to the front panel of OA equipment, dichroic (two-color separation) mirrors for liquid crystal vision, and cold lights for lighting. There is a mirror and a heat reflection film applied to a window glass for building materials. For industrial use, in addition to mobile communication, which is particularly remarkable in recent years, it is used as an optical communication such as LAN, which is expected to greatly expand in the future, and as a very narrow band filter of a stepper light source which is a key to forming a fine pattern of an ultra LSI device. Band pass filters (BPF), DVD deflection separation film filters (PBS), and the like can be cited as typical optical thin film elements. In the optical thin film industry and the electronic component-related industry, there is a strong demand for a technique for efficiently forming an optical thin film having a high packing density on a substrate material such as glass, semiconductor, metal, and ceramics in a short time. .

Conventionally, this type of thin film has been used as an evaporation source at 10 ^-4.
An evaporating substance is placed on a molybdenum or tungsten plate arranged so as to short-circuit between the two electrodes installed in the lower part of the high vacuum vessel evacuated to about Pa, and AC power is applied between the two electrodes (DC voltage is also possible) The substrate is placed at a position facing these evaporation sources, using a resistance heating evaporation source that applies heat and evaporates, or an electron gun heating evaporation source that heats and condenses thermal electrons to an evaporating substance using an electron gun. Vacuum evaporation method for forming a film on the surface, or an ion generator (ion gun) for generating ions and a plasma generator (plasma gun) for generating plasma are arranged in the lower part of a high vacuum container evacuated to about 10 ^-4 Pa. However, they are generally manufactured by a film forming method used in combination with a vacuum evaporation method while generating ions or plasma from an ion gun or a plasma gun.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a film forming method for generating ions and plasma, and shows the inside of a vacuum chamber (1) having a vacuum exhaust port (2) and a gas inlet (3). Is provided with a substrate dome (5) on which a substrate (4) is mounted, an evaporation source (6), an ion gun (7), and a thermoelectron emission mechanism (8) at opposing positions. The substrate dome (5), which is provided with a conducting wire passing therethrough, has a heater dome (2).
The substrate is heated by 3) and is rotated by an external substrate dome rotation motor (not shown) via a substrate dome rotation mechanism. A shutter (10) is movably provided between the substrate dome (5) and the evaporation source (6), and furthermore, an optical thin film deposited on a monitoring substrate (11) provided on a monitor tube (17) is provided. This is to obtain a desired optical thin film while controlling the observation with an external optical film thickness meter (12).

[0005] The vacuum chamber (1) is previously set in a high vacuum region (1).
It is evacuated to about 0 ^-4 Pa) by a pump (not shown) such as a cryopump through the vacuum exhaust port (2).
Thereafter, a discharge gas such as Ar or oxygen is introduced into the ion gun (7) from the gas inlet (3) at a rate of about 20 sccm. Further, oxygen gas or the like is supplied to the vacuum chamber (1) at a desired pressure (8 × 10 ⁻³ to
(About 3 × 10 ^-2 Pa). In this state, electric power (600 W to 3600 W) is supplied from an evaporation source (not shown), and electric power is further supplied to the ion gun (7) to discharge. The ion current emitted from the ion gun is irradiated onto the substrate while being appropriately controlled. Here, the evaporation source shutter (1
0) is released and an optical thin film to be deposited on the monitoring substrate (11) is formed while observing and controlling with an optical film thickness meter (12), and the evaporation source shutter (10) is closed at a desired film thickness to form a film. Complete.

On the other hand, in a metal thin film manufacturing apparatus, an insulating material such as plastic, glass, ceramics, etc.
As a device for producing a metal film with good adhesion,
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 1-2376, particles evaporated from an evaporation source are converted into positive ions by passing through a high-density plasma, and are induced on the substrate by applying a high-frequency voltage (about 13 MHz) to the substrate. By accelerating with a DC negative electric field, it is made to penetrate the substrate surface and generate a thin film, which allows particles of ions to penetrate to several atomic layers on the substrate surface, significantly improving the adhesion of the metal film. Examples are introduced.

