JP2010100870A - Sputtering apparatus and film forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sputtering apparatus which is capable of avoiding complicatedness of apparatus design and member arrangement and is excellent in mass-production, and to provide a film forming method using the sputtering apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The sputtering apparatus comprises: a film forming chamber 2 which is disposed so as to permit storage of a substrate W and forms a film on the substrate W; a sputter particle releasing part 3 which has a pair of targets arranged opposite to each other, capable of generating sputter particles 5P and releases the sputter particles generated from the pair of targets toward the substrate side; a slit member which is disposed between the substrate W and the sputter particle releasing part 3 and has a slit opening S causing the sputter particles to selectively pass therethrough; a conveyance mechanism which conveys the substrate W in the film forming chamber to the prescribed direction such that the substrate W passes on the slit opening S; and a control part which conveys the substrate W to a conveyance device so as to alternately repeat a substrate moving mode of moving the substrate W and a substrate stopping mode of stopping the movement of the substrate W on the slit opening S. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

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

  2. Description of the Related Art A liquid crystal device used as a light modulation unit of a projection display device such as a liquid crystal projector has a configuration in which a sealing material is disposed at a peripheral portion between a pair of substrates and a liquid crystal layer is sealed at the center. Electrodes for applying a voltage to the liquid crystal layer are formed on the inner surfaces of the pair of substrates, and an alignment film for controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules when a non-selective voltage is applied is formed on the inner surfaces of these electrodes. With such a configuration, the liquid crystal device modulates light source light based on a change in the orientation of liquid crystal molecules when a non-selection voltage is applied and when a selection voltage is applied, thereby forming a display image.

  By the way, as the alignment film described above, a film obtained by rubbing the surface of a polymer film made of polyimide or the like to which a side chain alkyl group is added is generally used. However, although such a rubbing method is simple, various disadvantages have been pointed out in order to impart alignment characteristics to the polyimide film by physically rubbing the polyimide film.

  Specifically, (1) it is difficult to ensure uniformity of orientation, (2) traces are likely to remain during rubbing, (3) control of orientation direction and selective pretilt angle. Control is not possible, and it is not suitable for a liquid crystal panel using a multi-domain used to obtain a wide viewing angle. (4) The breakdown of the thin film transistor element or the alignment film due to static electricity from the glass substrate. Resulting in a decrease in yield, and (5) display defects due to the generation of dust from the rubbing cloth.

  In addition, when such an alignment film made of an organic material is used in a device equipped with a high output light source such as a liquid crystal projector, the organic material is damaged by light energy, resulting in alignment failure. In particular, when the projector is downsized and the brightness is increased, the energy per unit area incident on the liquid crystal panel is increased, the polyimide itself is decomposed by the absorption of incident light, and the light is absorbed. The decomposition is further accelerated by heat generation. As a result, a great deal of damage is added to the alignment film, and the display characteristics of the device deteriorate.

  Therefore, in order to eliminate such inconvenience, the crystal growth is performed obliquely with respect to the substrate by performing sputtering so that the sputtered particles emitted from the target disposed oppositely are incident on the substrate obliquely from one direction. A method of forming an inorganic alignment film having a plurality of columnar structures has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the facing target type sputtering apparatus, it is desired to provide a technique capable of forming an inorganic alignment film with higher reliability. In order to improve the reliability of the inorganic alignment film, it is important to improve the controllability of the incident angle of the sputtered particles with respect to the substrate. In the conventional apparatus, every time sputtering is performed, the apparatus design for adjusting the incident angle of the sputtered particles and the arrangement of members such as the target are precisely performed.
JP 2007-286401 A

  However, since the above apparatus design and member arrangement are extremely complicated and require a long working time, there is a risk that problems may occur in terms of improving mass productivity.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a sputtering apparatus and a film forming method that can avoid the complexity of apparatus design and member arrangement and are excellent in mass productivity.

  In order to achieve the above object, a sputtering apparatus according to the present invention is provided so as to accommodate a substrate, has a film formation chamber for forming the substrate, and a pair of targets that are arranged opposite to each other and can generate sputtered particles, A sputter particle emitting unit that emits the sputtered particles generated from the pair of targets toward the substrate side, and a slit opening that is provided between the substrate and the sputtered particle emitting unit and selectively allows the sputtered particles to pass therethrough. A slit member having: a transport mechanism for transporting the substrate in the film forming chamber in a predetermined direction so that the substrate passes over the slit opening; and a substrate movement mode for moving the substrate over the slit opening. A controller that transports the substrate to the transport device so as to alternately repeat a substrate stop mode for stopping the movement of the substrate. And wherein the door.

