JP2010013672A - Thin film deposition apparatus and thin film deposition method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thin film deposition apparatus capable of decreasing the fluctuation in thickness and increasing the yield. <P>SOLUTION: In the thin film deposition apparatus 10, a substance is evaporated from a vapor deposition source to deposit a vapor deposition film on a base material 1 in a vapor deposition chamber in the evacuated atmosphere. The thin film deposition apparatus has a base material holder 3 to hold the base material 1 so as to face the vapor deposition source. The base material holder 3 is arranged along a surface forming a cylindrical body in which the base material 1 surrounds the vapor deposition source 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method that have high uniformity in thickness and can improve a film forming yield.

Electronic devices manufactured through a thin film formation process, such as semiconductor devices and thin film batteries, are numerous. In the thin film formation process, it is important to increase the uniformity of the film thickness and the film formation efficiency (thin film amount / input raw material amount). For example, in order to reduce film thickness variation across the width direction of the long film to be conveyed, the shape of the crucible of the evaporation source is extended in the width direction of the long film, and the scanning direction of the electron beam is changed to the width direction of the long film. And a method of performing both in the transport direction was proposed (Patent Document 1). Thereby, a ferromagnetic thin film homogeneous in the width direction and the longitudinal direction can be obtained. In addition, there is a proposal of a vapor deposition apparatus that arranges a cylindrical body with protrusions on the inner wall between a long film to be conveyed and a vapor deposition source, and evaporates an evaporated substance in the cylindrical body. (Patent Document 2). According to this vapor deposition apparatus, the vapor deposition material is vapor-deposited on the long film through the inside of the cylindrical body, and the evaporated material evaporating in the inclined direction hits the inner wall of the cylindrical body, but is recovered by being trapped by the projections. It is said that you can.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-3659 JP-A-6-111322

  However, it is difficult for the technique using a horizontally long crucible to achieve both a uniform distribution of film thickness and a deposition yield. In order to improve the deposition yield, it is effective to shorten the distance between the deposition source and the substrate. However, when this distance is shortened, the uniform film thickness distribution region in the central portion of the vapor deposition becomes small, and the film thickness in the end region of the base material becomes thin. As a result, the film thickness variation increases. On the other hand, in an apparatus using a cylindrical body, even if the vapor deposition substance trapped in the protrusion is collected, the yield cannot be improved with a material whose composition changes. For example, an oxide material or the like is decomposed by the heat of an electron beam and causes a composition change. For this reason, even if it collect | recovers, it cannot be reused and it does not lead to a yield improvement.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method capable of reducing the thickness variation and increasing the yield.

  The thin film forming apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for forming a thin film by vapor-depositing vapor from a vapor deposition source on one or two or more substrates in a vacuuming atmosphere vapor deposition chamber. The apparatus includes a substrate holder that holds the substrate so as to face the deposition source, and the substrate holder includes one or two or more along a surface forming a cylindrical body portion that surrounds the deposition source. The substrate is held.

  With the above structure, the base material can be disposed within a range in which the deposition distribution does not vary greatly. For this reason, the distance between a vapor deposition source and a base material of the limit which the fluctuation | variation of a film thickness becomes a problem can be made smaller than the apparatus which arrange | positions a base material in planar shape. That is, even if the vapor deposition source and the base material are brought closer to each other, the film thickness variation is within an allowable range. The yield can be improved by the proximity of the vapor deposition source and the substrate.

  Said conveyance mechanism can contain the rail extended in the axial direction of a cylindrical body part, and the wheel which is provided in a base-material holder and rolls the rail. This improves productivity and enables mass production. The axial direction of the cylindrical body portion refers to the direction of the bus bar, and is the same as the direction of the bus bar of the cylindrical body. The cylindrical body may be a cylinder composed of a plane (a cylinder having a polygonal cross section) or a curved cylinder. However, since the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention and its parts are industrial products, straight lines, planes, busbars, etc. are terms relating to industrial products, and should be interpreted according to the meaning thereof and strictly interpreted. is not.

  The transport mechanism may include a rail extending in the axial direction of the cylindrical body portion. Thereby, two rails sandwiching the vapor deposition source can be disposed, and the entire apparatus can be reduced in size by using both side ends (busbars) of the cylindrical body as portions close to the rails.

  The deposition chamber can have a size that allows at least three substrate holders to be disposed in contact with each other along the axial direction of the cylindrical body portion. As a result, the vapor deposition film is formed while continuously transporting the substrate holder without any breaks, so that the film thickness fluctuation at the end can be suppressed and high productivity can be obtained.