In general, an optical thin film element is formed by alternately laminating dielectric films having a high / low refractive index on a substrate such as glass by a vacuum evaporation method. Therefore, the packing density of the thin film
When the value is too low, a change over time tends to occur due to the influence of humidity (H ₂ O), and stable performance is hardly obtained. 20-3 by vacuum evaporation
In the case of a near-infrared region BPF in which about 0 layers are formed, due to environmental changes in temperature and humidity (for example, 25 ° C. 50% → 80 ° C. 95%),
The spectral characteristic moves to the longer wavelength side by about 50 nm (wavelength shift). For example, there is a problem that a shift in wavelength of an optical thin film element used in the field of optical communication hinders communication or disables communication.

As a means for improving the packing density of the optical thin film, there is a method in which the substrate is irradiated with ions or plasma from an ion gun or a plasma gun as described above, and is used together with a vacuum deposition method. By installing an ion generator (ion gun) or plasma generator (plasma gun) inside the apparatus and forming a film while using both ions and plasma, an optical thin film with a small wavelength shift amount (shift amount of about 1 nm) is obtained. Can do things. However, when using an ion gun or plasma gun, the emission distribution of ions or plasma has directivity, so the refractive index of the thin film formed on the substrate dome facing the ion gun or plasma gun generator is not uniform. Occurs. When an ion gun or a plasma gun is used, a thin film having desired characteristics can be obtained only in the central portion of the substrate dome (10 to 20% of the entire area of the substrate dome), where the refractive index is practically uniform.

[0009] Also, the film formation processing time is considerably longer than that of the vacuum evaporation method. For example, when forming a BPS filter of about 30 layers, the evaporation rate of the vacuum evaporation method is high refractive index material: 0.
5 nm / s, low-refractive-index substance: a film is formed at about 1.0 nm / s, and it takes about 2 hours for one process. On the other hand, when an ion gun or a plasma gun is used, the film-forming speed is high. : 0.1 nm / s, low refractive index substance: 0.5 nm
It takes 10 hours per process to form a film at about / s, which is about 5 times as long as the vacuum deposition method. Therefore, it is very difficult to form a desired optical thin film element with high production efficiency.
In the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-23376, a shield is provided above the substrate dome. When the substrate heater dome is located above the shield, if the substrate is heated to about 300 ° C. to perform the generation, the shield on the plate is thermally shielded and there is a problem that the substrate temperature can be prevented from rising.

When the substrate is heated to about 300 ° C., a contact (phosphor bronze spring material or the like) for applying a high frequency to the rotating substrate dome is distorted due to heat. There is a problem in that a contact that has received thermal strain loses the spring effect, increases the contact resistance to the substrate dome, and cannot supply high-frequency power. The optical film forming apparatus is equipped with an optical film thickness meter for observing and controlling the film thickness and a monitoring substrate. In this case, since no high-frequency power is applied to the monitoring substrate, there is a problem that a difference in refractive index from the substrate on the substrate dome occurs.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an optical thin film manufacturing apparatus capable of efficiently producing an optical thin film element having desired characteristics at a high packing density in a short time. It is intended to provide.

The present invention is based on the idea that a high-frequency (RF) power is applied to a substrate to obtain a metal film with good adhesion as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-23376. It is intended to be applied to a device that performs the above. When obtaining an optical thin film with a high packing density, when trying to increase the size of an apparatus that forms a film while using both ions and plasma, multiple ion guns or plasma guns need to be installed. Not a target. Therefore, attention was paid to a method of directly applying a high frequency (frequency band of 13 MHz) to the substrate dome (direct RF substrate application method). The principle of the direct RF substrate application method is that ions accelerated by the negative self-bias induced on the substrate caused by the difference in mobility between electrons and ions during glow discharge are projected on the film surface, The purpose is to improve the packing density.