  In the present invention, since the sputtered particles contributing to film formation are selected by the slit opening, when the film is formed with the substrate stopped, a film having a predetermined pretilt angle is formed on the substrate. In addition, the pretilt angle of the film can be made larger than a predetermined value by forming the film by moving the substrate.

  In the case of providing such a slit opening, when the substrate passes over the slit opening, the film is formed while transporting the substrate while repeating the movement of the substrate and the stop of the substrate, so that the pretilt angle of the film is a predetermined value or more. Can be controlled to a desired value within the range. As described above, since the pretilt angle can be controlled without changing the apparatus design or the arrangement of members, it is possible to avoid the complexity of the design and the like and to obtain a sputtering apparatus excellent in mass productivity. .

In the above sputtering apparatus, the control unit transports the substrate so that the movement time for each substrate movement mode is the same for each substrate movement mode.
According to the present invention, the movement time for each substrate movement mode is the same for each substrate movement mode, so that variations in the pretilt angle of the film formed during substrate movement can be prevented. . Thereby, the film quality can be improved.

In the above-described sputtering apparatus, the control unit transports the substrate so that the moving speed of each time when the substrate is processed is the same for each of the substrate movement modes.
According to the present invention, since each substrate movement mode has the same movement speed each time a single substrate is processed, variations in the pretilt angle of the film formed during substrate movement can be prevented. . Thereby, the film quality can be improved.

In the above sputtering apparatus, the control unit stops the movement of the substrate so that the stop time of each time when processing one substrate is the same for each of the substrate stop modes. To do.
According to the present invention, since each substrate stop mode has the same stop time each time a single substrate is processed, variations in the pretilt angle of the film formed during substrate stop can be prevented. . Thereby, the film quality can be improved.

In the sputtering apparatus, the control unit adjusts at least one of a movement time of the substrate, a movement speed of the substrate, and a stop time of the substrate according to a size of the slit opening. .
According to the present invention, since at least one of the moving time, moving speed, and stopping time of the substrate is adjusted according to the size of the slit opening, even if the size of the slit opening is different, The pretilt angle can be adjusted to a desired value. Thereby, a sputtering apparatus with a wide application range can be obtained.

  The film forming method according to the present invention is a film forming method for forming a film on a substrate by a sputtering apparatus, and the sputtering apparatus is provided so as to be able to accommodate the substrate, and is opposed to a film forming chamber for forming the substrate. A sputter particle emitting unit that has a pair of targets that are capable of generating sputtered particles and emits the sputtered particles generated from the pair of targets toward the substrate; and between the substrate and the sputtered particle emitting unit A slit member having a slit opening that selectively allows the sputtered particles to pass therethrough, and a transport mechanism that transports the substrate in the film forming chamber in a predetermined direction so that the substrate passes over the slit opening. Alternating between a substrate movement mode for moving the substrate and a substrate stop mode for stopping the movement of the substrate over the slit opening Characterized by transporting the substrate to repeat.

  According to the present invention, the film is formed while the substrate is transported while repeating the movement of the substrate and the stop of the substrate, whereby the pretilt angle of the film can be controlled to a desired value within a range of a predetermined value or more. As described above, since the pretilt angle can be controlled without changing the apparatus design or the arrangement of members, it is possible to avoid the complexity of the design and the like and to obtain a sputtering apparatus excellent in mass productivity. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In the drawings used for the following description, the scale of each member is appropriately changed in order to make each member a recognizable size. In the following drawings, the substrate transport direction in the film forming chamber is the X direction, the substrate thickness direction is the Z direction, the direction perpendicular to the XZ direction is the Y direction, and the target thickness direction is the Za direction. The emission direction of the sputtered particles was taken as the Xa direction.

(Sputtering apparatus and liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus)
FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a schematic configuration according to an embodiment of the sputtering apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a sputtering apparatus) of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a side configuration of the sputtering apparatus observed in the −Za direction. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, a sputtering apparatus 1 constitutes a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, and forms an inorganic alignment film on a substrate W, which is a constituent member of the liquid crystal device, by sputtering. is there. The sputtering apparatus 1 includes a film forming chamber 2 that is a vacuum chamber that accommodates a substrate W, and a sputtered particle emitting unit 3 that forms an alignment film made of an inorganic material by discharging sputtered particles onto the surface of the substrate W. ing.

