JP2004083975A - Arc ion plating system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an AIP (Arc Ion Plating) system which can satisfy the requirements to an evacuation system to each other between a step requiring initial high evacuation and deposition step, both steps substantially contradicting each other with one turbo molecular pump, and which obtains an exhaust velocity desirable to the deposition step. <P>SOLUTION: The AIP system for evaporating a material 4 for vapor deposition by an arc discharge in a vacuum chamber 1 and for coating a material 2 to be coated with a thin film is provided with the turbo molecular pump 8 connected as an evacuation pump to the vacuum chamber 1 and is provided with a controller for changing the rotating speed of the pump 8 according to the progression of the step of the thin film coating 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an arc ion plating (hereinafter, referred to as AIP) apparatus, and more particularly, to an AIP apparatus having a vacuum chamber connected to a turbo molecular pump as a vacuum exhaust pump.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, hard coatings (TiN, TiAlN, CrN, etc.) coatings by the PVD method have been widely used for the purpose of improving the wear resistance of cutting tools and the sliding characteristics of sliding surfaces of mechanical parts. Among such hard film coatings, the most industrially used one is an arc ion plating (AIP) method for forming a film by evaporating a material of the film by vacuum arc discharge. The device for performing the above is called an AIP device and is well known.
[0003]
In this AIP apparatus, a film forming process of TiN or the like typically progresses as follows.
1. Mounting of an object to be coated on a device: After performing a pretreatment such as cleaning, the object to be coated fixed to a jig for coating is inserted into a vacuum chamber.
2. Evacuation: After the object to be coated is inserted, the inside of the vacuum chamber is evacuated to a high vacuum. This is done to sufficiently remove atmospheric components in the vacuum chamber and to keep residual gas harmful to the coating below acceptable levels.
3. Heating: The object to be coated is heated by heating means such as a radiation heater installed in a vacuum chamber. This step is performed for the purpose of promoting the desorption of moisture adhering to the surface of the object to be coated and setting the temperature of the object to be coated to a temperature suitable for forming a film in advance. The temperature of the object to be coated varies depending on the application, but the heating is performed for 30 minutes to several hours in order to heat to a temperature in the range of about 200 to 600 ° C. This step is desirably performed at as low a pressure as possible to prevent oxidation of the surface of the object to be coated.
4. Ion bombarding: a process of irradiating ions to a coating object to which a negative voltage of several hundred volts or more is applied and cleaning the surface layer by high-energy ion irradiation for the purpose of cleaning the coating object. This step can be roughly classified into two types depending on the type of ions to be irradiated. One is a metal ion bombard. In this case, ionized metal vapor is generated from an arc evaporation source, and bombardment is performed with metal ions. This method is performed in a high vacuum state where no gas or the like is introduced, or in an environment where argon, nitrogen or the like is introduced at a relatively low pressure. Another method is gas bombardment. In this case, the gas is turned into plasma using a filament or the like in an environment in which a gas such as argon is introduced into a vacuum chamber, and bombardment is performed using the gas ions.
5. Film formation: After ion bombardment, metal evaporation is generated from the arc evaporation source to irradiate the object to be coated, and the negative voltage applied to the object to be coated is set to a low level of about 0 to -300 V. Start the membrane. Usually, a film formed by the AIP method is a metal such as TiN, TiCN, CrN, TiAlN, TiC, and CrON and a compound such as nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Reactive film formation of a compound such as TiN (titanium nitride) is performed by introducing a gas such as a hydrocarbon alone or by mixing and introducing nitrogen while evaporating Ti, for example. The gas pressure at this time varies depending on the type of film to be formed, but a pressure of about 0.1 to 10 Pa, preferably about 1 to 5 Pa is often used.
6. Cooling: Cool to a temperature where it can be removed. The cooling step is performed in a high vacuum evacuation state, or by actively introducing an inert gas into the vacuum chamber.
7. Take-out: When the above-mentioned film forming process is completed, the vacuum chamber is opened and the object to be coated is taken out.
[0004]
In many advanced AIP devices, the above steps 2 to 6 are automated, and operating conditions (parameters) of one or more steps are set for each of the above steps according to a table of conditions prepared in advance. The film formation is performed by sequentially switching these.