Specifically, a mechanism is provided for applying high-frequency power to the rotating substrate dome and for heating the substrate so that the apparatus of the present invention can be used as a conventional vacuum deposition method. In order to efficiently apply high frequency power even when the substrate dome is in a high temperature state, a high frequency power supply mechanism is provided via a contact made of self-lubricating material tungsten disulfide (WS ₂ ) or molybdenum disulfide (MoS ₂ ).
When supplying the same power as the high frequency power applied to the substrate dome to the monitoring substrate, the monitor cylinder and the monitor set plate are insulated from the vacuum chamber using an insulating member in order to suppress abnormal discharge. Also, in order to suppress abnormal discharge between the substrate dome and the substrate heater dome,
The shield attached between them has a mesh structure. It is desired to increase the mesh size of the mesh to be used in order to efficiently raise the substrate temperature. However, if the mesh size is too large, a problem occurs in that the shielding effect against discharge is lost. For these reasons, the mesh used is # 9 mesh (opening of the eyes: about 2 mm)
To # 2.5 mesh (opening: about 9 mm), and by using this mesh, the substrate can be efficiently heated. Further, in order to improve the refractive index of the outer peripheral portion of the substrate dome due to the difference in plasma density at the outer peripheral portion of the substrate dome, a mechanism for changing the interval between the substrate dome and the outer peripheral shield is provided.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The same or equivalent components as those of the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of an optical thin film manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral (1) denotes a vacuum chamber provided with a vacuum exhaust port (2) and a gas inlet (3), and inside the vacuum chamber (1), a substrate dome (4) on which a substrate (4) is mounted. 5) and a shield (13) having a mesh structure;
Evaporation source (6) and thermoelectron emission mechanism (8) at opposing positions
Is provided. A shutter (10) is movably provided between the substrate dome (5) and the evaporation source (6), and a matching box (15) is connected to the substrate dome (5) from an external high-frequency power supply (14). High-frequency power is supplied from the high-frequency power supply mechanism (16) via the power supply. At this time, the substrate dome (5) is rotated by an external substrate dome rotation motor (not shown) via a substrate dome rotation mechanism. The monitoring board (1) provided near the board dome (5)
The optical thin film deposited on 1) is transferred to an external optical film thickness meter (12).
It is intended to obtain a desired optical thin film while controlling the observation in.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the high-frequency power supply mechanism (16). In the figure, reference numeral (17) indicates a monitor tube, and a monitoring board (1) is provided inside the monitor tube (17).
The monitor cylinder (17), which is a structure for setting 1), has a mechanism for electrically insulating the monitor set plate (22) from the monitor set plate (22) by using an insulating member (18). The hatched portion in FIG. 3 indicates a portion to which a high frequency is applied. High frequency is self-lubricating 2
By using a tungsten sulfide (WS ₂ ) contact (21) to press the WS ₂ contact (21) against the substrate dome (5) with a spring S, a structure can be efficiently applied to the rotating substrate dome (5). Has become.

FIG. 4 shows that the monitor tube (17) is connected to an insulating member (1).
FIG. 8 is a detailed view of attaching to the monitor set plate (22) with the insulating member (19) and the insulating member (20). In the figure, reference numeral (17) indicates a monitor tube, and a monitoring board (11) is set inside the monitor tube. The monitor cylinder (17) has a mechanism for electrically insulating the monitor set plate (22) from the monitor set plate (22) by using an insulating member (18). In order to prevent abnormal discharge, the insulating member (19) and the insulating member (2) are used.
0) and a mechanism to electrically insulate from the vacuum chamber. The hatched portions in FIG. 4 indicate the insulating members.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view showing a variable distance between the substrate dome (5) and the shield (13) having a mesh structure.
The shield (13) fixes a plate-like structure to the substrate heater dome (23) and the vacuum chamber (1) with screws. When changing the gap with the substrate dome (5), the gap can be changed in the vertical direction by changing the fixing position of the long hole (a) formed in the plate of the shield (13) and stopping again. 1)
The fixed position of the long hole (b) can be changed in the left-right direction by stopping the fixing position again.