  An auxiliary chamber having a vacuum atmosphere can be provided before and after the vapor deposition chamber along the transport direction, and the vapor deposition chamber and the front and rear auxiliary chambers can be separated by a gate valve. Thus, while transporting, without damaging the high vacuum of the deposition chamber, (1) taking out the (base material / base material holder) after the thin film formation was completed, and (2) undeposited new (base material / Substrate holder) can be put into the transfer line. As a result, continuous operation is possible, and productivity can be greatly improved.

  A lamp heater for heating the base material to a predetermined temperature may be disposed above the vapor deposition chamber. Accordingly, the substrates on the plurality of substrate holders that continuously flow in contact with the ends can be collectively heated and controlled at a temperature suitable for vapor deposition. Since the lamp heater is disposed for controlling the temperature of the base material, it is preferable to reduce the heat capacity of the base material holder that is inevitably heated. In addition, the heat radiation surface of the lamp heater is preferably formed into the shape of the cylindrical body portion in accordance with the surface of the cylindrical body portion on which the base material is disposed.

  The cross-section of the cylindrical body part can be a polygonal part. As a result, it is possible to easily attach the flat substrate, and it is possible to suppress the manufacturing cost of the substrate holder.

  The substrate is a flat plate having an arbitrary shape, and a plurality of the flat plates can be held by the substrate holder. Thereby, a vapor deposition film ranging from small to large can be obtained. By changing the size of the flat plate according to the application, model, etc. in which the thin film is used, it is possible to easily make the plate. Manufacturing flexibility can be increased for the size and shape of the thin film. Moreover, it becomes easy to handle by subdividing the substrate holder.

  A mask attachment part for attaching a mask pattern used for the above-mentioned substrate can be provided in the substrate holder. This makes it possible to easily obtain a net thin film portion excluding the substrate attachment portion and the like. Moreover, since the thin film of arbitrary shapes can be obtained with a mask, the design freedom of the shape of a thin film can be raised.

  The electron beam apparatus for supplying energy to the deposition source is positioned below the substrate holder when viewed in the horizontal direction, and the electron beam emitted from the electron beam apparatus passes through the space between the substrate and the evaporation source. The evaporation source can be irradiated through. Thereby, while suppressing the size of the entire thin film forming apparatus, the distance between the evaporation source and the base material can be reduced, and an improvement in yield can be ensured.

  The thin film forming method of the present invention is a method of forming a thin film by vapor-depositing vapor from a vapor deposition source on one or more substrates in a vapor deposition chamber in a vacuum atmosphere. The method includes the steps of providing a substrate holder capable of placing one or more substrates along a surface forming a cylindrical body portion that encloses a deposition source; Forming a vapor-deposited film on the one or more substrates mounted on the material holder. In the deposited film forming step, at least three substrate holders equipped with the one or more substrates are placed in the axial direction of the cylindrical body portion in a state where the cylindrical bodies are close to each other. It is characterized by carrying.

  By the above method, while obtaining high productivity (thin film area / time), it is possible to reduce the film thickness variation and increase the film formation yield.

  According to the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, the thickness variation is small and the yield can be increased. Moreover, productivity can be improved by operating continuously.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a thin film forming apparatus 10 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows frame carts A and B in which wheels 14 are provided on the frame 3f. In the frame carriage B, the substrate holder 3 forms an external appearance, and in the frame carriage A, the shape and arrangement of the base material 1 are shown on the assumption that the substrate holder 3 is excluded for explanation. The frame cart A also has the same appearance as the cart B when the base material holder 3 is displayed. The base material holder 3 includes, as main members, a base material support plate 3p and a frame 3f that supports the base material support plate 3p. The board | substrate holder 3 has the shape of the part of the cylindrical body whose cross section is a polygon as a whole. An intersecting line 3c formed by intersecting the base material support plates 3p or a corner 3c of the frame 3f is parallel to the axis of the cylindrical body. The frame 3 f includes wheels 14, and the base material holder 3 is smoothly conveyed on the rail 15. The extending direction of the rail is parallel to the intersecting line 6c or the axis of the cylindrical body. In FIG. 1, the frame carriage A and the frame carriage B are conveyed in the conveyance direction while contacting at the ends.