[0005]
One of the technical characteristics of this AIP apparatus is that pressure conditions suitable for reactive film formation of a compound such as a nitride such as TiN, a carbide such as TiC, a carbonitride such as TiCN, or an oxide are a few. The Pa range is higher than other PVD methods. For example, a pressure condition of 0.1 to 1 Pa is usually set in the sputtering method, and an ion plating method using a crucible uses a high-energy electron beam (EB) gun to reduce the pressure to 0.1 Pa or less. The pressure using the EB having a large energy current is on the order of 0.1 Pa, which indicates that the pressure condition in the AIP device is higher by one digit or more. On the other hand, it is necessary to create a higher degree of vacuum in the initial evacuation and heating processes, and therefore, the AIP apparatus requires a wider pressure range for the evacuation system than other PVD methods. Correspondence to area is required.
[0006]
One solution to such a wide range of pressures is to combine vacuum pumps with different capabilities. For example, the AIP apparatus is provided with a large-capacity turbo-molecular pump and a small-capacity turbo-molecular pump, and it is desirable to use a small-capacity turbo-molecular pump in the film forming process. This undesirably increases the cost of the AIP device.
[0007]
Also, as another means, a valve (exhaust rate variable valve) capable of controlling the exhaust capacity is installed between the turbo molecular pump as a vacuum pump and the vacuum chamber, and the exhaust capacity is increased instead of installing a plurality of turbo molecular pumps. There is also a variable method, but also in this case, an expensive valve is required, so that it was not an economical solution.
[0008]
For this reason, for example, if a turbo-molecular pump having a large pumping capacity is attached for the purpose of effective vacuum pumping and effective pumping in the heating step, a large flow rate is required to achieve a predetermined pressure in the film forming step. It was necessary to flow the process gas. Conversely, if a turbo-molecular pump with the optimal evacuation capacity for the film formation process is adopted, the amount of process gas can be suppressed to a reasonable level, but the evacuation capacity in the initial evacuation and heating steps may be insufficient. there were.
[0009]
In addition, in the AIP device, the pressure in the vacuum chamber is monitored, and the amount of the process gas introduced is automatically controlled so as to maintain the pressure at a constant value. If the operation of the automatic control of the pressure is adjusted near the upper limit of the control target, there is a problem that the operation near the lower limit of the control target becomes unstable.
[0010]
Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a case where a plurality of film forming processes are used in combination due to the sophistication and compounding of the film forming process. For example, a sputtering cathode is attached to the above-mentioned AIP apparatus, and both the AIP and the sputter processes are performed in the same cycle. It may be performed continuously. In this case, a process gas needs to be introduced at the time of film formation in both of the film formation steps. However, since the flow rates of the gases required for the film formation are greatly different, a plurality of gas sensors having different full scales are required to control one type of gas. There were also inconveniences such as having to provide a gas introduction mechanism.
[0011]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the AIP apparatus based on the AIP method, and has an object of using a single turbo-molecular pump and having essentially contradictory initial conditions. To provide an AIP apparatus that can mutually satisfy the requirements of a vacuum evacuation system between a process requiring high vacuum evacuation and a film forming process and obtain a desired evacuation speed for the film forming process. It is.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an AIP apparatus according to the present invention (claim 1) is an arc ion plating apparatus for evaporating a deposition material by arc discharge in a vacuum chamber to coat a thin film on an object to be coated. And an AIP device having a control device for changing the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump in accordance with the progress of the thin-film coating process.
[0013]
An AIP apparatus according to the present invention (claim 2) is an arc ion plating apparatus for evaporating a deposition material by arc discharge in a vacuum chamber to coat a thin film on an object to be coated. An AIP apparatus including a molecular pump connected thereto and a control device for reducing the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump from a maximum rotation speed to a predetermined rotation speed in a thin film coating process.
[0014]
The AIP device according to the present invention (claim 3) is the AIP device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: adjusting a flow rate of a processing gas introduced into the vacuum chamber to maintain the pressure in the vacuum chamber at a predetermined pressure. This is an AIP device provided with a control device for performing the above.
