JP2006291308A - Film deposition system and film deposition method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a film deposition system and film deposition method capable of efficiently performing film deposition at a low temperature. <P>SOLUTION: The film deposition system 1 comprises vacuum vessel 10, a conveyance mechanism 3 for conveying a material 11 to be treated to an X-axis direction, a cooling mechanism 2 which cools the material 11 to be treated, and a main anode 4 for holding a film deposition material Ma. The cooling mechanism 2 is configured to include a film deposition chamber top cooling section 21 arranged above the film deposition chamber 10b, an upstream side cooling section 22 arranged on the upstream side of the film deposition chamber top cooling section 21, and a downstream side cooling section 23 arranged on the downstream side of the film deposition chamber top cooling section 21. The film deposition chamber top cooling section 21 previously cools the material 11 to be treated before the film deposition. The downstream side cooling section 23 rapidly cools the material 11 to be treated which is raised in temperature by the film deposition. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus and a film forming method.

  In recent years, when manufacturing an optical device such as an organic EL display using organic EL (electroluminescence), a technique for forming a transparent conductive film on the surface of the substrate, or protecting the organic EL layer formed on the substrate from moisture. The technology for forming a moisture-proof film is actively researched. ITO has attracted attention as a material used for transparent conductive films because of its low resistivity. On the other hand, practical application of transparent conductive films using zinc oxide (ZnO), which is cheaper than ITO, is available. Is expected. As the moisture-proof film, for example, silicon nitride oxide (SiON) is preferably used.

  The SiON film and the ZnO film can be formed by physical vapor deposition such as ion plating. However, since the upper limit of the heat resistant temperature of the organic EL layer is low (usually 100 ° C. or lower), if the film forming temperature rises excessively when forming the SiON film on the organic EL layer, the organic EL layer is destroyed. There is a fear. Further, since the ZnO film is crystallized when the temperature of the ZnO film becomes high, when it is desired to form the ZnO film in an amorphous state, it is necessary to suppress the temperature rise due to the film formation to be equal to or lower than the crystallization temperature.

  As a device for suppressing the temperature rise due to film formation, for example, a film forming apparatus including a cooling plate is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this film forming apparatus, a cooling plate is installed in the transport area of the plastic substrate, and the plastic substrate is cooled by the cooling plate, thereby suppressing the temperature of the plastic substrate to 150 ° C. or lower and forming an ITO film on the plastic substrate. It is filming.

JP2002-60929

  As described above, when manufacturing an optical device using organic EL, it is required to form a SiON film or a ZnO film at a low temperature. For this reason, when forming the SiON film, the temperature rise of the substrate is kept low by forming the film on the organic EL layer of the substrate while transporting the substrate at a high speed, and if necessary A SiON film having a desired thickness was obtained by repeating the process a plurality of times. Further, when forming the ZnO film, the film was formed over a long period of time while keeping the temperature rise of the substrate low by keeping the energy (for example, plasma energy) at the time of film formation low. Therefore, these film forming steps take a long time, which is one factor for suppressing the production efficiency.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a film forming apparatus and a film forming method capable of efficiently performing film formation at a low temperature.

  In order to solve the above problems, a film forming apparatus according to the present invention is a film forming apparatus that forms a film by scattering the film forming material and adhering it to an object to be processed. A vacuum chamber including a film formation chamber, a transfer chamber disposed on the film formation chamber and extending in a predetermined transfer direction, a transfer mechanism provided in the transfer chamber for transferring an object to be processed in the transfer direction, and transfer in the transfer chamber And a cooling mechanism that cools the object to be processed. The cooling mechanism is provided on the film forming chamber and disposed upstream of the film forming chamber, and upstream of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit in the transport direction. It is characterized by including the upstream side cooling part arrange | positioned at the side.

  In the film forming apparatus described above, the cooling mechanism includes an upstream side cooling unit disposed on the upstream side of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit in addition to the film forming chamber upper cooling unit disposed on the film forming chamber. . Accordingly, since the object to be processed can be cooled in advance before the film formation on the surface of the object to be processed, compared with the case where the cooling unit is provided only on the film formation chamber, Temperature rise (maximum temperature reached) can be kept low. Therefore, according to the film forming apparatus described above, it is not necessary to spend a long time for film formation in order to keep the temperature rise of the object to be processed low as in the prior art, and film formation at a low temperature can be performed efficiently.