Description of the operation and operation of the embodiment In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the inside of the vacuum chamber (1) is evacuated to a high vacuum area (about 5 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa) in advance.
To exhaust. Thereafter, a discharge gas (in this case, oxygen) is supplied from the gas inlet (3) at a pressure of 8 × 10 ^{−3 to} 3 × 10 ^−2.
About Pa is introduced. 2 tungsten sulfide on a substrate dome (5) (WS ₂₎ applying a high-frequency power by the contact (21) (50W～3KW) Then, glow discharge is generated in the space between the substrate dome (cathode) and the evaporation source (6) It becomes a plasma state. A self-induced negative DC electric field is generated on the surface of the substrate (4) attached to the substrate dome (5). The plasmatized discharge gas is accelerated by the negative direct-current electric field self-induced on the substrate surface and rushes into the substrate surface. In this state, electric power (600 W to 3
When the evaporation source shutter (10) is released and the evaporation source shutter (10) is released, the evaporated particles evaporated from the evaporation source (6) pass through the plasma and reach the substrate. The thin film deposited on the monitoring substrate (11) is observed and controlled by an optical film thickness meter (12), and when the film thickness reaches a desired value, the evaporation source shutter (10) is closed. There are many fast particles in the plasma discharge space. These high-speed particles collide with the substrate dome (5) or the substrate (4) during the formation of the thin film, and the effect of imparting kinetic energy and the effect of promoting atomic diffusion and compounding are considered to be the reasons for obtaining a thin film with high packing density. .

FIG. 6 shows a conventional film forming method using an ion gun while using both ions and plasma, and the direct R method of the present invention.
FIG. 9 shows comparison data of refractive indexes when a film is formed using an optical thin film manufacturing apparatus applied with an F substrate. Using a substrate dome diameter of 600 mm, a thickness of 2
A case where a film of tantalum pentoxide (Ta ₂ O ₅ ) having a thickness of 00 nm is formed under the conditions of a pressure of 1.3 × 10 ⁻² Pa in an oxygen atmosphere, a high-frequency power of 1 kW, and an evaporation rate of 0.5 nm / s is shown. The refractive index distribution was measured with an ellipsometer (observation wavelength: 632.8 nm) so that the refractive index at the third digit after the decimal point could be determined. The horizontal axis in FIG. 6 indicates the distance from the center of the substrate dome, and the vertical axis indicates the refractive index. In the case of the conventional film forming method using both ions and plasma, the refractive index distribution over the entire substrate was about 0.1, but in the case of the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the refractive index distribution was 0. 0.003.

FIG. 7 shows a monitor tube (1) using an insulating member.
7) and monitor set plate (22) to vacuum chamber (1)
This indicates that high-frequency power can be supplied stably by insulating it from. High frequency power supply for plasma generation (1
4) Output with a cable having an impedance of 50Ω. However, the impedance of the load (the high-frequency power supply mechanism (16), the substrate dome (5), etc.) is not 50Ω. When a cable is directly connected to the load, RF power is reflected due to impedance mismatching, and power is efficiently supplied to the load. Otherwise, the output loss increases inside the high-frequency power supply, and an abnormal voltage may be generated to damage the power supply. There is a matching box (15) for performing impedance matching for the purpose of reducing the reflected power. The matching box (15) enables impedance matching by adjusting two variable condensers even if the load impedance fluctuates over a wide range due to a change in the mechanism / structure inside the vacuum chamber or a change in film forming conditions. According to the present invention, when the same high-frequency power as the high-frequency power applied to the substrate dome is also applied to the monitoring substrate (11), in order to control abnormal discharge, the monitor cylinder (17) and the monitor are provided using insulating members. Since the set plate (22) was insulated from the vacuum chamber (1), high frequency power could be efficiently supplied to the substrate dome (5). As an example, substrate dome diameter 760m
m, the pressure in the oxygen atmosphere is 2.7 to 1.3 × 10
^-2 Pa, when high frequency output 1.5KW is applied continuously,
When only the monitor tube (17) was insulated, abnormal discharge occurred 10 minutes after high-frequency application, and the high-frequency discharge was not maintained (unusable) in 22 minutes. On the other hand, by adopting a mechanism that insulates the monitor cylinder (17) and the monitor set plate (22) from the vacuum chamber (1), power can be supplied stably even when a high frequency is continuously applied for 30 minutes or more. . In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents high-frequency reflected power.