[0015]
In the AIP apparatus according to the present invention (claim 4), in the AIP apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the pressure to be controlled in the vacuum chamber is controlled by the process gas introduction mechanism in the thin film coating process. The rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump is reduced so as to achieve a flow rate range of 10 to 100% with respect to the maximum flow rate, and the flow rate of the process gas introduced into the vacuum chamber is automatically adjusted to further reduce the flow rate. This is an AIP device provided with a control device for keeping the pressure at a value to be a control target.
[0016]
Since the AIP apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 includes a mechanism for changing the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump according to the progress of the thin film coating process, the turbo-molecular pump can be evacuated, heated, bombarded, After selecting the process according to the process that requires large exhaust capacity for cooling, use at the highest rotational speed in these processes, and reduce the exhaust speed to the predetermined rotational speed in the film forming process that requires high process pressure. Can be controlled and used. Therefore, without using a plurality of turbo-molecular pumps, providing a pumping speed control valve between the vacuum chamber and the turbo-molecular pump, and without flowing an extremely large flow rate of process gas into the vacuum chamber, Pressure conditions suitable for the AIP method at the Pa level can be achieved.
[0017]
In particular, in the AIP apparatus of the present invention, the turbo is controlled so that the pressure to be adjusted in the film forming step is in a flow rate range of 10 to 100% (more preferably about 30 to 80%) of the maximum flow rate of the process gas introduction mechanism. This is an example of a preferred embodiment in which the rotational speed of the molecular pump is reduced, and the pressure in the vacuum chamber is fed back to automatically adjust the process gas flow rate to maintain the pressure in the vacuum chamber at a predetermined value. . This is because, by adjusting the exhaust capacity by adjusting the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump, the process gas introduction mechanism can always be controlled to a predetermined pressure in a region of 10% or more of the maximum flow rate where the controllability is good. Excellent control becomes possible. In the AIP method, the flow rate of the process gas often needs to be changed by about 20% due to a change in the operating conditions of the evaporation source, etc., so that the process gas flow rate is in the range of 30 to 80% of the maximum flow rate at the beginning of the control. If the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump is adjusted so as to satisfy, good controllability can always be obtained even with respect to subsequent process fluctuations.
[0018]
An AIP device according to the present invention (claim 5) is the AIP device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a sputter evaporation source in a vacuum chamber, and connected to the sputter evaporation source. The AIP apparatus has a sputtering power supply and can perform both film formation by the arc ion plating method and film formation by the sputtering method in one vacuum chamber.
[0019]
Further, the AIP apparatus according to the present invention (claim 6) controls the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump during the film forming process by the AIP method to be lower than the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump during the film forming process by the sputtering method. An AIP device according to claim 5 comprising the device.
[0020]
In the AIP apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, the evaporation material is evaporated by vacuum arc discharge in one vacuum chamber to form a thin film on an object to be coated, and the target material is evaporated by sputtering. It is possible to perform both the film formation by the sputtering method of coating the object to be coated with the thin film, and to change the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump between the film formation by the AIP method and the film formation by the sputtering method. Therefore, for example, film formation by a sputtering method under a pressure condition of 0.1 to 1 Pa and film formation by an AIP method at a pressure condition of about 1 to 5 Pa can be performed. In this case, even if one process gas introduction mechanism is used, the pressure condition is in the range of 0.1 to 1 Pa in the film formation by the sputtering method, so that the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump is kept near the maximum rotation, and the film formation by the AIP method is performed. At the time of film formation, the pressure is set to about 1 to 10 Pa (more preferably, 1 to 5 Pa), so that a suitable pressure range can be easily controlled by lowering the rotation speed and lowering the exhaust capacity.
[0021]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an AIP device according to the present invention (claims 1 to 4).
[0022]
In the vacuum chamber 1, a table 3 on which a workpiece 2 is placed and an arc evaporation source 4 are arranged. A bias power supply 5 is connected to the table 3, an arc power supply 6 is connected to the arc evaporation source 4, and the power supplies 5, 6 and the vacuum chamber 1 are grounded.