  Further, the film forming apparatus may be characterized in that the upstream side cooling unit and the film forming chamber upper cooling unit are integrally configured. Alternatively, the film forming apparatus may be characterized in that the upstream side cooling unit and the film forming chamber upper cooling unit are spaced apart from each other.

  In addition, the film forming apparatus has a piping in which the cooling mechanism cools the object to be processed by the coolant flowing inside, and the piping in at least one cooling unit among the film forming chamber upper cooling unit and the upstream side cooling unit includes: While being arranged two-dimensionally along the conveyance mechanism, it may be characterized by being arranged at both ends of the cooling unit in a predetermined direction. If the pipes are uniformly arranged in the cooling section, the cooling capacity near the center of the cooling section tends to be higher than the cooling capacity near the end. On the other hand, the distribution of the cooling capacity of the cooling unit with respect to the object to be processed can be made uniform by arranging the pipes at the opposite ends of the cooling unit as in the film forming apparatus described above.

  In addition, the film forming apparatus may further include an upstream facing cooling unit arranged so that the cooling mechanism faces the upstream cooling unit with the transport mechanism interposed therebetween. Accordingly, the object to be processed can be cooled to a lower temperature before film formation is started on the surface of the object to be processed.

  Further, in the film forming apparatus, the cooling mechanism has a pipe for cooling the object to be processed by the coolant flowing inside, and the pipe of the upstream cooling unit is biased toward both ends of the upstream cooling unit in the first direction. It is arranged, and the piping of the upstream facing cooling section may be arranged at both ends of the upstream facing cooling section in the second direction intersecting the first direction. Thereby, the distribution of the cooling capacity for the workpiece can be made more uniform.

  In the film forming apparatus, the cooling mechanism may further include a downstream cooling unit disposed on the downstream side of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit in the transport direction. Thereby, since the temperature of the object to be processed after film formation can be lowered more quickly, the influence of the temperature increase on the film after film formation and the object to be processed can be further suppressed.

  In addition, the film forming method according to the present invention is a film forming method for forming a film by scattering the film forming material and attaching the film forming material to the object to be processed while conveying the object to be processed in a predetermined transfer direction. In addition, before film formation is started on the object to be processed, a pre-cooling step for cooling the object to be processed while conveying the object to be processed in the conveying direction, and an object to be processed while cooling the object to be processed And a film forming step for forming a film.

  In the above-described film forming method, in addition to cooling during film formation in the film forming process, the object to be processed is cooled in advance in the preliminary cooling step before starting film formation, so the object to be processed is cooled only during film formation. Compared with the case where it does, the temperature rise at the time of film-forming (maximum temperature reached) can be suppressed low. Therefore, according to the film formation method described above, it is not necessary to spend a long time for film formation in order to suppress the temperature rise of the object to be processed as in the conventional case, and film formation at a low temperature can be performed efficiently.

  Further, the film forming method may be characterized in that, in the preliminary cooling step, a cooling liquid having a freezing point lower than zero degrees is used, and the processing object is cooled so that the temperature of the processing object becomes zero degrees or less. . Thereby, compared with the case where water is used as the cooling liquid, for example, the object to be processed can be cooled to a lower temperature before starting the film formation, so that the temperature rise during the film formation can be further suppressed.

  According to the film forming apparatus and the film forming method of the present invention, film formation at a low temperature can be performed efficiently.

  Embodiments of a film forming apparatus and a film forming method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a film forming apparatus according to the present invention. The film forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is an ion plating apparatus used for a so-called ion plating method. In FIG. 1, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is also shown for ease of explanation.

  The film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a cooling mechanism 2, a transport mechanism 3, a main anode 4, a plasma source 5, an auxiliary anode 6, and a vacuum container 10.

  The vacuum vessel 10 includes a transfer chamber 10a for transferring an object 11 to be formed, a film formation chamber 10b for scattering the film forming material Ma, and a plasma P irradiated from the plasma source 5 to the vacuum vessel 10. It has a plasma port 10c to be received therein, gas supply ports 10d and 10e for introducing an atmospheric gas such as oxygen into the vacuum vessel 10, and an exhaust port 10f for exhausting residual gas in the film forming chamber 10b. The transfer chamber 10a extends in a predetermined transfer direction (arrow A in the figure) and is disposed on the film forming chamber 10b. In the present embodiment, the transport direction (arrow A) is set along the X axis. The vacuum vessel 10 is made of a conductive material and connected to a ground potential.