  During conveyance, the raw material evaporates from the vapor deposition source 7 located below the base material 1, and forms a vapor deposition film on the surface of the base material 1. The crucible of the evaporation source 7 is loaded with a raw material, and electron beam energy is input to the raw material. It is preferable that the crucible 7 has a long shape along the width direction W and covers a region where the base material 1 is disposed in a plan view. However, since evaporation is performed radially from the end of the crucible 7, it is not necessary to completely cover all the base materials 1, and there is something that the base material 1 protrudes from the crucible 7 in a plan view. May be. The electron beam 22 is emitted from an electron gun or an electron beam source 16, bent toward a magnetic field (not shown), etc., and converges on the crucible 7. The raw material irradiated with the electron beam 22 and melted is evaporated to form a thin film on the surface of the substrate 1. The vapor deposition chamber 30 for performing vapor deposition is evacuated by a vacuum device (not shown) and kept at a high vacuum.

  FIG. 2 is a view showing the base material holder 3 (or the base material support plate 3p) and the base material 1 in the thin film forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. A crucible 7 is located below the substrate 1 and radiates the evaporant 23 toward the upper substrate 1. The base material holder 3 is formed so that the base material 1 surrounds the crucible 7 of the vapor deposition source. A cross section perpendicular to the axis of the substrate holder 3 forms a polygonal portion. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 together, the surface on which the substrate holder 3 holds the substrate 1 is a cylindrical body having a polygonal cross section. Then, the axial direction of the cylinder, or the bus bar of the cylinder, or the polygonal flat crossing line or the corner 3c of the substrate holder 3 is parallel to the transport direction or the direction in which the rail 15 extends.

  Next, the advantage which arrange | positions the base material 1 along the inner surface of the cylindrical body which encloses the crucible 7 is demonstrated. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an isovapor distribution when evaporation occurs from the vapor deposition source 7. As shown in FIG. 3, in vapor deposition, the isovapor surface 23f is rounded and approximates an outwardly convex spherical surface. In order to deposit a thin film having a uniform film thickness on the base material 1 arranged on the inner surface of the base material holder 3, it is desirable to arrange the base material 1 along the isovapor surface 23f. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the base material holder 3 on which the base material 1 can be arranged along the isovapor surface when the crucible 7 is long in the width direction. The equal vapor surface when the crucible 7 is long in the width direction can be obtained by calculation or the like.

  In thin film formation, the uniformity of film thickness and the yield of vapor deposition are in a trade-off relationship, and when one is improved, the other deteriorates. Even if the arrangement of the base materials 1 as shown in FIG. 4 is realized, the uniformity of the film thickness deteriorates if the base material 1 is brought too close to the vapor deposition source 7. However, the above trade-off relationship is established at a better level than the conventional arrangement in which the substrates 1 are arranged on a plane. For this reason, as described above, by forming the surface on which the base material 1 is arranged so as to surround the evaporation source 7, the film thickness uniformity-yield relationship is more than in the case of the flat surface arrangement. It can be improved to a trade-off relationship at a good level. Ideally, the inner surface of the substrate holder 3 is desirably a curved surface, but may be a polygon that can be formed by dividing the flat surface along the curved surface. Furthermore, as long as it falls within the range of practically allowable thickness fluctuations, it may deviate from the isovapor surface to some extent. The substrate 1 shown in FIG. 2 is arranged on three intersecting planes, and falls within a thickness variation that is practically acceptable. Then, by utilizing the effect of suppressing the thickness variation, the base material 1 is arranged close to the crucible 7 to minimize the useless amount of evaporation and contribute to the yield improvement.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing the base material support plate 3p included in the base material holder 3 shown in FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5 and 6, the base material support plate 3 p is provided with a locking bar 3 a for locking the base material 1, and a locking hole 1 h in which the locking bar 3 a is opened in the base material 1. As a result, the substrate 1 is fixed. The number of the locking holes 1h and the locking bars 3a should be as small as possible in order to ensure an effective area of the deposited film, and the positions thereof are more preferable as the end of the substrate. A mechanism for supporting the end surface of the base material 1 without opening the locking holes 1h in the base material 1 may be used, and such an end surface support mechanism is preferable in obtaining an effective deposited film area.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the mask 5 is arranged on the base material 1 supported by the base material support plate 3p shown in FIG. The mask 5 is attached to the mask fixture 3b and has an opening so as to avoid the above-described locking hole 1h and the locking rod 3a. Although only one opening is shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of openings may be provided in a region corresponding to the one opening so that the opening has a structure. Depending on the application in which the thin film is used, a mask pattern having an opening having an appropriate structure is preferable. This mask 5 can increase the degree of freedom in product design.