[0023]
The exhaust system of the vacuum chamber 1 includes an exhaust pipe 11 in which a stop valve 7 and a turbo molecular pump 8 and a stop valve 9 and a roughing pump 10 are arranged in this order from the vacuum chamber 1 side. And a roughing pump 10 and an exhaust pipe 13 having a blocking valve 12 disposed therebetween. Further, the gas introduction system to the vacuum chamber 1 includes a gas introduction pipe 15 in which a gas introduction amount control device 14 is provided.
[0024]
The control device 16 controls a bias voltage to the bias power supply 5, controls an arc current to the arc power supply 6, controls a rotation speed to the turbo molecular pump 8, controls a gas introduction amount to the gas introduction amount control device 14, Are input, and their control signals can be transmitted to each device.
[0025]
The characteristic feature of the AIP device of the present invention is that a command signal for changing the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 is sent from the control device 16 to the turbo molecular pump 8. In this AIP device, the control device 16 transmits a control signal for setting the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 to a predetermined deceleration state when it is determined that the present AIP device is in the reactive film forming step by the AIP method. On the other hand, in other steps, a control signal for maximizing the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump 8 is transmitted.
[0026]
As a method of determining that the AIP device is in the reactive film forming step of the AIP method in the control device 16, for example, there is the following method.
a: The state of the apparatus characteristic of the reactive film forming step (for example, the AIP evaporation source is operated, the bias voltage is in the range of 0 to -300 V, and the reactive gas is introduced) is detected.
b: In an AIP apparatus of a type in which a film is automatically formed by sequentially executing a combination of film forming parameters stored in advance, a mark indicating a reactive film forming process is included in the film forming parameter. .
[0027]
Next, for the AIP apparatus having the above-described configuration, for example, a case where the capacity of the vacuum chamber 1 is selected to be about 200 liters and the pumping speed of the turbo-molecular pump 8 is set to, for example, 2000 l / s will be described. The method of using the AIP device when forming a film and the function and effect will be described more specifically.
[0028]
1): In the process of evacuation to heating and cooling, the turbo molecular pump 8 is used at the maximum rotation speed, and the evacuation is performed from the evacuation line 11 and the evacuation tube 13 to reduce the pressure in the vacuum chamber 1 to high vacuum (0 .001 Pa order).
2): In the bombardment step, the pressure in the vacuum chamber 1 is increased to 0.02 to 0.1 Pa while introducing nitrogen gas at a pressure of 0.02 to 0.1 Pa from the gas introduction pipe 15 to increase the metal ion bombardment. I do. This state is achieved by using the turbo molecular pump 8 at the maximum rotation speed and introducing nitrogen gas at a flow rate of 25 to 130 sccm, and when a deviation from a predetermined pressure occurs due to the operation of the arc evaporation source or the like, Adjust the introduced gas volume to an appropriate pressure. For this reason, it is preferable to select a nitrogen gas introduction amount controller 14 having a flow rate range of 200 sccm at the maximum.
3): In the film forming process, the film is formed by increasing the pressure in the vacuum chamber 1 to 1 to 5 Pa while introducing nitrogen gas from the gas introduction pipe 15 at a pressure of 1 to 5 Pa. This pressure range is achieved with a nitrogen gas introduction gas amount in the range of 80 to 160 sccm when the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 is set to a state where the pumping capacity is reduced to about 1/10, and the operation of the arc evaporation source and the like are performed. If the pressure deviates from the predetermined pressure, the pressure can be adjusted to an appropriate value by adjusting the amount of the introduced gas. For this reason, it is appropriate that the nitrogen gas introduction amount control device 14 has a flow rate range of 200 sccm at the maximum, and it is easy to share with the above process.
[0029]
In contrast to the above-described AIP device of the present invention, the conventional AIP device does not have a function of reducing the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump in the film forming process. Is required to obtain a flow rate of 800 to 1500 sccm, and it is necessary to select a gas introduction amount control device for introducing a reaction gas having a maximum flow rate of about 2000 sccm. In this case, a problem arises when a pressure of about 0.02 Pa is used in the bombarding process. In this case, the gas must be used in a flow rate range of about 1% of the maximum flow rate, so that the controllability of the gas flow rate is high. And a great problem has arisen in terms of accuracy. For this reason, it is necessary to provide two systems of gas introduction amount control devices and to provide a valve for restricting the exhaust speed.