  The transport mechanism 3 is a mechanism for moving the workpiece holding member 32 that holds the workpiece 11. The transport mechanism 3 is composed of a plurality of transport rollers 31 installed in the transport chamber 10a. The conveyance rollers 31 are arranged at equal intervals along the conveyance direction (arrow A), and can be conveyed in the conveyance direction while supporting the workpiece holding member 32. In addition, as the to-be-processed object 11, plate-shaped members, such as a glass substrate and a plastic substrate, are illustrated, for example. Alternatively, a substrate product in which a functional element layer such as an organic EL layer is formed on the plate-like member may be used as the object to be processed 11.

  The plasma source 5 is of a pressure gradient type, and its main body is provided on the side wall (plasma port 10c) of the film forming chamber 10b. The plasma P generated in the plasma source 5 is emitted from the plasma port 10c into the film forming chamber 10b. The exit direction of the plasma P is controlled by a steering coil (not shown) provided in the plasma port 10c.

  The main anode 4 is a material holding part for holding the film forming material Ma. The main anode 4 is provided in the film forming chamber 10 b of the vacuum vessel 10 and is disposed in the negative direction of the Z-axis direction with respect to the transport mechanism 3. The main anode 4 has a hearth 41 for guiding the plasma P emitted from the plasma source 5 to the film forming material Ma. The hearth 41 is kept at a positive potential with respect to the vacuum vessel 10 which is a ground potential, and sucks the plasma P. A through hole for loading the film forming material Ma is formed in the center of the hearth 41 where the plasma P is incident. And the front-end | tip part of film-forming material Ma protrudes from this through-hole.

  Examples of the film forming material Ma include a transparent conductive material such as ZnO and an insulating sealing material such as SiON. When the film forming material Ma is made of an insulating material, when the hearth 41 is irradiated with the plasma P, the hearth 41 is heated by the current from the plasma P, and the tip portion of the film forming material Ma evaporates to form film forming material particles. Mb scatters into the film forming chamber 10b. When the film forming material Ma is made of a conductive material, when the hearth 41 is irradiated with the plasma P, the plasma P directly enters the film forming material Ma, and the tip portion of the film forming material Ma is heated and evaporated. The film forming material particles Mb are scattered in the film forming chamber 10b. The film forming material particles Mb scattered in the film forming chamber 10b are ionized by the plasma P, move upward (in the positive Z-axis direction) of the film forming chamber 10b, and adhere to the surface of the workpiece 11 in the transfer chamber 10a. To do. The film forming material Ma is pushed out from below the main anode 4 so that the tip portion always protrudes from the hearth 41.

  The auxiliary anode 6 is an electromagnet for inducing the plasma P. The auxiliary anode 6 is disposed around the hearth 41 that holds the film forming material Ma, and includes an annular container, and a coil 6a and a permanent magnet 6b accommodated in the container. The coil 6a and the permanent magnet 6b control the direction of the plasma P incident on the hearth 41 according to the amount of current flowing through the coil 6a.

  The cooling mechanism 2 is a mechanism for cooling the workpiece 11 with the coolant flowing in the piping, and is provided along the transfer mechanism 3 in the transfer chamber 10a. The cooling mechanism 2 includes a film formation chamber upper cooling unit 21, an upstream cooling unit 22, a downstream cooling unit 23, an upstream counter cooling unit 24, and a downstream counter cooling unit 25.

  The film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21 is disposed above the film forming chamber 10b in the transfer chamber 10a. 1 is fixed in contact with the inner wall (ceiling wall) of the transfer chamber 10a, but the film formation chamber upper cooling portion 21 is fixed at a distance from the wall surface of the transfer chamber 10a. May be. The film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21 includes a pipe 21a. The pipe 21a is two-dimensionally arranged along the transport mechanism 3. Specifically, the pipe 21 a is disposed along the surface opposite to the film forming surface of the workpiece 11 that is transported on the transport roller 31. The film formation chamber upper cooling unit 21 suppresses the temperature rise of the object to be processed 11 during the film formation process by cooling the object to be processed 11 during the film formation with the coolant flowing in the pipe 21a.

  The upstream side cooling unit 22 is arranged in the transfer chamber 10a on the upstream side of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21 in the transfer direction (arrow A), that is, a position through which the workpiece 11 before film formation passes. The upstream side cooling unit 22 is fixed to the inner wall (ceiling wall) of the transfer chamber 10a with a predetermined gap from the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21. The upstream side cooling unit 22 is two-dimensionally along the transport mechanism 3 (specifically, along the surface opposite to the film forming surface of the workpiece 11), like the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21. It has the piping 22a arrange | positioned in the shape. The upstream side cooling unit 22 cools the object to be processed 11 in advance by the coolant flowing inside the pipe 22a before film formation.