  The base material 1 is a small-sized flat base material that is easy to handle, and can be simplified or omitted in order to be cut to fit the size of the apparatus using the thin film. The uniformity of the thickness of the deposited film can be improved by holding the small-sized, flat substrate 1 in the substrate holder 3 having the shape of the cylindrical body portion shown in FIG. Further, by bringing the base material 1 closer to the vapor deposition source 7 up to the upper limit of the film thickness variation allowed between the base materials, the yield can be greatly improved as compared with the case where the base material 1 is arranged on the entire plane. .

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a thin film forming apparatus 10 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The base material holder 3 and the base material 1 held therein are the same as those in the first embodiment. The thin film forming apparatus 10 in this embodiment is characterized in that it seeks to improve productivity. An auxiliary chamber 31 is provided in front of the vapor deposition chamber 30 and an auxiliary chamber 32 is provided after the vapor deposition chamber 30, and a gate valve 35 is provided at the entrance / exit of each chamber 30, 31, 32. In the vapor deposition chamber 30, the substrate holder 3 is transported in a state where the end faces of the adjacent substrate holders 3 are in contact with each other without leaving an interval between the substrate holders 3. Vapor deposition should continue without break during the time when the substrate 1 is transported upward.

  The auxiliary chambers 31 and 32 are broken at a predetermined pitch by loading and unloading a new base material 1 and base material holder 3. However, in order to keep the vacuum degree of the vapor deposition chamber 30 high, it is preferable that the volume of the auxiliary chambers 31 and 32 is smaller than that of the vapor deposition chamber 30 and a vacuum device (not shown) having a high exhaust speed is provided. In the auxiliary chamber 32 located after the vapor deposition chamber 30, the front and rear gate valves 35 are closed to perform evacuation immediately after the vacuum is broken through the outside air for carrying in a new substrate holder 3 and the like. When the predetermined degree of vacuum is reached and the base material holder 3 is vacant in the vapor deposition chamber 30, the gate valve 35 at the boundary with the vapor deposition chamber 30 is opened to vaporize the base material holder 3 to which the base material 1 is attached. Feed into chamber 30.

  Further, the substrate holder 3 is transferred from the deposition chamber 30 to the auxiliary chamber 31 in order to take out the deposited substrate 1 to the outside. In the auxiliary chamber 31, after closing the gate valve 35 at the boundary with the vapor deposition chamber 30, the gate valve 35 on the outside air side is opened, and the substrate holder 3 holding the substrate 1 is carried out. Due to the arrangement of the auxiliary chambers 31 and 32, the vapor deposition chamber 30 can be maintained at a high vacuum at all times, and the vapor deposition can be continued continuously. Moreover, when forming a thin film in the base material 1, it is necessary to heat the base material 1 and to maintain predetermined temperature. For this purpose, a lamp heater 25 is arranged on the upper part of the vapor deposition chamber 30, and the substrate 1 being conveyed is heated through the substrate holder 3 to control the temperature. By using the lamp heater 25, it is possible to continuously control the temperature of the entire plurality of substrates 1 being conveyed.

  The conveyance speed of the substrate holder 3 in the vapor deposition chamber 30 is preferably 0.1 m / min to 10 m / min. With the above configuration, in conjunction with the use of the base material 1 and the base material holder 3, the productivity (thin film area / time) is ensured while ensuring a high yield within a practically acceptable film thickness variation range. An improvement can be obtained.

  The electron beam source or the electron beam generator main body 16 including the electron gun is preferably disposed below the base material holder 3 and below the rails 15 so as to be surrounded by the base material holder 3. Usually, the electron beam 22 is bent by receiving a Lorentz force by a magnetic field, and is irradiated to the crucible 7. The electron beam 22 is preferably reciprocated along the width direction of the crucible 7. With the arrangement of the electron beam source 16 as described above, the substrate holder 3 and the substrate 1 can be disposed close to the vapor deposition source 7, and the film formation yield can be increased. In FIG. 8, the distance between the crucible 7 and the base material holder 3 is displayed so as to have a relatively large margin. However, actually, the crucible 7 is arranged close to the base material 1 and the base material holder 3 until the crucible 7 overlaps with the rail 15. The arrangement structure of the electron beam source 16 enables the crucible 7 to be arranged close to the base material holder 3 and can contribute to the improvement of the yield and the miniaturization of the thin film forming apparatus 10. The thin film forming apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to any material as long as it is a thin film.