[0030]
FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an AIP device according to the present invention (claims 5 and 6). The AIP device shown in FIG. 2 is different from the AIP device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 in that a sputter evaporation source 17 is further arranged in the vacuum chamber 1 and a sputter power source 18 is connected to the sputter evaporation source 17. A gas introduction line 20 provided with a gas introduction amount control device 19 for introducing an argon gas (inert gas) into the vacuum chamber 1 is provided, and a control device 16 is connected to the sputter evaporation source 17. An AIP having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 except that a control program for controlling the sputtering power and controlling the gas introduction amount to the gas introduction amount control device 19 is input and their control signals can be transmitted to each device. It has basically the same configuration as the device.
[0031]
The characteristic feature of the AIP device of the present invention is that a command signal for changing the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 is sent from the control device 16 to the turbo molecular pump 8. In this AIP device, the control device 16 transmits a control signal for setting the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 to a predetermined deceleration state when it is determined that the present AIP device is in the reactive film forming step by the AIP method. On the other hand, in other steps including the sputtering step, a control signal for maximizing the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 is transmitted.
[0032]
In the control device 16, as a method for the AIP device to determine the reactive film forming process of the AIP method and the film forming process of the sputtering method, for example, the following methods are available.
a: The state of the apparatus characteristic of the AIP film formation step (for example, the AIP evaporation source is operated, the bias voltage is in the range of 0 to -300 V, and a reactive gas is introduced) and the sputter film formation step A characteristic state (for example, a sputter evaporation source is operating) is detected.
b: In an AIP apparatus (AIP / sputter combined apparatus) that automatically forms a film by sequentially executing a combination of film forming parameters stored in advance, a reactive film of AIP is included in the film forming parameters. A mark indicating the process is included.
b: In an AIP apparatus of a type in which a film is automatically formed by sequentially executing a combination of film forming parameters stored in advance, a mark indicating a reactive film forming process is included in the film forming parameter. .
[0033]
Next, for the AIP apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 2, for example, a case where the capacity of the vacuum chamber 1 is selected to be about 200 liters and the evacuation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 is set to 2000 l / s, for example, CrN The method of using the AIP apparatus and the function and effect in the case of performing the composite film formation in which the reactive film formation is sequentially performed by the sputter film formation and the AIP film formation will be described more specifically.
[0034]
1): In the process of evacuation to heating and cooling, the turbo molecular pump 8 is used at the maximum rotation speed, and the evacuation is performed from the evacuation line 11 and the evacuation tube 13 to reduce the pressure in the vacuum chamber 1 to high vacuum (0 .001 Pa order).
2): In the step of sputtering film formation, the pressure in the vacuum chamber 1 is set to 0.1 to 0.5 Pa while introducing Ar and nitrogen gas at a pressure of 0.1 to 0.5 Pa from the gas introduction pipes 15 and 20. To perform film formation. The mixing ratio of Ar and nitrogen gas is, for example, 80:20. This state is achieved when the turbo molecular pump 8 is used at the maximum rotation speed and is introduced at a total flow rate of 120 to 550 sccm and a flow rate of 96 to 440 sccm (Ar is 96 to 440 sccm, nitrogen is 24-110 sccm). In the case where the pressure deviates from the predetermined pressure, the introduced gas amount is adjusted to an appropriate pressure. For this reason, it is preferable to select the Ar gas gas introduction amount control device 19 having a flow rate range of 500 sccm at the maximum, and the nitrogen gas gas introduction amount control device 14 having a flow rate range of 200 sccm at the maximum.
3): In the AIP film forming process, the film is formed by increasing the pressure in the vacuum chamber 1 to 1 to 5 Pa while introducing nitrogen gas from the gas introduction pipe 15 at a pressure of 1 to 5 Pa. This pressure range is achieved with a nitrogen gas introduction gas amount in the range of 80 to 160 sccm when the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 is set to a state where the pumping capacity is reduced to about 1/10, and the operation of the arc evaporation source and the like are performed. If the pressure deviates from the predetermined pressure, the pressure can be adjusted to an appropriate value by adjusting the amount of the introduced gas. For this reason, it is appropriate that the nitrogen gas introduction amount control device 14 has a flow rate range of 200 sccm at the maximum, and it is easy to share with the above process.