  The downstream side cooling unit 23 is arranged in the transfer chamber 10a on the downstream side of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21 in the transfer direction (arrow A), that is, at a position where the post-film formation object 11 passes. The downstream side cooling unit 23 is fixed to the inner wall (ceiling wall) of the transfer chamber 10a with a predetermined interval from the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21. The downstream cooling unit 23 is two-dimensionally along the transport mechanism 3 (specifically, along the surface opposite to the film forming surface of the workpiece 11), like the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21. It has the piping 23a arrange | positioned in the shape. The downstream side cooling unit 23 rapidly cools the workpiece 11 whose temperature has been increased by the film formation with the coolant flowing in the pipe 23a.

  The upstream facing cooling unit 24 is disposed in the transfer chamber 10a so as to face the upstream cooling unit 22 with the transfer mechanism 3 interposed therebetween. The upstream facing cooling unit 24 is fixed to the inner wall (bottom wall) of the transfer chamber 10a. The upstream facing cooling unit 24 includes a pipe 24 a that is two-dimensionally arranged along the transport mechanism 3 (specifically, along the film formation surface of the workpiece 11). The upstream facing cooling unit 24 cools the workpiece 11 together with the upstream cooling unit 22 in advance of the film formation with the coolant flowing in the pipe 24a.

  The downstream facing cooling unit 25 is disposed in the transfer chamber 10a so as to face the downstream cooling unit 23 with the transfer mechanism 3 interposed therebetween. The downstream facing cooling unit 25 is fixed to the inner wall (bottom wall) of the transfer chamber 10a. The downstream facing cooling unit 25 includes a pipe 25 a that is two-dimensionally arranged along the transport mechanism 3 (specifically, along the film formation surface of the workpiece 11). The downstream facing cooling unit 25 rapidly cools the workpiece 11 whose temperature has been increased by the film formation together with the downstream cooling unit 23 by the coolant flowing inside the pipe 25 a.

  As a cooling liquid used for each cooling part 21-25 mentioned above (especially the upstream cooling part 22, the upstream opposing cooling part 24), a liquid (for example, a fluorinate, a Galden, etc.) whose freezing point is lower than water is preferable.

  Here, Fig.2 (a) is a notch top view which shows the structure of the upstream cooling part 22 in this embodiment. FIG. 2A shows a plan view of the upstream cooling section 22 in FIG. 1 as viewed from above the Z-axis. Moreover, FIG.2 (b) is side surface sectional drawing along the II line of the upstream cooling part 22 shown in FIG. Note that the film forming chamber upper cooling section 21, the downstream cooling section 23, the upstream facing cooling section 24, and the downstream facing cooling section 25 in this embodiment are the upstream shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). The side cooling unit 22 has the same configuration.

  Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the upstream cooling unit 22 includes a pipe 22a and two fixing plates 22b and 22c. The pipe 22a is two-dimensionally arranged in a plane (XY plane) along the surface of the plate-like workpiece 11. Further, the pipe 22a is bent and arranged several times so as to be arranged as long as possible inside the upstream cooling section 22. In the present embodiment, the pipe 22a is disposed such that the direction of the flow of the coolant C flowing inside the pipe 22a intersects (preferably orthogonally) the transport direction (arrow A). Note that both ends of the pipe 22a in the upstream side cooling unit 22 are connected to a cooling device (chiller unit) (not shown) for cooling the coolant C. Moreover, it is preferable that the piping 22a consists of metal materials excellent in heat conductivity, such as copper and aluminum, for example.

  The fixed plates 22b and 22c are plate-like members each having a substantially rectangular planar shape. The fixing plates 22b and 22c fix the piping 22a arranged two-dimensionally in the XY plane by sandwiching it from both sides in the Z-axis direction. The fixing plates 22b and 22c are fastened to each other by bolts or the like, and are fixed to the inner wall surface of the transfer chamber 10a (see FIG. 1) by a post (not shown). The fixing plates 22b and 22c are preferably made of a metal material having excellent thermal conductivity, such as copper or aluminum. Further, when the fixing plates 22b and 22c are made of aluminum, it is more preferable that the surface thereof is anodized.

  Next, the film forming method according to the present embodiment using the film forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the film forming material Ma is mounted on the hearth 41 arranged on the main anode 4, and the workpiece holding member 32 holding the workpiece 11 is set in the transport mechanism 3. And after hold | maintaining the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 to a vacuum, a cooling fluid is introduce | transduced into each piping 21a-25a of the cooling mechanism 2. FIG.