  The sputtered particle emitting unit 3 includes a first gas supply means 21 for circulating an argon gas for discharge in the plasma generation region, and the film formation chamber 2 is oriented so as to fly over the substrate W accommodated therein. Second gas supply means 22 for supplying oxygen gas as a reaction gas that forms an inorganic alignment film by reacting with the film material is provided. Further, an exhaust control device 20 for controlling the internal pressure and obtaining a desired degree of vacuum is connected to the film forming chamber 2 through a pipe 20a.

  The second gas supply means 22 is connected to the opposite side of the exhaust control device 20 with respect to the connection portion 3B, and the oxygen gas supplied from the second gas supply means 22 is supplied from the + X side of the film forming chamber 2. It flows through the substrate W to the exhaust control device 20 side in the illustrated -X direction.

In an actual sputtering apparatus, a load lock chamber that enables loading / unloading of the substrate W in a state where the vacuum degree of the film forming chamber 2 is maintained is provided outside the film forming chamber 2 in the X-axis direction.
The load lock chamber is also connected to an exhaust control device that independently adjusts it to a vacuum atmosphere, and the load lock chamber and the film forming chamber 2 are connected via a gate valve that hermetically closes the chamber. . With this configuration, the substrate W can be taken in and out without releasing the film formation chamber 2 to the atmosphere.

  The sputtering apparatus 1 includes a substrate holder 6 that holds the substrate W such that the surface to be processed (film formation surface) is horizontal (parallel to the XY plane). The substrate holder 6 is connected to a transfer device 6a that horizontally transfers the substrate holder 6 from a load lock chamber (not shown) side (not shown) to the opposite side. The transport direction of the substrate W by the transport device 6a is parallel to the X-axis direction in FIG. 1, and is a direction orthogonal to the length direction (Y-axis direction) of the first and second targets 5a and 5b. The transport device 6a can transport the substrate W at a constant speed so that a high-quality inorganic alignment film can be formed on the substrate W by the sputtered particles 5P emitted from the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 as described later. It has become. The transporting operation of the transport device 6a is controlled by the control device CONT.

  The sputtered particle emitting unit 3 constitutes a so-called opposed target type sputtering apparatus having first and second targets 5a and 5b arranged to face each other. Further, the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 includes a box-shaped casing 3 </ b> A and the connection part 3 </ b> B for attaching the box-shaped casing 3 </ b> A to the film forming chamber 2. The connection portion 3B is configured by a flange or the like that connects the box-shaped housing portion 3A and the film forming chamber 2.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 shown in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 2A is a plan view of the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 viewed from the film forming chamber 2 side. 2 (b) is a GG ′ arrow view in FIG. 2 (a).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first electrode 9 a and the second electrode 9 b are composed of a side wall member 19 connected to one end portion (end portion on the −Xa side), the first electrode 9 a and the second electrode 9 b. Together with the side wall members 9c and 9d connected to both ends in the Y-axis direction, the above-mentioned box-shaped housing portion 3A serving as a vacuum chamber of the sputtered particle emitting portion 3 is configured. However, the first electrode 9a, the second electrode 9b, and the side wall members (9c, 9d, 19) constituting the box-shaped casing 3A are insulated from each other. One end side of the connecting portion is communicated with the box-shaped housing portion 3A, and the other end side is communicated with the inside of the film forming chamber 2 through the opening 3B. As a result, the box-shaped casing 3A can release the sputtered particles 5P into the film forming chamber 2 through the opening 3B from the ends of the first electrode 9a and the second electrode 9b opposite to the side wall members 19. It has become.

  The first target 5a is attached to the substantially flat plate-like first electrode 9a, and the second target 5b is attached to the substantially flat plate-like second electrode 9b. The first and second targets 5a and 5b supported by the electrodes 9a and 9b are made of a material containing a constituent material of an inorganic alignment film formed on the substrate W, for example, silicon. Further, the first and second targets 5a and 5b are long and thin plate-like ones extending in the Y direction in the figure (see FIG. 2), and are installed so that their opposing surfaces are substantially parallel to each other. .

  The connecting portion 3B is a surface of the targets 5a and 5b held in the sputtered particle emitting portion 3 with respect to the normal direction of the film formation surface of the substrate W accommodated in the film formation chamber 2 (broken line H in FIG. 3). The box is formed so that the direction forms a predetermined angle θ, and the box-shaped housing 3 </ b> A connected to one end side thereof is arranged obliquely with respect to the substrate W at a predetermined angle.