(Points in Embodiments 1 and 2 of the Present Invention)
(1) In order to increase the relationship between the suppression of film thickness fluctuation and the yield, which is in a trade-off relationship, from the conventional level, the base material is disposed along the surface surrounding the vapor deposition source.
(2) A vapor deposition film is formed while moving the substrate in the axial direction of the cylindrical body portion with the shape of the enclosing surface as the cylindrical body portion. The end of the cylindrical body portion is flat, and a plurality of substrate holders can be continuously conveyed without gaps. For this reason, it is possible to overcome the film thickness fluctuation in the transport direction, and to realize the minimization of the cut-off amount at the end of the base material or the zero cut-off amount. Furthermore, productivity (thin film area / time) can be improved by conveying in the axial direction.

(Other embodiments)
1. An example of the transport mechanism of the base material holder has been described using rails and wheels. However, the transport mechanism is not limited to this, and any material may be used as long as the transport speed is highly accurate and stable transport is possible. For example, a chain, a gear drive, etc. can be used.
2. The energy input to the evaporation source is only the electron beam, but an energy source other than the electron beam may be used. Anything such as resistance heating may be used.

  Although the embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments and examples of the present invention disclosed above are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is the implementation of these inventions. It is not limited to the form. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the description of the scope of claims, and further includes meanings equivalent to the description of the scope of claims and all modifications within the scope.

  According to the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to suppress film thickness fluctuations and improve the yield of film formation, while further transporting the base material holder forming the cylindrical body in the axial direction of the cylindrical body. Productivity can be improved by continuous vapor deposition.

It is a figure which shows the thin film formation apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the base material in the thin film forming apparatus of FIG. 1, a base material holder, and a vapor deposition source. It is a figure which shows the equal vapor | steam surface from a crucible. It is a figure for demonstrating the point of the base-material arrangement | sequence in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows attachment of the base material to the base material holder shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the VI-VI line of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the mask to the base material hold | maintained at the base-material holder shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the thin film formation apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base material, 3 Base material holder, 3a Base material locking rod, 3b Mask attachment tool, 3c Flat crossing line, 3f Frame, 3p Base material support plate, 5 Mask, 14 Wheel, 15 Rail, 16 Electron beam source, 22 Electron beam, 23 vapor, 23f vapor surface, 25 lamp heater, 30 evaporation chamber, 31, 32 auxiliary chamber, 35 gate valve.

Claims (11)

An apparatus for forming a thin film by depositing vapor from a deposition source on one or more substrates in a vacuuming atmosphere deposition chamber,
A substrate holder for holding the substrate so as to face the vapor deposition source;
The thin film forming apparatus, wherein the base material holder holds the one or two or more base materials along a surface forming a cylindrical body portion surrounding the vapor deposition source.   The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transport mechanism that transports the base material holder along an axial direction of the cylindrical body portion.   The said conveyance mechanism contains the rail extended in the axial direction of the said cylindrical body part, and the wheel which is provided in the said base material holder and rolls the rail, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Thin film forming equipment.   The said vapor deposition chamber has a magnitude | size which can arrange | position the said base material holder at least 3 pieces along the axial direction of the said cylindrical body part, and can arrange | position in contact with the end. Thin film forming equipment.   The vacuum chamber is provided with an auxiliary chamber before and after the vapor deposition chamber along the transport direction, and the vapor deposition chamber and the front and rear auxiliary chambers are separated by a gate valve. The thin film formation apparatus as described in any one of -4.   The thin film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a lamp heater for heating the base material to a predetermined temperature is disposed above the vapor deposition chamber.   The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a cross section of the cylindrical body portion is a polygonal portion.   The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base material is a flat plate having an arbitrary shape, and a plurality of the flat plates are held by the base material holder.   The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base material holder includes a mask attaching portion for attaching a mask pattern used for the base material.   An electron beam device for supplying energy to the vapor deposition source is positioned below the substrate holder when viewed in a horizontal direction, and an electron beam emitted from the electron beam device is disposed between the substrate and the evaporation source. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the evaporation source is irradiated through a space. A method of forming a thin film by depositing vapor from a deposition source on one or more substrates in a vacuum-evacuated atmosphere deposition chamber,
Providing a substrate holder capable of arranging the one or more substrates along a surface forming a cylindrical body part surrounding the vapor deposition source;
Forming a deposition film on the one or more substrates mounted on the substrate holder in the deposition chamber,
In the vapor deposition film forming step, in the axial direction of the cylindrical body portion, with at least three of the base material holders mounted with the one or more base materials, with the cylindrical bodies being close to each other A method for forming a thin film, wherein

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