  Subsequently, a negative voltage is applied to the plasma source 5 and a positive voltage is applied to the main anode 4 with the vacuum vessel 10 at the ground potential interposed therebetween, thereby generating a plasma P. The plasma P is guided to the auxiliary anode 6 and irradiated to the main anode 4. In this method, the main anode 4 is irradiated with the plasma P in this manner while the workpiece holding member 32 is being conveyed in the conveyance direction (arrow A). The film forming material Ma in the main anode 4 exposed to the plasma P is gradually heated. When the film forming material Ma is sufficiently heated, the film forming material Ma is sublimated and becomes film forming material particles Mb to be scattered in the film forming chamber 10b. The film forming material particles Mb scattered in the film forming chamber 10b are activated and ionized by the plasma P when flying in the positive direction in the Z-axis direction in the film forming chamber 10b, and fly toward the object 11 to be processed. To do.

  On the other hand, the workpiece 11 is transported in the transport direction (arrow A) by the transport mechanism 3. And when the to-be-processed object 11 passes between the upstream cooling part 22 and the upstream opposing cooling part 24, the to-be-processed object 11 is cooled with the cooling fluid which flows through the piping 22a and 24a (preliminary cooling process). At this time, it is preferable that the temperature of the coolant and the conveyance speed of the workpiece 11 are set so that the workpiece 11 is cooled to zero degrees or less.

  Subsequently, the workpiece 11 is transported by the transport mechanism 3 and reaches the upper part of the film forming chamber 10b, and is exposed to the film forming material particles Mb scattered in the film forming chamber 10b. The ionized particles of the film forming material particles Mb scattered in the film forming chamber 10b adhere to the film forming surface of the workpiece 11 facing the main anode 4 in the form of a film. At this time, the object to be processed 11 is heated by the adhesion of ionized particles of the film forming material particles Mb, while the temperature rise of the object to be processed 11 is suppressed by the coolant flowing through the pipe 21a of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21.

  A film having a predetermined thickness is formed on the surface of the object to be processed 11 by being exposed to the film forming material particles Mb for a predetermined time while being conveyed at a constant speed (film forming process). Thereafter, the workpiece 11 is transported by the transport mechanism 3 and passes between the downstream cooling unit 23 and the downstream facing cooling unit 25. At this time, the object 11 whose temperature has increased due to film formation is rapidly cooled by the coolant flowing through the pipes 23a and 25a (post-film formation cooling step). In this way, a desired film is formed on the surface of the workpiece 11.

  The effects obtained by the film forming apparatus 1 and the film forming method of the present embodiment described above are as follows. In the film forming apparatus 1 and the film forming method of this embodiment, as described above, the cooling mechanism 2 is further cooled in addition to the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21 disposed on the film forming chamber 10b. An upstream side cooling unit 22 disposed upstream of the unit 21 is configured. And before the film-forming starts on the surface of the to-be-processed object 11, the to-be-processed object 11 is cooled beforehand, and the to-be-processed object 11 is cooled also during film-forming.

  Here, a graph G1 shown in FIG. 3 shows that the object to be processed 11 is cooled in advance before the film formation is started on the surface of the object 11 as in this embodiment, and the object to be processed is also formed during the film formation. It is a graph which shows an example of the temperature change of the to-be-processed object 11 when the processed object 11 is cooled. In FIG. 3, the vertical axis indicates the temperature of the workpiece 11 and the horizontal axis indicates the elapsed time after the start of conveyance. For comparison, FIG. 3 also shows a graph G2 showing an example of a temperature change of the object to be processed 11 in the conventional film formation method in which cooling is performed only during film formation.

Referring to FIG. 3, in the film forming apparatus 1 and the film forming method (graph G1) of the present embodiment, first, the temperature of the workpiece 11 is set to the initial temperature T ₀ by the upstream cooling unit 22 and the upstream counter cooling unit 24. To a temperature T ₁ (≦ 0 ° C.). Then, on the film forming chamber 10b, the temperature of the workpiece 11 is ΔT rises from temperature _{T 1,} the temperature _T 2 (> 0 ℃). Note that the temperature rise width ΔT at this time is determined by the difference between the amount of heat given to the workpiece 11 due to the deposition of the film forming material particles Mb and the amount of heat absorbed by the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 21. Thereafter, the processing object 11 is rapidly cooled from temperature T ₂ to the vicinity of the initial temperature T ₀ by the downstream cooling portion 23 and the downstream-side facing the cooling section 25.