[0035]
As described above, in the AIP / sputter combined apparatus which cannot send a command signal for changing the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump 8 to the AIP apparatus (AIP / sputter combined apparatus) of the present invention, the rotation speed of the turbo molecular pump is reduced. Since it does not have the function of lowering in the AIP film forming step, a flow rate of 800 to 1500 sccm is required to obtain a pressure in the range of 1 to 5 Pa in the film forming step, and the maximum flow rate of the reaction gas introduction mechanism is It is appropriate to select one of about 2000 sccm. In this case, a problem arises in the case of using in a low flow region near the lower limit (24 sccm) in the sputtering film forming process, and in this case, it must be used in a flow region of about 1% of the maximum flow rate. A major problem arises in terms of controllability and accuracy of gas flow. For this reason, it is necessary to provide two systems of gas introduction pipes provided with the gas introduction amount control device and to provide a valve (exhaust speed variable valve) for restricting the exhaust speed.
[0036]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the sputter deposition is performed first and the AIP deposition is performed later is described. However, the reverse order, that is, the AIP deposition is performed first and the sputter deposition is performed later. Is also conceivable. In this case, after a film having good adhesion is formed by AIP film formation, a film can be efficiently formed by sputtering film formation.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the arc ion plating apparatus according to the present invention includes a mechanism that changes the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump according to the progress of the thin-film coating process. Select a process that requires a large pumping capacity such as vacuum pumping or heating, and use it at the highest rotational speed in these processes. The exhaust capacity can be controlled and used. Therefore, without using a plurality of turbo-molecular pumps, providing a pumping speed control valve between the vacuum chamber and the turbo-molecular pump, and without flowing an extremely large flow rate of process gas into the vacuum chamber, Pressure conditions suitable for the AIP method at the Pa level can be achieved. Further, both film formation by the AIP method and film formation by the sputtering method can be performed in one vacuum chamber.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of an AIP device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view of an AIP device according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: Vacuum chamber 2: Coating object 3: Table 4: Arc evaporation source 5: Bias power supply 6: Arc power supply 7, 9: Stop valve 8: Turbo molecular pump 10: Roughing pump 11: Exhaust line 12: Block Stop valve 13: Exhaust pipe 14: Gas introduction amount control device 15: Gas introduction line 16: Control device 17: Sputter evaporation source 18: Sputter power supply 19: Gas introduction amount control device 20: Gas introduction line

Claims (6)

In an arc ion plating system that evaporates a deposition material by arc discharge in a vacuum chamber and coats a thin film on an object to be coated, a turbo molecular pump is connected to the vacuum chamber as a vacuum exhaust pump, and the thin film coating process is advanced. An arc ion plating apparatus, comprising: a control device that changes the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump in response to the control. In an arc ion plating apparatus for evaporating a deposition material by arc discharge in a vacuum chamber and coating a thin film on an object to be coated, a turbo molecular pump is connected to a vacuum chamber as a vacuum exhaust pump, and the thin film coating step An arc ion plating apparatus comprising a control device for reducing the rotation speed of a turbo molecular pump from a maximum rotation speed to a predetermined rotation speed. 3. The arc ion plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control device for adjusting a flow rate of the processing gas introduced into the vacuum chamber to maintain the pressure in the vacuum chamber at a predetermined pressure. Device. In the thin film coating process, the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump is reduced so that the pressure to be controlled in the vacuum chamber can be achieved in a flow rate range of 10 to 100% with respect to the maximum flow rate of the process gas introduction mechanism. 4. The arc ion plating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control device for automatically adjusting a flow rate of the process gas introduced into the vacuum chamber and maintaining the pressure in the vacuum chamber at a target value. Device. The arc ion plating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a sputter evaporation source in the vacuum chamber, a sputter power source connected to the sputter evaporation source, and An arc ion plating apparatus capable of performing both film formation by an arc ion plating method and film formation by a sputtering method. The arc according to claim 5, further comprising a control device for lowering the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump during the film formation process by the arc ion plating method than the rotation speed of the turbo-molecular pump during the film formation process by the sputtering method. Ion plating equipment.

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