FIG. 8 shows a self-lubricating tungsten disulfide (WS ₂ ) contact (21) for efficiently applying high frequency power even when the rotating substrate dome (5) is in a high temperature state.
It is shown that high-frequency power can be stably supplied even when the substrate dome is in a high-temperature state by using the high-frequency power supply mechanism (16) composed of. As a power supply member, there is a contact spring (Cu contact) made of copper (Cu). However, the substrate temperature rises, and the deterioration of the Cu contact starts at 180 ° C. or higher, and the high frequency discharge does not continue (cannot be used) at 200 ° C. or higher. In the present invention, by employing the self-lubricating tungsten disulfide (WS ₂ ) contact (21), high-frequency power can be efficiently applied even when the substrate (4) is in a high temperature state of 300 ° C. or higher. The horizontal axis in FIG. 8 shows the substrate temperature, and the vertical axis shows the high-frequency reflected power.

FIG. 9 shows a shield (3) attached between the substrate dome (5) and the substrate heater dome (23) in a mesh structure in order to control abnormal discharge.
This shows that the substrate can be efficiently heated. Using a substrate dome diameter of 760 mm, a diameter of 30 mm
By setting the glass substrate and setting the temperature in the temperature controller, heating is performed while automatically controlling the power supplied to the substrate heating heater dome (23). The substrate temperature was measured with a radiation thermometer capable of non-contact measurement. When the shield was plate-shaped (thickness: 1 to 2 mm, material: stainless steel), the temperature was 150 ° C. lower than when there was no shield. In the present invention, by making the shield a mesh structure, it was possible to improve the temperature to about 10 ° C. lower than that without the shield. The horizontal axis in FIG. 9 indicates the temperature controller set temperature, and the vertical axis indicates the substrate temperature.

FIG. 10 shows a wavelength shift amount (wavelength shift amount) when a film is formed by a conventional film forming method using both ions and plasma. Substrate dome diameter 6
Twenty-five layers of Ta ₂ O ₅ and SiO ₂ thin films were alternately deposited on a substrate having a diameter of 30 mm by using 00 mm. Oxygen atmosphere pressure 2.7 ~ 1.3 × 10 ^-2 Pa, anode output 900
mA, 900V, was formed under the conditions of evaporation rate Ta ₂ O ₅ 0.1nm / s and SiO ₂ 0.1nm / s. For the measurement of the wavelength shift amount, a spectral transmittance measurement was performed before and after the environmental test, and evaluation was made by judging from a shift amount of the spectral characteristics.
The environmental test method is as follows.
The substrate on which the film was formed for 000 hours was left. The horizontal axis in FIG. 10 indicates the wavelength, and the vertical axis indicates the transmittance. In the case of the conventional film forming method using both ions and plasma, the wavelength shift amount is 1 to 2
nm.