On the other hand, in the conventional method (graph G2) in which cooling is performed only during film formation, film formation is started from the state of the initial temperature T ₀ , and the temperature of the object to be processed increases by ΔT from the initial temperature T _0, and the temperature T ₃ ( > T ₂ ). After the film formation, the object to be processed is gradually cooled by natural heat dissipation.

  Thus, by cooling the object to be processed 11 in advance before the film formation is started on the surface of the object to be processed 11, a cooling unit is provided only on the film forming chamber 10b (only during film formation). Compared with the case of cooling), the temperature rise (maximum temperature reached) during film formation can be further suppressed. Therefore, according to the film forming apparatus 1 and the film forming method described above, it is not necessary to spend a long time for film formation in order to keep the temperature rise of the object to be processed low as in the prior art, and film formation at a low temperature is efficiently performed. It can be carried out.

  Further, as in the present embodiment, the cooling mechanism 2 preferably has an upstream facing cooling unit 24 arranged to face the upstream cooling unit 22 with the transport mechanism 3 interposed therebetween. In addition to the upstream cooling unit 22, the workpiece 11 is further cooled by the upstream counter cooling unit 24, thereby cooling the workpiece 11 to a lower temperature before film formation is started on the surface of the workpiece 11. it can.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the cooling mechanism 2 has the downstream side cooling part 23 arrange | positioned in the conveyance direction (arrow A) in the downstream of the film-forming chamber upper cooling part 21 like this embodiment. Thereby, the temperature of the object to be processed 11 after film formation can be lowered more quickly. Therefore, an influence (for example, crystallization of a ZnO film or organic EL layer on the film to be processed and the object to be processed 11). (Destruction) can be further suppressed.

  Further, as in this embodiment, a liquid such as Fluorinert or Galden having a freezing point lower than zero is used as a cooling liquid, and before the film formation on the object 11 is started, the surface of the object 11 is processed. It is preferable to cool the workpiece 11 by the upstream side cooling unit 22 so that the temperature becomes equal to or lower than zero degrees. Thereby, compared with the case where water is used as the cooling liquid, for example, the object to be processed 11 can be cooled to a lower temperature before starting the film formation, so that the temperature rise (maximum temperature reached) during film formation can be further suppressed. it can.

(First modification)
FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are plan views showing configurations of cooling units 26 and 27, respectively, as a first modified example of the film forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. In addition, the form of the cooling unit 26 and the cooling unit 27 may be applied to any cooling unit among the cooling units 21 to 25 of the above-described embodiment, and any plurality of the cooling units 21 to 25 may be applied. You may apply to a cooling part.

  Referring to FIG. 4A, the cooling unit 26 includes pipes 26a to 26c. The pipes 26a to 26c are two-dimensionally arranged in a plane (XY plane) along the surface of the plate-like workpiece 11. Among these, the piping 26 a is disposed at a high density at one end of the cooling unit 26 in the Y-axis direction along the surface of the workpiece 11. The pipes 26b are arranged with high density at the other end of the cooling unit 26 in the Y-axis direction. And the piping 26c is arrange | positioned by low density in the center vicinity of the cooling unit 26 in the Y-axis direction. In other words, in the cooling unit 26, the piping is arranged in the vicinity of both ends in the Y-axis direction, so that the cooling capacity near both ends of the cooling unit 26 is relatively higher than the cooling capacity near the center. It has been.

  Moreover, referring to FIG. 4B, the cooling unit 27 includes pipes 27a to 27c. The pipes 27a to 27c are two-dimensionally arranged in a plane (XY plane) along the surface of the plate-like workpiece 11. Among these, the piping 27 a is arranged at a high density at one end of the cooling unit 27 in the X-axis direction (conveying direction A) along the surface of the workpiece 11. The pipes 27b are arranged at a high density at the other end of the cooling unit 27 in the X-axis direction. The piping 27c is disposed at a low density near the center of the cooling unit 27 in the X-axis direction. That is, in the cooling unit 27, the piping is arranged in the vicinity of both ends in the X-axis direction, so that the cooling capacity near both ends of the cooling unit 27 is relatively higher than the cooling capacity near the center. It has been.