  That is, the first and second targets 5a and 5b attached to the electrodes 9a and 9b are inclined with respect to the substrate W by the connection portion 3B. The first target 5a (upper target) is disposed on the substrate W side (+ Z direction), and the second target 5b (lower target) is disposed on the lower side (−Z direction) with respect to the first target 5a. .

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 is a substrate that is transported from the first target 5a side to the second target 5b side (that is, the + X direction) in the film forming chamber 2 by the transport device 6a. Sputtered particles 5P are discharged with respect to W to form an inorganic alignment film on the substrate W.

  More specifically, it is preferable that the targets 5a and 5b are held in a state where the predetermined angle θ is tilted by 10 ° to 60 ° with respect to the normal direction of the substrate W. A desired inorganic alignment film can be formed by setting the inclination angle of the targets 5a and 5b with respect to the substrate W within the above range.

  The first electrode 9a is connected to a power source 4a composed of a DC power source or a high frequency power source, and the second electrode 9b is connected to a power source 4b composed of a DC power source or a high frequency power source, and supplied from each power source 4a, 4b. Plasma Pz is generated in the space (plasma generation region) where the targets 5a and 5b are opposed by the generated electric power.

  Moreover, the 1st cooling means 8a for cooling the target 5a is provided in the opposite side to the target 5a of the 1st electrode 9a, and the 1st cooling means 8a is. The first refrigerant circulating means 18a is connected via a pipe or the like. A second cooling means 8b for cooling the target 5b is provided on the opposite side of the second electrode 9b from the target 5b, and the second cooling means 8b is connected to the second cooling means 8b via a pipe or the like. A refrigerant circulating means 18b is connected. As shown in FIG. 1B, the first cooling means 8a is formed in substantially the same planar dimension as the target 5a, and is disposed at a position overlapping the target 5a in plan view via the first electrode 9a. ing. Although not specifically shown, the second cooling unit 8b is also disposed at a position overlapping the target 5b in plan view. The cooling means 8a and 8b are provided with a refrigerant flow path for circulating the refrigerant therein, and the targets 5a and 5b are cooled by circulating the refrigerant supplied from the refrigerant circulation means 18a and 18b through the refrigerant flow path. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the first gas supply means 21 is connected to a side wall member 19 disposed on the opposite side of the film forming chamber 2 with respect to the plasma generation region sandwiched between the targets 5a and 5b. The argon gas supplied from the first gas supply means 21 flows into the plasma generation region (target facing region) from the side wall member 19 side, and flows into the film formation chamber 2 through the connection portion 3B. It is like that. The argon gas that has flowed into the film forming chamber 2 joins with the oxygen gas that is supplied from the second gas supply means 22 and circulates, and flows to the exhaust control device 20 side.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, a first magnetic field generated by a rectangular frame-shaped permanent magnet, an electromagnet, a combination of these, or the like so as to surround the first cooling means 8a having a rectangular shape in plan view. The means 16a is provided, and the second magnetic field generating means 16b surrounding the second cooling means 8b shown in FIG. 1A has the same shape.

  The cooling means 8a and 8b may be made of a conductive member and electrically connected to the first electrodes 9a and 9b, respectively. In this case, the power supplies 4a and 4b are electrically connected to the cooling means 8a and 8b, respectively. Can be connected. Moreover, it is good also as a structure by which the 1st electrodes 9a and 9b serve as a cooling means by forming a refrigerant | coolant flow path inside the 1st electrodes 9a and 9b.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first magnetic field generating means 16 a and the second magnetic field generating means 16 b are arranged to face each other at the outer peripheral portions of the targets 5 a and 5 b arranged to face each other. These magnetic field generating means 16a and 16b generate a magnetic field in the Za direction surrounding the targets 5a and 5b in the sputtered particle emitting part 3, and electrons contained in the plasma Pz are restrained in the plasma generation region by the magnetic field. Constraining means is configured.

  Further, the substrate holder 6 is provided with a heater (heating means) 7 for heating the held substrate W, and further provided with a third cooling means 8c for cooling the held substrate W. Yes. The heater 7 is connected to a control unit 7a having a power source and the like, and can heat the substrate holder 6 to a desired temperature by a temperature raising operation via the control unit 7a, thereby heating the substrate W to a desired temperature. It is configured as follows. On the other hand, the third cooling means 8c is connected to the third refrigerant circulation means 18c via a pipe or the like, and the substrate is brought to a desired temperature by circulating the refrigerant supplied from the third refrigerant circulation means 18c. The holder 6 is cooled, and thereby the substrate W is cooled to a desired temperature.

