JP2551404B2 - Glow discharge decomposition equipment - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a glow discharge decomposition apparatus for producing an amorphous semiconductor layer, and more specifically, to a surface of a plurality of cylindrical substrates (drums) by a single reaction chamber. At the same time, the present invention relates to a glow discharge decomposition apparatus that forms an amorphous semiconductor layer and is excellent in mass productivity.

[Prior art and its problems]

Recently, amorphous silicon (hereinafter abbreviated as a-Si)
Photoelectric materials composed of amorphous semiconductors such as are used for electrophotographic photoreceptors and solar cells, and have advantages such as excellent photoelectric conversion characteristics and efficient generation of amorphous semiconductor layers, and have received great attention. There is. For example, in the field of electrophotographic photoconductors, a-Si is used as a photocarrier generation layer, and a glow discharge decomposition apparatus is used for the film formation to obtain a high-quality photoconductor. Development of mass production equipment for Si photoconductors is in progress.

For example, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a glow discharge decomposition apparatus for simultaneously producing four a-Si photoconductors using a single reaction chamber.

That is, FIG. 1 is a top view and FIG. 2 is a section line A in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A, in which four cylindrical glow discharge electrode plates 2 are installed in a reaction chamber 1, and a cylindrical substrate 3 on which an a-Si layer is formed is formed inside the electrode plate 2. It is installed on the substrate support 4. The gas for a-Si layer formation enters the inside of the reaction chamber 1 through the gas introduction port 5, and the gas is ejected to the substrate 3 from the gas ejection port 6 formed in the electrode plate 2.

Further, high-frequency power for discharge is applied to the terminals 7 and 8, and the terminal 7 is the peripheral wall 1a and the upper surface of the reaction chamber 1.
1b is electrically connected to the electrode plate 2 via the lead 9, while the terminal 8 is electrically connected to the substrate 3 from the bottom surface 1c of the reaction chamber 1 via the substrate support 4. As a result, a glow discharge region 10 is generated between the substrate 3 and the electrode plate 2. Then, when the a-Si layer generating gas introduced into the glow discharge region 10 is decomposed by glow discharge, an a-Si layer is generated on the surface of the substrate 3,
Exhaust gas generated by this generation is exhausted through the exhaust port 11. Incidentally, 12 is an insulating ring for electrically insulating the peripheral wall 1b and the bottom surface 1c.

However, according to the above device, there is a problem in that uniform electric power is not simultaneously supplied to each glow discharge electrode plate 2.

According to FIG. 4, which is considered as an example of power supply, the high frequency power source 14 is connected to the terminals 7 and 8 through one matching box 13 (this circuit is as shown in FIG. 3). , 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d are glow discharge electrode plates, and 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d are substrates.

The reason why the matching box is installed is to start glow discharge by high voltage using mismatch of the internal circuit of the matching box at the start of power supply, and once the discharge starts, tune and maintain glow discharge at low pressure. .

However, according to this wiring, when discharge is first started between one of the four substrate-electrode plates, high voltage is not applied between the other three substrate-electrode plates. Therefore, the discharge is unlikely to occur, and even if the power supply amount is further increased, a high-frequency current will flow between the substrate and the electrode plate that have been previously discharged.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, one matching box 13a, 13b, 13 is provided for each substrate-electrode plate.
c, 13d, and high frequency power supplies 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d are connected, or one matching box 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d is connected to each substrate-electrode plate as shown in FIG. Further, the high frequency power source 13 can be connected via the power distributor 15.

However, these wirings require a plurality of matching boxes and a high-frequency power source, which increases the manufacturing cost, and each matching box can be manufactured at the same time so that the photoconductors can be uniformly manufactured in terms of film thickness and film quality. Strict control is required during this, which hinders the efficiency of manufacturing.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been completed in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a mass-production type glow discharge decomposition apparatus in which an amorphous semiconductor layer is simultaneously formed on individual substrates to make the quality uniform and to enhance the reliability of film formation. There is.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a glow discharge decomposition apparatus which simplifies the power supply system for glow discharge, reduces the manufacturing cost, and achieves excellent manufacturing efficiency.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the present invention, inside the reaction chamber into which the amorphous semiconductor layer-forming gas is introduced, a plurality of cylindrical substrates are installed at predetermined intervals, and the glow discharge electrode plates are provided on each of the substrates at intervals G. A glow discharge decomposition apparatus facing each other at ₁ and forming a main discharge region by glow discharge generated between the substrate and the electrode plate to simultaneously form an amorphous semiconductor layer on a plurality of substrate surfaces. , A first conductor electrically connected to the substrate and a second conductor electrically connected to the electrode plate are separated by a gap G ₂ (G ₁
/ 2 ≦ G ₂ ≦ 2G ₁ ) and the first
There is provided a glow discharge decomposition device characterized in that the entire main discharge region is linked and discharged through a sub-discharge region formed between a conductor and a second conductor.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail by taking a glow discharge decomposition apparatus for manufacturing an a-Si photoconductor as an example.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing a glow discharge decomposition apparatus capable of simultaneously producing four a-Si photoconductors, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

According to the apparatus shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, four cylindrical glow discharge electrode plates 17 of the same size are provided inside the reaction chamber 16.
Is installed and inside the electrode plate 17, a concentric cylindrical substrate
18 is mounted on the substrate support 19. The gas for generating the a-Si layer enters the inside of the reaction chamber 16 through the gas introduction port 20, and the electrode plate 17
Gas is ejected toward the substrate 18 from the gas ejection port 21 formed in the. Electric power for glow discharge is supplied from one high frequency power source 22 through one matching box 23 from terminals 24 and 25 provided outside the reaction chamber 16.
The terminal 24 is electrically connected to the electrode plate 17 via the leads 26 from the peripheral wall 16a and the upper surface 16b of the reaction chamber 16, while the terminal 25 is connected to the reaction chamber.
Since the bottom surface 16c of 16 is electrically connected to the substrate 18 via the substrate support 19, a main discharge region is formed between the substrate 18 and the electrode plate 17 by glow discharge. Incidentally, 27 is an insulating ring for electrically insulating the peripheral wall 16a and the bottom surface 16c.