  Generally, when the pipes are uniformly arranged in the cooling section, the cooling capacity near the center of the cooling section tends to be higher than the cooling capacity near the end. On the other hand, the cooling capacity of the cooling part is made uniform near the center and near the end by arranging the pipes so as to be biased at both ends of the cooling part as in the cooling part 26 or 27 of the present modification. Therefore, the workpiece 11 can be cooled with a uniform temperature distribution.

Further, this action becomes more effective when the cooling units 26 and 27 are used in combination. That is, when either one of the cooling units 26 and 27 is applied to the upstream cooling unit 22 (or the downstream cooling unit 23), the upstream opposing cooling unit 24 (or the downstream opposing cooling unit 25). ) Is preferably applied to the other of the cooling units 26 and 27. Here, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a cooling region for the workpiece 11 when the cooling units 26 and 27 are arranged to face each other. In FIG. 5, a region D ₁ indicates a strong cooling region by the piping 26 a of the cooling unit 26, a region D ₂ indicates a strong cooling region by the piping 26 _b of the cooling unit 26, and a region D ₃ indicates the cooling unit 26. The weak cooling area | region by the piping 26c is shown. The region _{D 4} shows the strong cooling region by piping 27a of the cooling unit 27, region _{D 5} shows the strong cooling region by piping 27b of the cooling unit 27, region _{D 6} piping 27c of the cooling part 27 Shows the weak cooling region. FIG. 5 shows a state at the moment when each of the cooling regions D _{1 to} D ₆ is accommodated in the object to be processed 11, and the object 11 to be processed is relatively relative to each of the cooling regions D _{1 to} D ₆ . It is assumed that it is moving in the transport direction (arrow A).

As shown in FIG. 5, by using the cooling units 26 and 27 in combination, the strong cooling regions D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₄ , and D ₅ can be combined to form an annular strong cooling region. And the cooling capacity at the end of each of 27 can complement each other. Further, in the vicinity of the four corners where the cooling capacity is the lowest in the cooling units 26 and 27, the strong cooling regions overlap each other, and the object 11 can be cooled strongly. Therefore, the workpiece 11 can be cooled with a more uniform temperature distribution.

(Second modification)
FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a film forming apparatus 1a as a second modification of the film forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. The difference between the film forming apparatus 1a in the present modification and the film forming apparatus 1 in the above embodiment is the configuration of the cooling mechanism. That is, the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 28a, the upstream cooling unit 28b, and the downstream cooling unit 28c of the cooling mechanism 28 in the present modification are configured integrally with each other.

  The film forming chamber upper cooling unit 28a is disposed on the film forming chamber 10b in the transfer chamber 10a, and cools the workpiece 11 during film formation with a coolant flowing in the pipe 28f. The upstream side cooling unit 28b is disposed on the upstream side of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 28a in the transport direction (arrow A), and the workpiece 11 is cooled in advance before the film formation by the coolant flowing inside the pipe 28g. . The downstream side cooling unit 28c is disposed on the downstream side of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 28a in the transport direction (arrow A), and the processing object 11 whose temperature has increased due to film formation by the coolant flowing inside the pipe 28h. Cool rapidly.

  The piping 28f of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 28a, the piping 28g of the upstream cooling unit 28b, and the piping 28h of the downstream cooling unit 28c may be provided independently of each other, or may be connected to each other. You may arrange | position as piping of a book. In the present modification, the cooling units 28a to 28c are integrally formed with each other. Of these cooling units 28a to 28c, the upstream cooling unit 28b or the downstream cooling unit 28c is connected to other cooling units. May be arranged at intervals.

  The upstream counter cooling unit 28d and the downstream counter cooling unit 28e in the present modification have the same configurations as the upstream counter cooling unit 24 and the downstream counter cooling unit 25 in the above embodiment, respectively. That is, the upstream facing cooling unit 28d is disposed so as to face the upstream cooling unit 28b across the transport mechanism 3, and the workpiece to be processed together with the upstream cooling unit 28b by the coolant flowing inside the pipe 28i. 11 is cooled in advance before film formation. In addition, the downstream facing cooling unit 28e is disposed so as to face the downstream cooling unit 28c with the transport mechanism 3 interposed therebetween, and the processing target whose temperature has increased due to film formation by the coolant flowing in the pipe 28j. The object 11 is rapidly cooled together with the downstream side cooling unit 28c.

  In the cooling mechanism according to the present invention, the film forming chamber upper cooling unit 28a and the upstream cooling unit 28b may be integrally formed with each other as in the present modification. Even with such a configuration, the object to be processed 11 can be cooled in advance before the film formation on the surface of the object to be processed 11 is started, so that the temperature rise (maximum temperature reached) during film formation is reduced. Can be suppressed.