  By the way, in order to improve the quality of the inorganic alignment film formed on the substrate W, the sputtering apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment selectively passes through the sputtered particles 5P emitted from the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 onto the substrate W. A slit plate (slit member) 50 having a slit opening S is provided inside the film forming chamber 2 and between the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 and the substrate W. The slit plate 50 is made of a nonmagnetic metal such as aluminum, and is electrically connected to the wall portion of the film forming chamber 2 in a region not shown and held at the ground potential. The slit plate 50 is positioned so as to satisfy a predetermined relationship with respect to the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 as will be described later.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the slit plate 50 and the sputtered particle emitting unit 3. The slit plate 50 can control the film formation state (film quality) of the sputtered particles 5P by selectively allowing the sputtered particles 5P to pass through the opening region formed by the slit openings S. The sputtered particles 5P go around to the outside of the slit and contribute to the film formation. Therefore, the dimension L2 in the substrate transport direction of the region (film formation area) SA where the sputtered particles 5P exist on the slit opening S is L2> L1 with respect to the dimension L1 in the same direction of the slit opening S.

  In order to form an inorganic alignment film on the substrate W, which is a constituent member of the liquid crystal device, by the sputtering apparatus 1, DC is applied to the first electrode 9 a and the second electrode 9 b while introducing argon gas from the first gas supply means 21. By supplying electric power (RF electric power), plasma Pz is generated in a space between the targets 5a and 5b, and argon ions in the plasma atmosphere are collided with the targets 5a and 5b, thereby being oriented from the targets 5a and 5b. The film material (silicon) is knocked out as sputtered particles 5P, and among the sputtered particles 5P included in the plasma Pz, only the sputtered particles 5P flying from the plasma Pz to the opening 25 are released to the film forming chamber 2 side.

  Then, the sputtered particles 5P flying from the oblique direction on the surface of the substrate W and the oxygen gas flowing through the film forming chamber 2 are reacted on the substrate W, whereby an alignment film made of silicon oxide is formed on the substrate W. It comes to form.

  In this embodiment, the case where silicon oxide is formed on the substrate W by reacting silicon as the sputtered particles 5P with oxygen gas that is the second sputtering gas has been described. For example, silicon oxide (SiOx) or aluminum oxide (AlOy or the like) is used as 5b, and RF power is input to the targets 5a and 5b to perform sputtering operation. An inorganic alignment film made of can be formed on the substrate W. In this case, the second sputtering gas (oxygen gas) is allowed to flow in the film formation chamber 2 to prevent deviation of the formed inorganic alignment film from the oxide composition. The insulating properties of the film can be increased.

  According to the sputtering apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, since the opposed target type sputtered particle emitting unit 3 is disposed at a predetermined angle (θ: range of 10 ° to 60 °) with respect to the substrate W, the sputtered particles are arranged. Sputtered particles 5P emitted from the opening 25 of the emission part 3 can be incident on the film formation surface of the substrate W at a predetermined angle.

  At this time, in the present embodiment, the particles are oriented in one direction by depositing the sputtered particles 5P having a high sputter rate through the slit opening S formed in the slit plate 50 disposed between the opening 25 and the substrate W. An inorganic alignment film having a columnar structure can be formed on the substrate W.

  Further, in the opposed target type sputtered particle emitting unit 3, sputtered particles that are not emitted from the opening 25 are mainly incident on the targets 5a and 5b and reused. Therefore, extremely high target utilization efficiency can be obtained. ing. Further, in the sputtered particle emitting unit 3, the directivity of the sputtered particles emitted from the opening 25 can be increased by narrowing the target interval, so that the incident angle of the sputtered particles reaching the substrate W is highly controlled. Thus, the orientation of the columnar structure in the formed inorganic alignment film is also good.

  In the sputtering apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, during the film forming operation, the plasma Pz is generated by the magnetic field formed by the rectangular frame-shaped magnetic field generating means 16a and 16b surrounding the targets 5a and 5b of the sputtered particle emitting unit 3. The contained electrons 5r can be captured or reflected, and the plasma Pz can be well confined in the region where the targets 5a and 5b are opposed to each other, so that the electrons 5r are incident on the film formation surface of the substrate W. It is possible to prevent the surface wettability from increasing (see FIG. 1).