FIG. 11 shows the wavelength shift (wavelength shift) when a film is formed using the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. Diameter 3 using 600mm substrate dome
25 mm of Ta ₂ O ₅ and SiO ₂ thin films are alternately formed on a 0 mm substrate.
Layer deposited. Oxygen atmosphere pressure 2.7 ~ 1.3 × 10
^-2 Pa, high frequency output 1 KW, evaporation rate Ta ₂ O ₅ 0.5
The film was formed under the conditions of nm / s and 0.6 nm / s of SiO ₂ .
For the measurement of the wavelength shift amount, a spectral transmittance measurement was performed before and after the environmental test, and evaluation was made by judging from a shift amount of the spectral characteristics. In the environmental test method, a substrate formed in an atmosphere at a temperature of 85 ° C. and a humidity of 95% was left for 1000 hours. FIG.
The horizontal axis indicates the wavelength, and the vertical axis indicates the transmittance. The wavelength shift amount when the film is formed by the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is 0.1 nm.
It was below. When the amount of wavelength shift is compared between the film formation method using both ions and plasma and the film formation using the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the shift amount of the conventional film formation method using both ions and plasma is 1 However, in the case of the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the value was greatly reduced to 0.1 nm or less, that is, 1/10.

FIG. 12 shows a comparison between a conventional film forming method using both ions and plasma and a film forming process time when a film is formed using the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.
Wavelength: λ = 600n using substrate dome diameter of 760mm
About 20 m of PBS filters were alternately deposited using Ta ₂ O ₅ and SiO ₂ by a film forming method of 20 layers. On the other hand, the film forming method using ions and plasma together has a pressure of 2.7 to 1.3 × 10 ⁻² Pa in an oxygen atmosphere and an anode output of 90.
0 mA, 900 V, evaporation rate Ta ₂ O ₅ 0.1 nm / s
And SiO ₂ were formed under the conditions of 0.2 nm / s. The film forming conditions of the present invention are as follows: a pressure of 2.7 to 1.3 × 10
^-2 Pa, high frequency output 1 KW, evaporation rate Ta ₂ O ₅ 0.5
The film was formed under the conditions of nm / s and SiO ₂ 1.0 nm / s.
The horizontal axis in FIG. 12 indicates a film forming method, and the vertical axis indicates time.

Comparing the film forming method using both ions and plasma with the film forming processing time when the film is formed by the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the film forming preparation and the substrate taking out time are almost the same, ie, 1 times. .5 hours. The film formation time is 1 in the case of the conventional film formation method using both ions and plasma.
In the case of the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the time was about 0 hour, but in the case of the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the film forming processing time was greatly improved to 2/5 in 1/5.

FIG. 13 shows the refractive index distribution in the dome when the film is formed by changing the distance between the dome and the shield in the apparatus of the present invention. Using a substrate dome diameter of 1150 mm, TiO under the conditions of a pressure of 2.7 × 10 ⁻² Pa in an oxygen atmosphere, a high-frequency output of 3 KW, and an evaporation rate of 0.3 nm / s.
₂ was deposited to a thickness of 200 nm. The horizontal axis in FIG. 13 indicates the distance from the center of the substrate dome, and the vertical axis indicates the refractive index. Comparing the refractive index distribution in the dome when the distance between the substrate dome and the shield is 30 mm and 60 mm, respectively, shows almost the same refractive index value from 2.399 to 2.406 from the center of the substrate dome to about 500 mm. However, when the distance between the dome and the shield is 60 mm, 500 mm from the center of the substrate dome
At 率 540 mm, the refractive index is extremely low at 2.385. The reason for the decrease in the refractive index is caused by the difference in plasma density between the central part and the peripheral part of the substrate dome. This time, the distance between the shield and the shield can be changed, and by setting the distance between the dome and the shield to 30 mm, the refractive index of 2.404 can be improved to about the same value as the refractive index from the center of the substrate dome to about 500 mm. Was.

The structure of the present invention can be applied to all film forming apparatuses that apply a high frequency to a substrate. FIG. 14 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a sputtering apparatus. The major difference from the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 is that high frequency and DC power are supplied to a sputtering target (24) via a power supply switch (26). This is a sputtering apparatus having a structure for applying a voltage to the sputtering apparatus.