  The film forming apparatus and the film forming method according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and various other modifications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment and the modification, the configuration of the present invention is applied to an ion plating apparatus. However, the configuration of the present invention is applied to various physical vapor deposition apparatuses such as a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus and a sputtering apparatus. it can.

It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the film-forming apparatus by this invention. (A) It is a notch top view which shows the structure of the upstream cooling part in embodiment. (B) It is side surface sectional drawing along the II line of the upstream cooling part shown in FIG. It is a graph which shows an example of the temperature change of the to-be-processed object in this embodiment, and a graph which shows an example of the temperature change of the to-be-processed object in the conventional method. (A) (b) It is a top view which shows the structure of the cooling part by the 1st modification of the film-forming apparatus. It is a top view which shows the cooling area | region with respect to a to-be-processed object when the cooling part of a 1st modification is mutually opposingly arranged. It is side surface sectional drawing which shows the structure of the 2nd modification of the film-forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Film-forming apparatus, 2 ... Cooling mechanism, 3 ... Transfer mechanism, 4 ... Main anode, 5 ... Plasma source, 6 ... Auxiliary anode, 6a ... Coil, 6b ... Permanent magnet, 10 ... Vacuum container, 10a ... Transfer chamber, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10b ... Film-forming chamber, 10c ... Plasma port, 10d, 10e ... Gas supply port, 10f ... Exhaust port, 11 ... To-be-processed object, 21 ... Cooling part on film-forming chamber, 21a-25a, 26a, 26b, 27a, 27b ... Pipe, 22 ... Upstream cooling section, 22b ... Fixed plate, 23 ... Downstream cooling section, 24 ... Upstream counter cooling section, 25 ... Downstream counter cooling section, 26, 27 ... Cooling section, 31 ... Conveying roller, 32 ... workpiece holding member, 41 ... hearth, A ... transport direction, C ... cooling liquid, Ma ... film forming material, Mb ... film forming material particle, P ... plasma.

Claims (9)

A film forming apparatus for forming a film by scattering a film forming material and attaching it to an object to be processed,
A vacuum chamber including a film forming chamber for scattering the film forming material, and a transfer chamber disposed on the film forming chamber and extending in a predetermined transfer direction;
A transport mechanism that is provided in the transport chamber and transports the workpiece in the transport direction;
A cooling mechanism that is provided along the transfer mechanism in the transfer chamber and that cools the workpiece.
The cooling mechanism includes a film forming chamber upper cooling unit disposed on the film forming chamber, and an upstream cooling unit disposed on the upstream side of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit in the transport direction. A film forming apparatus characterized by comprising:   The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upstream side cooling unit and the film forming chamber upper cooling unit are integrally configured.   The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upstream side cooling unit and the film forming chamber upper cooling unit are spaced apart from each other. The cooling mechanism has a pipe for cooling the object to be processed by a coolant flowing inside,
The piping in at least one of the cooling units of the film forming chamber upper cooling unit and the upstream cooling unit is two-dimensionally arranged along the transport mechanism, and at both ends of the cooling unit in a predetermined direction. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the film forming apparatus is biased.   The said cooling mechanism further has an upstream opposing cooling part arrange | positioned so that the said upstream cooling part may be opposed on both sides of the said conveyance mechanism, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Film forming equipment. The cooling mechanism has a pipe for cooling the object to be processed by a coolant flowing inside,
The piping of the upstream cooling unit is disposed at both ends of the upstream cooling unit in the first direction, and the piping of the upstream facing cooling unit intersects the first direction. The film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the film forming apparatus is disposed at both ends of the upstream facing cooling section in the direction of 2.   The said cooling mechanism further includes the downstream side cooling part arrange | positioned in the downstream of the said film-forming chamber upper cooling part in the said conveyance direction, The structure as described in any one of Claims 1-6 characterized by the above-mentioned. Membrane device. A film forming method for forming a film by dispersing a film forming material and adhering the film forming material to the object to be processed while conveying the object to be processed in a predetermined conveying direction,
A preliminary cooling step for cooling the object to be processed while transporting the object to be processed in the transport direction before film formation is started on the object to be processed;
And a film forming step of forming a film on the object to be processed while cooling the object to be processed.   In the preliminary cooling step, the processing object is cooled so that the temperature of the processing object is equal to or lower than zero degree using a cooling liquid having a freezing point lower than zero degree. The film-forming method of description.

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