  By the way, although the electronic restraint means comprising the magnetic field generating means 16a and 16b is provided, when electrons etc. leak from the electronic restraint means and reach the substrate W, the wettability of the surface of the substrate W is increased and the migration of sputtered particles is caused. May occur and the formation of the columnar structure may be hindered. Therefore, in the present embodiment, by holding the slit plate 50 at the ground potential as described above, for example, leakage from the sputtered particle emitting portion and electrons and ionic substances in the plasma Pz are captured and removed by the slit plate 50. Thus, the influence of the plasma Pz on the substrate W can be prevented. Therefore, a highly reliable inorganic alignment film can be formed on the substrate W.

  Therefore, according to the sputtering apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, an inorganic alignment film having good alignment can be easily formed on the substrate W.

  Further, in the sputtering apparatus 1, elongated targets are used for the targets 5 a and 5 b, and the sputtered particles can be emitted from the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 into a line extending in the Y-axis direction. The substrate holder 6 can transport the substrate W in a direction (X-axis direction) orthogonal to the sputtered particle line, so that the substrate W is scanned by the sputtered particle line. Thus, film formation can be performed in a planar shape, substrate processing can be performed continuously, and extremely high production efficiency can be realized.

  Further, since the third cooling means 8c for cooling the substrate W is provided in the substrate holder 6, the substrate W is cooled by the third cooling means 8c during film formation, and the substrate W is brought to a predetermined temperature such as room temperature. It can hold | maintain and can suppress the spreading | diffusion (migration) on the board | substrate of the alignment film material molecule adhering to the board | substrate W by sputtering. Thereby, local growth of the alignment film material on the substrate W is promoted, and an alignment film grown in a columnar shape in a uniaxial direction can be easily obtained.

  In addition, the said sputtering apparatus 1 is not limited to the structure which concerns on the above-mentioned embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the targets 5a and 5b are supported only by the first electrode 9a and the second electrode 9b forming the two opposing side walls of the box-shaped housing. As shown in FIG. 2, targets 5c, 5d, and 5e can also be disposed on the side wall members 9c, 9d, and 19, respectively. In such a configuration, if a power source is connected to each side wall member 9c, 9d, 19 to function as an electrode and power is supplied to each of the targets 5c, 5d, 5e, from these targets 5c, 5d, 19 Since the released sputtered particles can be used for film formation, an improvement in film formation speed can be expected. Further, when the targets 5a to 5e are arranged so as to surround the plasma generation region, the sputtered particles excluding the sputtered particles released from the opening 3a to the film forming chamber 2 are incident on the targets 5a to 5e surrounding the plasma Pz. Then, since it is reused for the production of other sputtered particles, the utilization efficiency of the target can be increased.

  In the above configuration, it is preferable to provide cooling means for cooling the targets 5c, 5d, and 5e adjacent to the side wall members 9c, 9d, and 19. Furthermore, it is preferable to optimize the positional relationship between the plasma Pz and the targets 5a to 5e by changing the arrangement of the electronic restraint means (magnetic field generating means) corresponding to the added targets 5c, 5d, and 5e.

  Next, a film forming method (a step of forming an inorganic alignment film on the substrate W) using the sputtering apparatus 1 will be described. As the substrate W, a substrate on which predetermined components such as switching elements and electrodes are formed is prepared as a substrate for a liquid crystal device. Next, the substrate W is accommodated in a load lock chamber provided in the film formation chamber 2, and the inside of the load lock chamber is depressurized to be in a vacuum state. Separately from this, the exhaust control device is operated to adjust the inside of the film forming chamber 2 to a desired degree of vacuum.

  Subsequently, the substrate W is transferred into the film forming chamber 2 and set on the substrate holder 6. Then, as a pretreatment for forming the alignment film, the substrate W is heated at, for example, about 250 ° C. to 300 ° C. by the heater 7 of the substrate holder 6 to perform dehydration / degassing treatment of adsorbed water or gas adhering to the surface of the substrate W. Do. Next, after the heating by the heater 7 is stopped, in order to suppress an increase in the substrate temperature due to sputtering, the third coolant circulating means 18c is operated to circulate the coolant through the third cooling means 8c, whereby the substrate W is predetermined. Hold at a temperature, eg, room temperature.

Next, argon gas is introduced from the first gas supply means 21 into the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 at a predetermined flow rate, and oxygen gas is introduced from the second gas supply means 22 into the film formation chamber 2 at a predetermined flow rate. Then, the exhaust control device 20 is operated and adjusted to a predetermined operating pressure, for example, about 10 ⁻¹ Pa. Since oxygen radicals and negative ions of oxygen are generated in oxygen gas plasma, only the argon gas is introduced into the front surfaces of the targets 5a and 5b, which are plasma generation regions, in the manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment, The gas is supplied from the gas supply path onto the substrate W. Further, it is preferable to keep the substrate W at room temperature by operating the heater 7 and the third cooling means 8c as necessary during film formation.

  After the film formation conditions are adjusted in this way, the substrate W is transported in the X direction in FIG. 1 by the moving means (substrate moving means) 6a to perform the sputtering process. Sputtered particles (silicon) serving as the alignment film material are emitted from the targets 5a and 5b, but in the opposed target type sputtered particle emitting unit 3, the sputtered particles traveling in the target facing direction are confined in the plasma Pz, and the target Only the sputtered particles 5 </ b> P traveling in the surface direction are discharged from the opening 25 into the film forming chamber 2.

  In the present embodiment, first, the substrate W is moved over the slit opening S of the slit plate 50. Thereafter, film formation is performed while the film formation area SA on the slit opening S is conveyed. When transporting on the slit opening S, the control device CONT transports the substrate W while alternately repeating the substrate movement mode for moving the substrate W relative to the transport device 6a and the substrate stop mode for stopping the movement of the substrate W. Let

  That is, the control device CONT first moves the substrate W at a constant speed v for a time t1 (substrate movement mode). Thereafter, the control device CONT stops the movement of the substrate W for a time t2 (substrate stop mode). After the elapse of time t2, the control device CONT again moves the substrate W at the constant speed v for the time t1, and after the time t1, elapses, stops the movement of the substrate W for the time t2. After repeating each mode a plurality of times alternately, the control device CONT finally moves the substrate W at a constant speed v for a time t1, and completes the transfer on the film formation area SA.

  The control apparatus CONT transports the substrate W so that the movement time t1 of the substrate W and the movement speed v of the substrate W are all the same for each substrate movement mode. Therefore, every time the substrate movement mode is performed, the substrate W moves by a distance of t1 · v. In addition, the control device CONT stops the movement of the substrate W so that all the stop times t2 of the substrate W are the same for each substrate stop mode.

Assuming that the total time for the substrate W to pass through the film formation area SA on the slit opening S is T and the number of repetitions of each mode is N,
T = t1 + N · (t1 + t2)
L2 = (N + 1) · t1 · v
Satisfy the relationship.

  About each parameter of t1, t2, v, and N, it is preferable to obtain | require optimal value beforehand by experiment, simulation, etc. At this time, a plurality of optimum values may be obtained for each parameter, and the plurality of optimum values may be combined. The obtained optimum value can be stored in a storage device (not shown) in the control device CONT. When performing the experiment or simulation, since the passing amount of the sputtered particle 5P depends on the dimension L1 of the slit opening S, it is preferable to obtain the value when the dimension L1 is changed. Since the required pretilt angle of the film differs depending on the use of the substrate W, the optimum value of each parameter may be obtained in an experiment or simulation so that a desired pretilt angle is obtained according to the use.

  The sputtered particles 5P are selectively incident only on the film formation surface of the substrate W facing the slit opening S of the slit plate 50, and react with oxygen gas on the substrate W to form a silicon oxide film. Thus, the sputtered particles 5P emitted from the sputtered particle emitting unit 3 arranged obliquely with respect to the substrate W are incident on the film formation surface of the substrate W at a predetermined angle, that is, an angle θ. Become. As a result, the inorganic alignment film deposited with the reaction between the oxygen gas and the sputtered particles 5P on the substrate W becomes an inorganic alignment film having a columnar structure inclined at an angle corresponding to the incident angle θ.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the ratio t2 / (t1 + t2) occupied by t2 in the movement time t1 and the stop time t2 and the pretilt angle of the film to be formed. As shown in the figure, when t2 = 0, the substrate W is simply moved at a constant speed v, and the pretilt angle of the film to be formed becomes a predetermined value θ. In the case of t2> 0, a state close to a stationary film formation is realized gradually as the value of t2 increases (as t1 decreases accordingly). It is known that the pretilt angle of the formed film is 0 ° in the static film formation. Therefore, the pretilt angle can be controlled between 0 ° and θ ° by combining t1, t2, and v.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, as t2 / (t1 + t2) approaches 0, the change in the ratio between t1 and t2 has a greater effect on the pretilt angle, and as the ratio approaches 1 the effect on the pretilt angle decreases. Become. The magnitude of this influence varies depending on the dimension L1 of the slit opening S, the position of the slit opening S, and the number of repetitions N. Therefore, when performing experiments and simulations, the dimension L1 and the slit opening S are optimized so as to optimize the influence. It is preferable to obtain the optimum value of the position and the number N of repetitions.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, since the sputtered particles 5P that contribute to film formation are selected by the slit openings S, when the film is formed with the substrate W stopped, a pretilt angle of 0 ° is formed on the substrate W. Thus, a film having In addition to this, the film can be formed by moving the substrate W, whereby the pretilt angle of the film can be made larger than 0 °.

  In the case of providing such a slit opening S, when the substrate W passes through the film formation area SA of the slit opening S, film formation is performed while transporting the substrate W while repeating the movement of the substrate W and the stop of the substrate W. Thus, the pretilt angle of the film can be controlled to a desired value in the range of 0 ° to θ °. As described above, since the pretilt angle can be controlled without changing the apparatus design or the member arrangement, it is possible to avoid the complexity of the design and the like, and to obtain the sputtering apparatus 1 excellent in mass productivity. it can.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, for each substrate movement mode, since the movement time t1 and the movement speed v are the same each time when processing one substrate W, the substrate W is formed during the movement. Variations in the pretilt angle of the film can be prevented. In addition, in each substrate stop mode, since the same stop time t2 for processing one substrate W is made the same, variations in the pretilt angle of the film formed while the substrate is stopped can be prevented. Thereby, the film quality can be improved.

  Further, according to this embodiment, since at least one of the movement time t1, the movement speed v, and the stop time t2 of the substrate W is adjusted according to the dimension L1 of the slit opening S, the dimension L1 of the slit opening S is different. Even in this case, the pretilt angle of the formed film can be adjusted to a desired value. Thereby, the sputtering apparatus 1 with a wide application range can be obtained.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a sputtering device. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the sputtering device shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the positional relationship of a slit plate and a sputtered particle discharge | release part. The figure which shows the relationship between the occupation rate of a movement time and stop time, and the pretilt angle of a film | membrane.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sputtering apparatus (sputtering apparatus), 2 ... Film formation chamber, 3 ... Sputtered particle emission part, 5a ... 1st target, 5b ... 2nd target, 5P ... Sputtered particle, 6a ... Conveyance apparatus, 25 ... Opening part 25a, upstream opening end, CONT, control device, S, slit opening, S2, slit opening end, Pz, plasma, W, substrate.

Claims (6)

A film forming chamber provided to accommodate the substrate and depositing the substrate;
A pair of targets arranged to face each other and capable of generating sputtered particles, and a sputtered particle emitting unit that emits the sputtered particles generated from the paired targets toward the substrate;
A slit member provided between the substrate and the sputtered particle emitting portion and having a slit opening for selectively passing the sputtered particles;
A transport mechanism for transporting the substrate in the film forming chamber in a predetermined direction so that the substrate passes over the slit opening;
A controller for transporting the substrate to the transport device so as to alternately repeat a substrate movement mode for moving the substrate and a substrate stop mode for stopping the movement of the substrate on the slit opening; Sputtering equipment. 2. The sputtering according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the substrate to be transported so that each of the substrate movement modes has the same movement time every time the single substrate is processed. apparatus. The said control part conveys the said board | substrate so that the moving speed of each time at the time of processing the said one board | substrate may become the same about each said board | substrate movement mode. A sputtering apparatus according to 1. The said control part stops the movement of the said board | substrate so that the stop time of each time when processing the said one board | substrate about the said each board | substrate stop mode becomes the same. The sputtering apparatus according to any one of Items 3. The said control part adjusts at least 1 among the movement time of the said board | substrate, the movement speed of the said board | substrate, and the stop time of the said board | substrate according to the dimension of the said slit opening. 4. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 1. A film forming method for forming a film on a substrate by a sputtering apparatus,
The sputtering apparatus includes:
A film forming chamber provided to accommodate the substrate and depositing the substrate;
A pair of targets arranged to face each other and capable of generating sputtered particles, and a sputtered particle emitting unit that emits the sputtered particles generated from the paired targets toward the substrate;
A slit member provided between the substrate and the sputtered particle emitting portion and having a slit opening on which the sputtered particles are selectively passed;
A transport mechanism for transporting the substrate in the film forming chamber in a predetermined direction so that the substrate passes over the slit opening;
The film forming method, wherein the substrate is transferred so as to alternately repeat a substrate movement mode for moving the substrate and a substrate stop mode for stopping the movement of the substrate over the slit opening.

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