[0030]

According to the present invention, high-frequency power is directly applied to the rotating substrate dome, the high-frequency power supply mechanism of the present invention, an insulating structure for suppressing abnormal discharge, and a shield for efficiently heating the substrate are provided. By adopting a mesh structure and a mechanism for varying the shield distance between the substrate dome and the outer periphery, the refractive index distribution in the substrate dome has been improved from 0.1 to 0.003 and the wavelength The movement amount (wavelength shift amount) has been improved from 1 to 2 nm in the past to 0.1 nm to 1/10. Further, the film formation processing time, which conventionally required 10 hours, was shortened to 2 hours and 1/5. As described above, according to the present invention, an optical (dielectric) thin film having a high packing density can be efficiently produced in a short time and efficiently in an optical thin film element having a good refractive index over the entire area of the substrate dome. Significantly improved productivity. Its industrial value is very significant.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional configuration.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view of an optical thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed explanatory diagram of a high-frequency power supply unit of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a detailed explanatory view of a monitoring board mounting portion of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a detailed explanatory view of a variable distance section between the substrate dome and the shield according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows comparison data of the refractive index distribution in the substrate dome between the conventional method and the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram comparing the effects of durability due to differences in insulation locations.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram comparing heat resistance due to differences in contact members.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram comparing the effect of increasing the substrate temperature due to the difference in the shield shape.

FIG. 10 is a comparison diagram of spectral characteristics before and after an environmental test according to a conventional method.

FIG. 11 is a comparison diagram of spectral characteristics before and after an environmental test of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a comparison between a conventional method and a film forming time of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a view showing the relationship between the distance from the center of the dome and the refractive index when the distance between the dome and the outer peripheral shield is changed in the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example in which the present invention is diverted to a sputtering apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum tank 2 Vacuum exhaust port 3 Gas inlet 4 Substrate 5 Substrate dome 6 Evaporation source 7 Ion gun 8 Thermoelectron emission mechanism 9 Substrate dome rotation mechanism 10 Shutter 11 Monitoring board 12 Optical film thickness gauge 13 Shield 14 High frequency power supply 15 Matching box 16 High frequency power supply mechanism 17 Monitor cylinder 18 Insulating member (a) 19 Insulating member (b) 20 Insulating member (c) 21 Tungsten disulfide (WS ₂ ) contact 22 Monitor set plate 23 Substrate heater dome 24 Sputtering target 25 DC power supply 26 Power switch

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] October 4, 1999 (1999.10.
4)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All figures

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG.

FIG. 2

FIG. 3

FIG. 5

FIG. 4

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

FIG. 8

FIG. 9

FIG. 10

FIG. 11

FIG.

FIG. 13

FIG. 14

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuyoshi Nagai 2-27-2 Ohnodai, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Showa Vacuum Co., Ltd. (Reference) 2K009 AA00 AA02 BB02 CC00 DD03 DD04 4K029 BC07 DA08 DA10 DD02 EA01 EA06 JA02

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for manufacturing an optical (dielectric) thin film, wherein a mechanism for directly applying high-frequency power to the substrate dome is provided in order to obtain an optical thin film having a high packing density over the entire surface of the substrate dome. Optical thin film manufacturing equipment. 2. The optical thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a high-frequency power supply mechanism made of a self-lubricating material for applying high-frequency power efficiently even when the rotating substrate dome is in a high temperature state. 3. When the same power as the high-frequency power applied to the substrate dome is also applied to the monitoring substrate, an insulating member is used to insulate the monitor cylinder and the monitor set plate from the vacuum chamber in order to suppress abnormal discharge. 2. The optical thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical thin film manufacturing apparatus has a structure. 4. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein the shield attached between the substrate dome and the substrate heater dome has a mesh structure so that the substrate can be efficiently heated to suppress abnormal discharge. Optical thin film manufacturing equipment. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism that can change a shield distance between the substrate dome and the outer periphery in order to improve a refractive index of the substrate placed on the outer periphery of the substrate dome. Optical thin film manufacturing equipment.