In the present invention, a first conductor 28 electrically conducting to the substrate 18 and a second conductor 29 electrically conducting to the electrode plate 17 are formed inside the reaction chamber 16. The feature is that it is set so that discharge can be performed between the body 28 and the second conductor 29.

Thus, the first conductor 28 corresponds to the bottom surface 16c shown in FIG. 8, and the second conductor 29 is formed so as to face the bottom surface 16c, so that the substrate 18 and the electrode plate 17 face each other. The four main discharge regions 30 are linked so that the discharge regions are substantially integrated via the sub-discharge region 31 formed by the first conductor 28 and the second conductor 29 facing each other.

Therefore, when high-frequency power is applied from the high-frequency power source 22, when discharge is started at a certain place between the substrate 18 and the electrode plate 17 or between the first conductor 28 and the second conductor 29, a-
The Si layer generated gas dissociates and diffuses into various neutral radicals, ions or electrons, and instantly discharges across the entire area between the substrate and the electrode plate and between the first conductor and the second conductor. To do. As a result, the discharge conditions generated between the substrate 18 and the electrode plate 17 are the same for all four types, and there is no unevenness in quality during film formation among the four substrates 18.

According to the present invention, the first conductor 28 with respect to the spacing G ₁ of the substrate 18 and the electrode plate 17 a distance G ₂ of the second conductor _{29, G 1/2 ≦ G} 2 ≦ 2G
Setting to ₁ makes it possible to instantly and integrally discharge as described above. Furthermore, if the gap G ₁ is set so as to be substantially equal over the entire area, no local abnormal discharge will occur. Incidentally, it is necessary to prevent various driving parts and the like installed inside the reaction chamber 16 from entering the sub-discharge region 31.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the glow discharge decomposition apparatus of the present invention for forming a film on a plurality of substrates by one operation, it is possible to simultaneously form an amorphous semiconductor layer on each substrate, and as a result, it is possible to obtain excellent reliability. An amorphous semiconductor layer is obtained.

According to the glow discharge decomposition apparatus of the present invention, each of the main discharge regions formed by the substrate and the glow discharge electrode plate facing each other has the first conductor electrically connected to the substrate and the glow discharge. Since the electrode plate and the second conductor electrically connected to each other are linked via the sub-discharge region formed so as to face each other, the glow discharge is instantaneously performed over the entire main discharge region and the sub-discharge region. Can be generated, and the discharge conditions in each main discharge region can be made the same. As a result, quality unevenness in film formation on individual substrates is eliminated, and a more homogeneous amorphous semiconductor layer is obtained.

Further, if the device of the present invention is used, only one matching box for glow discharge and one high-frequency power source are required, which can reduce the manufacturing cost.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the examples, and a glow discharge decomposition method is provided in which a plurality of substrates are provided inside, an electrode plate for glow discharge is provided in each, and an amorphous semiconductor layer is simultaneously formed on the plurality of substrates. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that all devices are applicable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view showing a conventional glow discharge decomposition apparatus, and FIG.
The drawing is a sectional view taken along the section line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram showing a matching box, FIG. 4, FIG.
FIG. 6 is a wiring diagram of a matching box showing the supply of power for glow discharge and a high-frequency power source, FIG. 7 is a top view showing a glow discharge decomposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view in FIG. It is sectional drawing by the line BB. 1,16 …… Reaction chamber, 2,2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 17 …… Glow discharge electrode plate, 3,3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 18 …… Substrate, 13,13a, 13b, 13c, 13
d, 23 …… matching box, 14,14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 22
...... High frequency power supply, 28 ...... First conductor, 29 ...... Second conductor, 30 ...... Main discharge area, 31 ...... Sub discharge area

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued from the front page (56) Reference JP-A-60-215766 (JP, A) JP-A-59-227709 (JP, A) JP-A-61-29849 (JP, A) JP-A-62- 149874 (JP, A) Japanese Patent Publication 8-26461 (JP, B2)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of tubular substrates are installed at a predetermined interval inside a reaction chamber into which a gas for forming an amorphous semiconductor layer is introduced, and an electrode plate for glow discharge is provided on each substrate at an interval G _1. A glow discharge decomposition apparatus which is opposed to each other and forms a main discharge region by glow discharge generated between the substrate and the electrode plate to simultaneously form an amorphous semiconductor layer on a plurality of substrate surfaces, the inside of the reaction chamber, a first electrical conductor conducting the the substrate and electrically, the second conductor and the spacing G ₂ (G _1/2 ≦ which is electrically conductive with the electrode plate
Together are arranged opposite in G ₂ ≦ 2G _1), it was set to allowed to discharge in conjunction with all main discharge region through the sub-discharge region formed between the first conductor and the second conductor A glow discharge decomposition device characterized by: