JP3181761B2 - Method and apparatus for continuously forming functional deposited film - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a forming method and a deposition apparatus for continuously forming a functional deposition film such as a photovoltaic element, and more particularly to a method for depositing a functional deposition film such as a large-area photovoltaic element. The present invention relates to a method for continuously forming a substrate and a deposition apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a functional deposited film such as a photovoltaic element is formed on a substrate, in order to improve the characteristics of each semiconductor, the semiconductor is sequentially passed through a film forming chamber completely separated by a gate valve. Is known. Although the film forming chambers in which the respective film forming chambers were completely separated were excellent in that impurities were hardly mixed therein, the productivity was not good. For this reason, as a device for continuously forming a predetermined functional deposition film for forming a semiconductor element such as a photovoltaic element on a band-shaped substrate, the band-shaped substrate is continuously connected to a plurality of reaction vessels from the band-shaped substrate storage container. There has been proposed a continuous film forming apparatus in which a predetermined semiconductor film is formed in each reaction vessel at that time, and a predetermined semiconductor film is formed in each of the reaction vessels and housed in another strip-shaped substrate housing vessel.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-36633 discloses a roll-to-roll system.
1) A continuous plasma CVD method employing the method is disclosed. According to this method, a plurality of glow discharge regions are provided, and a sufficiently long band-shaped substrate having a desired width is arranged along a path sequentially passing through the plurality of glow discharge regions, and the base is continuously formed in the longitudinal direction. It is described that a photoconductive element having a semiconductor junction can be continuously formed by depositing and forming a semiconductor of a desired conductivity type in each of the glow discharge regions while being transported. In this specification, a gas gate is used to prevent an impurity gas used for forming each semiconductor layer from diffusing and mixing into another glow discharge region. Specifically the plurality of inter glow discharge region is separated by a slit-shaped separation passageway, and further the separation passage, for example, Ar, means for forming a flow of scavenging gas such as H ₂ is used.

However, in this case, if there is a pressure difference between the respective film forming chambers in such a gas gate, there is a problem that the film forming gas tends to be mixed into the film forming chamber having a high pressure from the film forming chamber having a low pressure. .

In order to solve this problem, conventionally, the pressures of the adjacent film forming chambers are adjusted so that a pressure difference is not created.
Alternatively, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,723, a measure has been taken to increase the pressure in the film forming chamber in order to prevent gas from flowing in adjacent film forming chambers.

In this device, for example, a semiconductor layer having p, i, and n-type conductivity (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a p-type layer, an i-type layer, and an n-type layer) is continuously formed on a strip-shaped substrate. A film forming apparatus, a first reaction vessel for forming a p-type semiconductor layer,
a second reaction vessel for forming an i-type semiconductor layer, a third reaction vessel for forming an n-type semiconductor layer, between the first reaction vessel and the second reaction vessel, and between the second reaction vessel and the second reaction vessel; Separating means for preventing the elements constituting the p-type semiconductor layer and the elements constituting the n-type semiconductor layer from being mixed into the second reaction vessel between the second reaction vessel and the second reaction vessel; Is operated at a pressure higher than the respective pressures of the first and third reaction vessels. With the use of the continuous film forming apparatus, a plurality of semiconductor layers having different compositions can be continuously laminated on the belt-like substrate. The separating means provides a predetermined difference in the internal pressure of the adjacent reaction vessels in order to isolate the adjacent reaction vessels, thereby preventing the mutual diffusion of the raw material gas used in each reaction vessel. However, in this case, the separation means is provided with a passage of the band-shaped substrate communicating with the adjacent reaction vessel, and the raw material gas of the reaction vessel having a high internal pressure is inevitably mixed into the passage in the reaction vessel having a low internal pressure. However, not only does the latter cause a change in the internal pressure in the reaction vessel, but also causes a change in the plasma generated in the reaction vessel. As a result, it is difficult to form a desired deposited film. is there.

A continuous film forming apparatus provided with a gas gate means as a proposal for solving these problems in the continuous film forming apparatus described in the above-mentioned US Pat. No. 4,438,723 is disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,462. , 332. The apparatus is provided with a plurality of reaction vessels (that is, a reaction vessel for forming a p-type semiconductor layer, a reaction vessel for forming an i-type semiconductor layer, and a reaction vessel for forming an n-type semiconductor layer), and i is provided between adjacent reaction vessels. A gas gate means is provided adjacent to the reaction container for forming the semiconductor layer. This gas gate means
Although it is intended to prevent the source gases for film formation used in each reaction vessel from diffusing from each other, a gate gas is introduced from only one direction, and is directed toward the reaction vessel for forming a p-type or n-type semiconductor layer. It has a flowing structure. In the continuous film forming apparatus, a magnet is provided on an upper wall of the passage in the band-shaped base of the gas gate means, and the band-shaped base is brought into contact with the upper wall of the passage by the magnet to form the passage. I try to make the size smaller.

According to this continuous film forming apparatus, the above-mentioned problems in the continuous film forming apparatus described in US Pat. No. 4,438,723 can be solved to some extent, but the raw material gas used in the adjacent reaction vessel is used. To properly prevent mutual diffusion of gas, conductance of gas gate means,
It is necessary to accurately control related parameters such as the flow rate of the gate gas. That is, for example, when manufacturing a semiconductor photoelectric conversion element having a pin junction with high conversion efficiency, the p-type and n-type semiconductor layers need to be relatively thin, and the i-type semiconductor layer needs to be considerably thick. Each of the semiconductors is formed by, for example, an RF plasma CVD method, and the i-type semiconductor layer is formed by a microwave plasma CVD method capable of high-speed film formation. In this case, the internal pressure during film formation in the i-type semiconductor formation reaction vessel is significantly lower than the internal pressure during film formation in each of the p-type semiconductor formation reaction vessel and the n-type semiconductor formation reaction vessel. Therefore, p
It is required to prevent the source gas for impurity introduction used in each of the reaction vessel for forming the type semiconductor and the reaction vessel for forming the n-type semiconductor from flowing into the reaction vessel for forming the i-type semiconductor.

[0009] However, US Pat.
It is extremely difficult to satisfy the requirements with the continuous film forming apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 8,723. That is, as described above, the gas gate means in the continuous film forming apparatus is provided on both sides of the i-type semiconductor device, and the gate gas is supplied from each of the gate gas means to each of the p-type semiconductor forming reaction vessel and the n-type semiconductor forming reaction vessel. When the internal pressure of the i-type semiconductor forming reaction vessel is significantly lower than the internal pressures of the p-type semiconductor forming reaction vessel and the n-type semiconductor forming reaction vessel, the gas flows backward. And the p-type or n-type impurity introduction source gas used in each of the p-type semiconductor formation reaction vessel and the n-type semiconductor formation reaction vessel is mixed into the i-type semiconductor formation reaction vessel.

[0010] To solve this problem, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-3 / 1990.
Japanese Patent No. 0419 proposes that a gas gate is provided at a central portion between adjacent reaction vessels so that a gate gas is introduced from above and exhausted downward. The continuous film forming apparatus based on this proposal uses p-type RF plasma CVD.
Reactor for forming i-type semiconductor, reactor for forming i-type semiconductor by microwave plasma CVD method, and RF plasma CV
A reaction vessel for forming an n-type semiconductor by the method D;
The gas gate means is provided at a central portion between a reaction container for forming a p-type semiconductor by a plasma CVD method and a reaction container for forming an i-type semiconductor by microwave plasma CVD. The gas gate means is provided at a central portion between the reaction vessel and the reaction vessel for forming an n-type semiconductor by the RF plasma CVD method.

However, even with such gas gate means in this continuous film forming apparatus, the gas gate means is required to sufficiently exert the effect of preventing the diffusion of the raw material gas used in the adjacent reaction vessel by the gas gate means. It is necessary to lower the conductance of the slit portion of the first electrode and / or to increase the flow rate of the gate gas. However, there is still a problem to be solved. That is, regarding the problem related to the conductance of the slit portion, the conductance of the slit portion is governed by the shape of the slit portion, and decreases in proportion to the length of the slit portion in the transport direction of the strip-shaped substrate, and the thickness of the strip-shaped substrate. It rises in proportion to the square of the height to the direction.

The dimension of the slit in the width direction of the strip-shaped base cannot be made smaller than necessary based on the width of the strip-shaped base. However, when the conductance of the slit portion is to be reduced, there arises a problem that the belt-like substrate inevitably vibrates or undulates when the belt-like substrate is transported.

Therefore, in order to transport the film-forming surface of the band-shaped substrate without contacting the wall surface of the slit, the film-forming surface of the band-shaped substrate and the wall surface of the slit opposed to the film-forming surface are required. , A clearance of at least about 1 mm or more needs to be provided. However, there is naturally a limit in providing such a clearance. In order to reduce the conductance of the slit portion, it is conceivable to lengthen the slit portion.However, since the conductance decreases only in proportion to the length, the slit portion becomes extremely long, and in this case, The gas gate means is rather large and impractical. Regarding the problem related to the flow rate of the gate gas, when the flow rate of the gate gas is increased, the amount of the gate gas flowing into each reaction vessel increases accordingly. In this case, there is a problem that the film forming conditions in each reaction vessel, for example, the internal pressure, the dilution ratio of the raw material gas, the state of the plasma, and the like vary, and it is difficult to form a desired deposited film. In this case, in order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to increase the exhaust capacity of the exhaust device to be used. However, to do so, it is necessary to increase the size of the exhaust device. Therefore, this point also has a problem to be improved in this continuous film forming apparatus.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional method for continuously forming a photovoltaic element by a roll-to-roll method, and to carry out processes having different pressures. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for continuously forming a functionally deposited film such as a photovoltaic element with high productivity which can be continuously performed while preventing impurity gases from intermixing between chambers.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: moving a strip substrate continuously in a longitudinal direction through a plurality of film forming chambers and a gas gate connecting the film forming chambers; What is claimed is: 1. A method for forming a functional deposition film, comprising depositing a respective functional deposition film on a substrate, wherein a scavenging gas introduction position is a p-type or n-type conductive film forming chamber.
High pressure film forming chamber for semiconductor formation and i-type conductivity
A functional deposition film formation, wherein the scavenging gas is introduced at a position closer to the high-pressure film formation chamber than a center of a strip-shaped substrate in a moving direction of a strip-shaped substrate connecting a gas gate connected to a low-pressure film formation chamber for forming a semiconductor. Is the way.

The method for forming a deposited film in the film forming chamber is RF plasma CVD or microwave plasma CV.
D method, or sputtering method, or ion plating method, or optical CVD method, or thermal CVD method, or MOCVD method, or MBE method, or vacuum evaporation method,
Or a functional deposited film forming method that is an electron vapor deposition method,
A method for forming a functional deposited film, wherein the low-resistance semiconductor is a semiconductor having p-type or n-type conductivity, and the high-resistance semiconductor is a semiconductor having i-type conductivity.

Further, there is provided a method for forming a functional deposited film, wherein the functional deposited film is a photovoltaic element.

Further, there is provided a method for forming a functional deposited film, wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure film forming chamber and the low-pressure film forming chamber is not less than 0.1 Torr and not more than 1.1 Torr.

Further, there is provided a method for forming a functional deposited film, wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure film forming chamber and the low-pressure film forming chamber is not less than 0.2 Torr and not more than 1.0 Torr.

Further, a method for forming a functional deposited film, wherein a distance ratio from a point at which a scavenging gas is introduced to a total length of a gas gate in a substrate transfer direction to a high pressure film forming chamber is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less.

According to the present invention, a plurality of film forming chambers, a gas gate having a slit-shaped separation passage connecting the plurality of film forming chambers, and a belt-like substrate extending in the longitudinal direction through the plurality of film forming chambers and the gas gate are provided. Transport means for continuously moving, gas introduction means for introducing a scavenging gas to the gas gate, and deposition means for depositing each functional deposition film on the strip-shaped substrate in the plurality of film formation chambers, Wherein the plurality of film forming chambers are a high-pressure film forming chamber for forming a semiconductor having p-type or n-type conductivity and a low-pressure film forming chamber for forming a semiconductor having i-type conductivity ; A functional deposition film deposition apparatus characterized in that a position is provided on the high-pressure film formation chamber side of a center of the separation passage of the gas gate.

The method for forming a deposited film in the film forming chamber may be RF plasma CVD or microwave plasma CV.
It is a functional deposition film deposition apparatus that is a D method, a sputtering method, an ion plating method, an optical CVD method, a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, an MBE method, a vacuum evaporation method, or an electron evaporation method. .

[0023]

Further, there is provided a functional deposition film deposition apparatus wherein the functional deposition film is a photovoltaic element.

Further, there is provided a functional film deposition apparatus wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure film forming chamber and the low-pressure film forming chamber is 0.1 Torr or more and 1.1 Torr or less.

Further, there is provided a functional film deposition apparatus wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure film forming chamber and the low-pressure film forming chamber is 0.2 Torr or more and 1.0 Torr or less.

Further, there is provided a functional deposition film deposition apparatus wherein a distance ratio from a point at which a scavenging gas is introduced to a total length of a gas gate in a substrate transfer direction to a high pressure film formation chamber is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less.

[0028]

The operation and structure of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG.
The gas gate 103 having a scavenging gas introduction portion in a slit-like separation passage while continuously moving
Through the film forming chambers 101 and 102 connected by
In each of the film forming chambers, the band-like substrate 105 is formed by a plasma CVD method.
In a method for continuously forming a functional deposition film in which a semiconductor layer of a desired conductivity type is deposited thereon and a photovoltaic element or the like having a semiconductor junction is continuously formed, the formation of an i-type layer for forming a semiconductor junction is performed. The film chamber 102 and n having a higher pressure than the film forming chamber for the i-type layer
Alternatively, a gas gate 1 for connecting the p-type layer to the film forming chamber 101
03, the scavenging gas introduction pipe 104 is provided on the n- or p-type layer film formation chamber side of the center of the separation passage of the gas gate 103, and the scavenging gas is introduced into the introduction pipe 104 to improve the gas separation performance of the gas gate. Enhanced, i-type layer deposition chamber 102
It is intended to effectively prevent impurity gas from being mixed from the film forming chamber 101.

When the pressures of the two film forming chambers connected to the gas gate are the same, the pressure of the separation passage in the gas gate always reaches the maximum at the scavenging gas introduction position as shown in FIG. 2 when the scavenging gas is introduced. As shown in FIG. 2, the scavenging gas is changed from A →
When increasing from B to C, the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position increases in accordance with the scavenging gas introduction amount, and a gas flow from the scavenging gas introduction position to the two film formation chambers is formed. Gases can be prevented from being mixed with each other.

However, when there is a pressure difference between the two film forming chambers connected to the gas gate, the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate does not always reach the maximum at the scavenging gas introduction position when the scavenging gas is introduced. The pressure distribution in the gas gate changes depending on the flow rate of the scavenging gas. As shown in FIG. 3, the scavenging gas changes to A when no scavenging gas flows, B when a small amount of scavenging gas flows, and C when a large amount of scavenging gas flows. When the pressure is small, the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate becomes maximum at the opening on the side of the film formation chamber having a high pressure among the film formation chambers having a pressure difference.

In the method disclosed in the above-mentioned US Pat. No. 4,438,723, in which a pressure difference is provided between two film forming chambers connected to a gas gate, the scavenging gas is supplied to the pressure in the film forming chamber having a pressure difference. Is blown to the gas gate opening of the higher film forming chamber (hereinafter, referred to as a high-pressure film forming chamber), so that the pressure of the separation passage in the gas gate becomes maximum at the opening on the high-pressure film forming chamber side.

As described above, when there is a pressure difference between the two film forming chambers to which the gas gate is connected, the pressure distribution in the gas gate is different from the case where there is no pressure difference, and is not one.

Therefore, the present inventors examined the relationship between the pressure distribution in the gas gate and the gas separation performance using the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 when there is a pressure difference between the film forming chambers. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes a high-pressure film forming chamber; 502, a film forming chamber having a lower pressure among the film forming chambers having a pressure difference (hereinafter, referred to as a low-pressure film forming chamber); 503, a gas gate;
Denotes a pressure gauge, 506 a quadrupole mass spectrometer, 507 denotes a gas introduction pipe, and 508 denotes an exhaust pipe.

[0035] In this device, H ₂ and H ₂ in place of the deposition gas to the low pressure deposition chamber 200 sccm, the pressure deposition chamber leave 200 sccm introducing He instead of the impurity gas, as a scavenging gas for the gas gate And the amount of He flowing from the high-pressure film formation chamber into the low-pressure film formation chamber was measured by a quadrupole mass spectrometer connected to the low-pressure film formation chamber. The smaller the amount of He flowing into the low-pressure film formation chamber, the smaller the amount of impurity gas flowing into the low-pressure film formation chamber, and it can be evaluated that the gas separation performance between the film formation chambers is high. The pressure in the gas gate was measured by a scavenging gas introduction unit and a pressure gauge provided at the opening of each film forming chamber. At this time, the pressure in the low-pressure film forming chamber is 5 mTo
rr, and the pressure in the high-pressure film forming chamber is 1 Torr, 0.
It was changed to 75 Torr.

As a result, it has been found that there is a relationship as shown in FIG. 6 between the amount of impurity gas flowing from the high-pressure film forming chamber to the low-pressure film forming chamber and the pressure in the gas gate. That is, as the scavenging gas introduction amount is increased and the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position is increased, the amount of impurity gas mixed from the high pressure film formation chamber into the low pressure film formation chamber is reduced, and the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position is increased. It has been found that in a region higher than the pressure of the side opening, the flow rate of the impurity gas from the high-pressure film formation chamber to the low-pressure film formation chamber is rapidly reduced, and the gas separation performance of the gas gate is rapidly improved.

Further, the present inventors changed the introduction position of the scavenging gas to the center of the gas gate, the side of the high-pressure film forming chamber, and the side of the low-pressure film forming chamber while keeping the amount of the scavenging gas introduced into the gas gate constant. When the pressure at the position and the amount of the impurity gas flowing into the low-pressure film formation chamber were measured, the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position changed the length of the gas gate and the flow rate of the scavenging gas as shown in FIG. Even if the scavenging gas is not introduced into the high pressure film forming chamber than the center of the gas gate, the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position increases, the amount of impurity gas introduced into the low pressure film forming chamber decreases, and the scavenging gas is introduced into the low pressure film forming chamber. Then, it has been found that the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position decreases, and the amount of impurity gas introduced into the low-pressure film formation chamber increases.

That is, by introducing the scavenging gas, which has been introduced from the center of the gas gate or from the film forming chamber side of the i-type layer, from the film forming chamber side of the n or p-type layer, a smaller amount of scavenging gas can be introduced. In addition, the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position can be made higher than the pressure at the opening on the high pressure film formation chamber side, and the amount of impurity gas flowing from the high pressure film formation chamber to the low pressure film formation chamber can be effectively reduced. I found it. The present invention has been made based on such findings.

As described above, when there is a large pressure difference between the film forming chambers to which the gas gates are connected, the scavenging gas introduction position is shifted toward the high pressure film forming chamber depending on the scavenging gas introduction position, so that the low pressure film forming chamber can be used. The principle by which the amount of inflowing impurity gas can be reduced will be described below.

In order to simplify the explanation, the cross-sectional opening shape (width and height of the slit portion) of the gas separation passage of the gas gate in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the strip-shaped substrate is constant in the transport direction of the strip-shaped substrate. Assume that no belt-like substrate is included.

(1) First, consider the case where there is no pressure difference between the film forming chambers to which the gas gate is connected. At this time, if no scavenging gas is introduced, the flow of gas between the film forming chambers is only a slight diffusion of the film forming gas through the separation passage of the gas gate. When the scavenging gas is introduced into the gas gate in such a state, the introduced scavenging gas is divided in proportion to the conductance of the separation passage from the scavenging gas introduction position to each of the film forming chambers, flows into each of the film forming chambers, and is formed. Suppress diffusion of a deposition gas between film chambers.

In the flow of the scavenging gas, the diffusion of the impurity gas from the film formation chamber for introducing the impurity gas to the film formation chamber for forming the intrinsic semiconductor is suppressed by the film formation chamber for introducing the impurity gas from the scavenging gas introduction position. It is the flow to.

The smaller the conductance of the separation passage from the scavenging gas introduction position to the film formation chamber for introducing the impurity gas, the smaller the scavenging gas flowing in the separation passage from the scavenging gas introduction position to the film formation chamber for introducing the impurity gas. As the flow rate increases, the diffusion amount of the impurity gas into the film formation chamber for forming the intrinsic semiconductor decreases. When the scavenging gas is introduced into the center of the gas gate, the diffusion amount of the impurity gas is minimized.

For example, the conductance with respect to the entire length of the gas gate in the transport direction of the belt-shaped substrate is C, the flow rate of the scavenging gas introduced into the gas gate is Q, and the point at which the scavenging gas is introduced (the center point of the introduction port) is a point at which the impurity gas is introduced. Distance to film chamber: distance to film formation chamber for forming intrinsic semiconductor = x:
Assuming that 1−x (0 ≦ x ≦ 1), the conductance is proportional to the length of the pipe, and therefore, the conductance C ′ and the scavenging gas introduction position from the scavenging gas introduction position to the film formation chamber for introducing the impurity gas. The scavenging gas flow rate Q ′ to the film formation chamber for introducing the scavenging gas to the film formation chamber for introducing the impurity gas from below is as follows.

C '= C / x Q' = Q (1-x)

The smaller the conductance C 'of the separation passage from the position where the scavenging gas is introduced to the film formation chamber where the impurity gas is introduced, and the larger the scavenging gas flow rate Q' of the separation passage, the larger the film formation chamber for forming an intrinsic semiconductor. Since the diffusion amount of the impurity gas into the gas decreases, the gas separation performance may be considered to be proportional to Q ′ / C ′. here,

[0047]

(Equation 1) Therefore, Q ′ / c ′ is x = 0.5 (0 ≦ x ≦ 1).

That is, when there is no pressure difference between the film forming chambers,
When the scavenging gas is introduced into the center of the gas gate, the gas separation performance is maximized and the diffusion amount of the impurity gas is minimized.

When there is no pressure difference between the film forming chambers, the scavenging gas is divided by the conductance ratio of the separation passage and flows into each of the film forming chambers. When the n-type or p-type layer to be introduced is on the film forming chamber side, more of the introduced scavenging gas flows into the film forming chamber for the p-type layer. However, in the photovoltaic element, the thickness of the n-type or p-type layer is about 1/10 of the thickness of the i-type layer, and the amount of the source gas introduced into the film formation chamber for the n-type or p-type layer is i-type. There is a problem in that the amount of the source gas introduced into the film formation chamber for the layer is considerably smaller than that of the source gas, and when the inflow of the scavenging gas increases, a small amount of the source gas is diluted to a low concentration by the scavenging gas flowing in.

For the above reasons, when there is almost no pressure difference between the film formation chambers to which the conventional gas gate is connected, the scavenging gas is introduced to the center of the gas gate or to a position slightly closer to the i-type layer than the center. I needed to.

(2) Next, consider a case where there is a large pressure difference between the film forming chambers. At this time, if no scavenging gas is introduced, the pressure difference causes the deposition gas Z in the high-pressure deposition chamber to flow into the low-pressure deposition chamber via the separation passage of the gas gate.

Therefore, when the high-pressure film formation chamber is a film formation chamber for introducing an impurity gas, the low-pressure film formation chamber is a film formation chamber for an intrinsic semiconductor, and when there is no pressure difference between the film formation chambers for the intrinsic semiconductor. A much larger amount of impurity gas will be mixed in than in the case of diffusion.

Therefore, when there is such a pressure difference, it is necessary to first stop the flow of the impurity gas due to such a pressure difference in order to suppress the mixing of the impurity gas.

When a scavenging gas is introduced into the gas gate connecting the film forming chambers having a pressure difference, the pressure distribution in the gas gate becomes as shown in FIG. When the amount of scavenging gas introduced is small, all of the introduced scavenging gas flows into the low-pressure film formation chamber (state B in the figure), but the amount of introduction increases and the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position becomes high in the film formation chamber. When the pressure is exceeded (C in the figure)
The flow of the impurity gas from the high-pressure film formation chamber stops (diffusion remains), and the scavenging gas flows into the high-pressure film formation chamber. When the pressure P of the position of the introduction of scavenging gas increases the introduction amount of the scavenging gas' is the same as the pressure P _H of the film forming chamber of the high pressure side, the flow of the deposition gas between the film forming chamber is the only diffusion, The introduced scavenging gas Q is separated from the scavenging gas introduction position by a gas gate separation passage (conductance C ″ = C / (1
-X)) all flow into the low pressure side film formation chamber.

Therefore,

(Equation 2) Relationship holds (where, P _L is the pressure in the deposition chamber of the low-pressure side).

From this, it can be seen that the smaller the value of x, the higher the pressure P 'at the scavenging gas introduction position, and the smaller the scavenging gas Q, the more the impurity gas can be prevented from being mixed. It is found that it is effective to introduce a scavenging gas to a position close to the film formation chamber.

In the present invention, the position of the n- or p-type layer on the film forming chamber side of the center of the separation passage of the gas gate means the i-type layer forming chamber and the n or p-type layer forming chamber of the separation passage. From the intermediate position to the opening of the n-type or p-type layer to the film formation chamber. In order to prevent the impurity gas from entering the i-type layer into the film formation chamber, n or p is set in the separation passage. Since it is necessary to form a flow of the scavenging gas into the film formation chamber of the p-type layer, it is preferable that the scavenging gas introduction position is slightly separated from the opening end of the n or p-type layer on the film formation chamber side. Further, as described above, when there is almost no pressure difference between the film forming chambers connected to the gas gate, it is preferable to introduce the scavenging gas from the center of the gas gate. It is preferable to bring it to the film forming chamber side.

Therefore, the optimum introduction position of the scavenging gas changes in the range from the center of the gas gate to the vicinity of the high-pressure film forming chamber side opening end depending on the pressure of the film forming chamber to which the gas gate is connected.

Therefore, the present inventors changed the scavenging gas introduction position without changing the scavenging gas flow introduced using the apparatus shown in FIG. The relationship between the gas introduction position and the amount of impurity gas mixed into the low-pressure side film formation chamber was examined.

In this apparatus, 200 sccm of H ₂ was introduced into the low-pressure deposition chamber instead of the deposition gas, and 200 sccm of He was introduced into the high-pressure deposition chamber instead of the impurity gas. The amount of He introduced into the low-pressure film formation chamber from the high-pressure film formation chamber by introducing H ₂ from the gas introduction pipes above and below the gas gate by half was measured by a quadrupole mass spectrometer connected to the low-pressure film formation chamber. At this time, the pressure of the low-pressure film forming chamber is set to 5 in a pressure range suitable for the microwave CVD method.
mTorr and the pressure in the high-pressure film forming chamber were set to 1 Torr in a pressure range suitable for the high-frequency CVD method.

As a result, when the scavenging gas introduction position was represented by the above-mentioned x, the mixing amount of the impurity gas into the low-pressure side film-forming chamber with respect to x changed as shown in FIG.

US Pat. No. 4,438,723 discloses a practical ability to reduce the impurity gas concentration required for a gas gate. The impurity concentration of a film forming chamber for introducing an impurity gas is controlled through the gas gate. If it is 10 ^-4 or less in the film forming chamber where the impurity gas is not introduced, it can be determined that there is practical gas separation performance. From FIG. 10, the introduction position of the scavenging gas is 0.1 ≦ x ≦ It has been found that a range of 0.4 is preferred.

Next, the present inventors assumed that x
The scavenging gas introduction position is fixed at a position on the film forming chamber side where an impurity gas of 0.25 is introduced, and the pressure of the film forming chamber on the high pressure side is set to 0.
The pressure was changed from 05 Torr to 1.3 Torr, and the relationship between the pressure difference between the deposition chambers connected to the gas gates and the amount of impurity gas mixed into the low-pressure deposition chamber was examined.

As a result, the mixing amount of the impurity gas into the low-pressure side film formation chamber changes as shown in FIG. 11 with respect to the pressure difference between the film formation chambers. 1-1.1 To
It was found that practical gas separation performance was obtained at rr, and the pressure difference between the film forming chambers was 0.1 to 1.1 T
It was found that the range of orr was preferable, and the range of 0.2 to 1.0 Torr was more preferable.

In the present invention, the scavenging gas flowing through the gas gate is, for example, a diluent gas such as Ar, He, Ne, Kr, Xe, or Rn, or a diluent gas such as H ₂ for a deposition film forming gas. To increase the pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position, select a scavenging gas with a large molecular weight when the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate is in the molecular flow region, and select a scavenging gas with a large viscosity coefficient in the viscous flow region. The type of the scavenging gas is determined in consideration of the conditions for forming the deposited film, the required gas separation performance, the exhaust capacity of each film forming chamber, and the like.

In the present invention, the deposited film forming means provided in the film forming chamber connected by the gas gate includes RF plasma CVD, microwave plasma CVD, and the like.
Method, sputtering method, ion plating method, light C
Various means used for forming a functional deposited film, such as a VD method, a thermal CVD method, an MOCVD method, an MBE method, a vacuum evaporation method, and an electron beam evaporation method, may be mentioned.

In the present invention, an n-type or p-type layer is deposited.
The impurity gas introduced into the film forming chamber is formed in the film forming chamber.
For introducing impurities used to control the valence electrons of the film
This is the case where the material is a raw material and the deposited film is a group IV semiconductor
Gaseous at normal temperature and pressure
Gas, or at least easily gaseous under film-forming conditions
Those that can be used are adopted. For introducing such impurities
As a starting material, specifically, P for introducing n-type impurities is used.
H_Three, P_TwoH_Four, PF_Three, PF_Five, PCl_Three, AsH _Three, As
F_Three, AsF_Five, AsCl_Three, SbH_Three, SbF_Five, BiH_Three
And BF for p-type impurity introduction._Three, BCl_Three, BBr
_Three, B_TwoH₆, B_FourH_Ten, B_FiveH₉, B_FiveH₁₁, B₆H_Ten, B₆
H₁₂, AlCl_ThreeAnd the like. Above impure
Compounds containing compound elements can be used alone or in combination of two or more.
Is also good.

For carrying out the method for continuously forming a functional deposited film according to the present invention, an appropriate apparatus can be used. An example of the apparatus shown in FIG. 7 can be given.

In FIG. 7, 701 and 703 are 13.5.
6 MHz radio frequency (RF) n by plasma CVD
Alternatively, a p-type layer deposition chamber 702 is a microwave plasma C
A chamber 704 for forming the i-type layer by the VD method, a supply chamber 704 for the belt-like substrate, and a chamber 705 for winding the belt-like substrate. n-type, p
The chambers that are the respective film forming chambers for forming the type and i-type conductive semiconductors are connected by four gas gates 706. A belt-like substrate 707 passes through three film forming chambers before being transported from the supply chamber of the belt-like substrate to the take-up chamber, and has a three-layer functional deposition film, for example, pin on its surface.
A semiconductor for a photovoltaic element having a junction is formed. still,
Reference numeral 708 denotes a belt-like sheet made of a heat-resistant nonwoven fabric, which prevents the wound belt-like substrate surface from being damaged when the belt-like substrate is wound.

In each of the film forming chambers 701, 702, and 703,
A heater 709 for heating the substrate, an exhaust pipe 711 for exhausting the film formation chamber by an exhaust means (not shown), a discharge electrode 712 for supplying energy to the film formation gas in the film formation chamber and supplying RF power for generating a discharge, Waveguide 713 for supplying microwave power and microwave introduction window 71 made of ceramics
In the film forming chambers 701 and 703, film deposition of an n-type or p-type layer by RF plasma CVD is performed.
In step 2, the i-type layer is deposited by microwave CVD. The gas gate 706 has a scavenging gas introduction pipe 7
A scavenging gas is introduced from 14 to prevent the film forming gas from being mixed in the adjacent film forming chamber. In the gas gate connecting the deposition chamber for depositing the i-type layer and the deposition chamber for depositing the n-type layer, and the gas gate connecting the deposition chamber for depositing the i-type layer and the deposition chamber for depositing the p-type layer, scavenging is performed. The gas introduction pipe 714 is provided closer to the film forming chamber where the n and p type layers are deposited than the center of each gas gate, and the distance ratio between the i type layer forming chamber and the n, p type layer forming chamber is, for example, 3: 1 is provided.

Reference numeral 715 denotes an exhaust pipe for exhausting the supply chamber 704 and the take-up chamber 705 of the belt-like substrate.
Is a supply chamber 7 for each of the film-forming chambers 701, 702, and 703.
This is a pressure gauge for measuring the pressure in the chamber 04 and the winding chamber 705.

FIG. 8 shows another example of the apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention. The apparatus shown in FIG. 8 is different from the apparatus shown in FIG. 7 in that the film deposition method for depositing the i-type layer in the film forming chamber is changed from microwave CVD to RF plasma CVD, and 801 to 812, 814 in the figure. To 816 correspond to 701 to 712 and 714 to 716 in FIG.

[0073]

The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1 Using the apparatus shown in FIG. 7, an n, i, p-type amorphous silicon film was continuously formed on a belt-like substrate by the method of the present invention by the following operation.

First, width 30 cm, length 50 m, thickness 0.
A 2 mm strip-shaped stainless steel substrate 707 was set so as to be unwound from the supply chamber 704, passed through three film forming chambers 701, 702, and 703, and wound up by the wind-up chamber 705. The height of the separation passages of the gas gates connecting the film forming chambers is all 2 mm, and the length of the separation passages is 40 c.
m, and the width of the separation passage was 31 cm.

Next, after the respective vacuum chambers are sufficiently evacuated by the respective exhaust pipes 711 and 715, a desired film forming gas is introduced into each film forming chamber from the gas introducing pipe 710 while continuously evacuating. While checking the pressure gauge 716, the exhaust amount was adjusted to adjust each film forming chamber to a predetermined pressure. Ar is used as a scavenging gas in the gas gate 706 at 500 sc each.
Each cm was introduced in half above and below the gas gate. The gas introduction pipe 714 has a distance ratio of 1: 3 in the gas gate connecting the film formation chamber for the i-type layer and the film formation chamber for the n-type or p-type layer.
The other gas gate is provided at the center of the gas gate at a position near the p-type layer deposition chamber.

At this time, the pressure in each chamber is 704, 701,
0.500 Torr for 702, 703 and 705 respectively
r, 0.500 Torr, 0.005 Torr, 0.5
00 Torr and 0.500 Torr.
There was a pressure difference between 1 and 702 and between the deposition chambers 702 and 703. When the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate connecting these film forming chambers with the scavenging gas introduced was measured by a pressure gauge 716 provided at the scavenging gas introduction position,
The pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position is 0.520 Torr between the film forming chambers 701 and 702 and between the film forming chambers 702 and 703.
And the pressure at the opening end of each film forming chamber is 0.500 Torr,
It was higher than 0.005 Torr, and it was confirmed that the pressure in the separation passage of the gas gate was maximum at the scavenging gas introduction position.

Heating is performed at a predetermined temperature from the back surface of the belt-shaped substrate 707 by the heater 709, and RF power is introduced from the discharge electrode 712 and microwave power is introduced from the waveguide 713 to generate plasma discharge in each film forming chamber. Then, the strip-shaped substrate was conveyed at a constant speed, and n, i, p-type amorphous silicon films were continuously formed on the strip-shaped substrate. Table 1 shows the manufacturing conditions in each film forming chamber.

[0079]

[Table 1]

The strip-shaped substrate on which the amorphous silicon film obtained by the above method was deposited was taken out from the roll-to-roll apparatus, cut into a size of 9 cm × 30 cm, placed in a single-chamber vacuum evaporation apparatus, and subjected to a vacuum evaporation method. An ITO transparent conductive film was laminated under the conditions shown in FIG. 2 to produce a photovoltaic element shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. 9, 901 is a base, 902 is an n-type layer, 903 is an i-type layer,
904, a p-type layer; and 905, an ITO transparent conductive film.

[0081]

[Table 2]

The obtained photovoltaic element exhibits a good photoelectric conversion efficiency equivalent to that of a photovoltaic element produced by a three-chamber separation type deposited film forming apparatus in which each deposition chamber is completely separated by a gate valve. Was. When the impurity distribution in the film thickness direction was measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), no P-atom of the n-layer and B-atom of the p-layer were found to be mixed into the i-layer. It was confirmed that the film forming gas in the matching film forming chamber was almost completely separated.

(Comparative Example 1) A film forming chamber for an i-type layer and n or P
An n, i, p-type amorphous silicon film was continuously formed on a strip-shaped substrate in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the introduction position of the scavenging gas introduced into the gas gate connecting the film forming chamber of the mold layer was at the center of the gas gate. To produce a photovoltaic element.
At this time, the pressure in each chamber is 704, 701, 702, 70
0.500 Torr and 0.500 respectively at 3,705
Torr, 0.005 Torr, 0.500 Torr,
0.500 Torr, and there was a pressure difference between the film formation chambers 701 and 702 and between the film formation chambers 702 and 703. With the scavenging gas introduced, the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate connecting these film formation chambers was measured by a pressure gauge 716 provided at the scavenging gas introduction position. Between 702 and 702 and 7
03 is 0.450 Torr, and n,
The pressure of the opening end of the p-type layer at the opening end on the side of the film forming chambers 701 and 703 is set to 0.
It was lower than 500 Torr.

When the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the obtained photovoltaic element was measured, only about 60% of the efficiency of Example 1 was obtained. Further, when the impurity distribution in the film thickness direction was measured by using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), it was confirmed that P atoms in the n-layer and B atoms in the P-layer were mixed in the i-layer.

Example 2 The scavenging gas was changed from Ar to H ₂ .
An n, i, and p-type amorphous silicon film was continuously formed on a belt-shaped substrate in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the scavenging gas introduction amount was set to 1000 sccm, to produce a photovoltaic element. At this time, the pressure in each chamber is 704, 701, 702,
0.500 Torr and 0.5 for 703 and 705 respectively
00 Torr, 0.005 Torr, 0.500 Torr
r, 0.500 Torr, and the film forming chambers 701 and 702
During the period, there was a pressure difference between the film forming chambers 702 and 703. With the scavenging gas being introduced, the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate connecting these film forming chambers was measured by a pressure gauge 716 provided at the scavenging gas introduction position, and the pressure at both the scavenging gas introduction position was 0.510 Torr. And
The pressure at the opening end of the n, P-type layer on the side of the film forming chambers 701 and 703 was higher than 0.500 Torr.

The obtained photovoltaic element shows a good photoelectric conversion efficiency equivalent to that of a photovoltaic element manufactured by a three-chamber separation type deposition film forming apparatus in which each film forming chamber is completely separated by a gate valve. The impurity distribution in the film thickness direction was determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry (S
IMS), P atoms and p atoms in the n-type layer were measured.
No B atoms in the mold layer were mixed into the i-type layer, and it was confirmed that the film formation gas in the adjacent film formation chamber was almost completely separated by the gas gate.

(Comparative Example 2) A film forming chamber for an i-type layer and n or p
An n, i, p-type amorphous silicon film was continuously formed on a strip-shaped substrate in the same manner as in Example 2 except that the introduction position of the scavenging gas introduced into the gas gate connecting the film forming chamber of the mold layer was at the center of the gas gate. The photovoltaic element was formed by forming. At this time, the pressure in each chamber is 704, 701, 702, 70
0.500 Torr and 0.500 respectively at 3 and 705
Torr, 0.005 Torr, 0.500 Torr,
0.500 Torr, and there was a pressure difference between the film formation chambers 701 and 702 and between the film formation chambers 702 and 703. With the scavenging gas being introduced, the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate connecting these film forming chambers was measured by a pressure gauge 716 provided at the scavenging gas introduction position, and the pressure at both the scavenging gas introduction position was 0.440 Torr. And n, p
0.5 of the pressure at the opening end on the side of the film forming chambers 701 and 703 of the mold layer
It was lower than 00 Torr.

When the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the obtained photovoltaic element was measured, only about 60% of the efficiency of Example 2 was obtained.

When the impurity distribution in the film thickness direction was measured by using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), it was found that P atoms of the n-type layer and B atoms of the p-type layer were mixed in the i-type layer. Was confirmed.

Example 3 Using the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, an amorphous silicon film of n, i, p-type layers was continuously formed on a strip-shaped substrate by the method of the present invention by the following operation.

First, width 30 cm, length 50 m, thickness 0.
A 2 mm strip-shaped stainless steel substrate 807 was set so as to be unwound from the supply chamber 804, passed through three film forming chambers 801 to 803, and wound up in the winding chamber 805. The heights of the separation passages of the gas gates connecting the film forming chambers were all 3 mm, the length of the separation passage was 40 cm, and the width of the separation passage was 31 cm.

Next, the vacuum chambers of the respective chambers are sufficiently evacuated by the respective exhaust pipes 811 and 815, and then the respective film forming gases are introduced from the gas introducing pipes 810 into the respective film forming chambers while continuously evacuating. While checking the total number 816, the amount of exhaust was adjusted to adjust each film forming chamber to a predetermined pressure. Gas gate 8
At 06, He was introduced as a scavenging gas by 500 sccm each half above and below the gas gate. The scavenging gas introduction pipe 814 is a gas gate connecting the film formation chamber for the i-type layer and the film formation chamber for the n-type or P-type layer, and is provided at a distance ratio of 1: 3 close to the film formation chamber for the n-type and P-type layers. , And other gas gates are provided at the center.

At this time, the pressure in each chamber is 804, 801,
0.750 Torr for 802, 803 and 805 respectively
r, 0.750 Torr, 0.300 Torr, 0.7
50 Torr and 0.750 Torr.
There was a pressure difference between 1 and 802 and between the deposition chambers 802 and 803. When the pressure in the separation passage in the gas gate connecting these film forming chambers with the scavenging gas introduced was measured by a pressure gauge 716 provided at the scavenging gas introduction position,
The pressure at the scavenging gas introduction position is 0.760 To between the film forming chambers 801 and 802 and between the film forming chambers 802 and 803.
rr and the pressure at the opening end of each film forming chamber is 0.750 Torr.
r, which was higher than 0.300 Torr, and it was confirmed that the pressure in the separation passage of the gas gate was maximum at the scavenging gas introduction position.

Heating is performed at a predetermined temperature from the back surface of the band-shaped substrate 807 by the heater 809, RF power is introduced from the discharge electrode 812 to generate plasma discharge in each film forming chamber, and the band-shaped substrate is conveyed at a constant speed. An n, i, p-type amorphous silicon film was continuously formed on the substrate. Table 3 shows the manufacturing conditions in each film forming chamber.

[0095]

[Table 3]

The strip-shaped substrate on which the amorphous silicon film obtained by the above method was deposited was taken out from the roll-to-roll apparatus, cut into a size of 9 cm × 30 cm, placed in a single-chamber vacuum evaporation apparatus, and subjected to a vacuum evaporation method. An ITO transparent conductive film was laminated under the conditions shown in FIG. 2 to produce a photovoltaic element shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG.

The obtained photovoltaic element has a good photoelectric conversion efficiency equivalent to that of a photovoltaic element manufactured by a three-chamber separation type deposited film forming apparatus in which each film forming chamber is completely separated by a gate valve. Was. When the impurity distribution in the film thickness direction was measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), no P-atom of the n-layer and B-atom of the p-layer were found to be mixed into the i-layer. It was confirmed that the film forming gas in the matching film forming chamber was almost completely separated.

[0098]

As described above, according to the method and apparatus for continuously forming a functional deposited film of the present invention, the pressure suitable for film formation can be increased without intermixing gases in adjacent film forming chambers. A plurality of different processes can be incorporated into a series of roll-to-roll processes, and it is possible to provide a method for continuously forming a functionally deposited film with high productivity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a gas gate in a method for continuously forming a functional deposition film according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a pressure distribution in a gas gate and a gas flow rate or a gas introduction position in a conventional continuous forming apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a pressure distribution in a gas gate and a gas flow rate or a gas introduction position.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a pressure distribution in a gas gate and a gas flow rate or a gas introduction position.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an apparatus for examining a relationship between a pressure distribution in a gas gate and gas separation performance.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between pressure distribution in a gas gate and gas separation performance.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a functional deposition film deposition apparatus for realizing a method for continuously forming a functional deposition film according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating another example of a functional deposition film deposition apparatus that realizes the method for continuously forming a functional deposition film according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a layer configuration of a photovoltaic element that can be manufactured by performing the method of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing a relationship between a scavenging gas introduction position of a gas gate and gas separation performance.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing a relationship between a pressure difference between film formation chambers connected to a gas gate and gas separation performance.

[Explanation of symbols]

101, 102 film formation chamber, 103 gas gate, 104 scavenging gas introduction pipe, 105 belt-shaped substrate, 501 high-pressure film deposition chamber, 502 low-pressure film deposition chamber, 503 gas gate, 504 belt-shaped substrate, 505 pressure gauge, 506 quadrupole mass spectrometer , 507 gas introduction pipe, 508 exhaust pipe, 701, 702, 703, 801, 802, 803 film formation chamber, 704, 804 belt-like substrate supply chamber, 705, 805 belt-like substrate winding chamber, 706, 806 gas gate, 707 , 807,901 strip-shaped substrate, 710, 714, 810, 814 gas introduction pipe, 711, 715, 811, 815 exhaust pipe, 709, 809 heating heater, 712, 812 RF discharge electrode, 713 microwave waveguide, 716, 816 Pressure gauge, 717 microwave introduction window, 901 substrate, 902 n-type layer, 9 03 i-type layer, 904 P-type layer, 905 ITO transparent conductive film.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Akira Sakai Canon Inc. 3- 30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masahiro Kanai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Takeshi Yoshino 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-4-192415 (JP, A) (58) Fields studied (Int.Cl. . ^7, DB name) H01L 21/205 H01L 31/04

Claims (13)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein the functional substrate is continuously moved in the longitudinal direction through a plurality of film forming chambers and a gas gate connecting the film forming chambers, and the functional deposition is performed on the band-shaped substrate in the plurality of film forming chambers. A method for forming a functional deposited film for depositing a film, wherein a scavenging gas introduction position is located in the plurality of film forming chambers.
The separation path of the gas gate connecting the high-pressure film formation chamber for forming a semiconductor having p or n-type conductivity and the low-pressure film formation chamber for forming a semiconductor having i-type conductivity from the center in the moving direction of the strip-shaped substrate. Wherein the scavenging gas is introduced into the high pressure film forming chamber. 2. A method for forming a deposited film in the film forming chamber, comprising:
F plasma CVD method or microwave plasma CVD
Method, or sputtering method, ion plating method, optical CVD method, or thermal CVD method, or
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is a MOCVD method, an MBE method, a vacuum evaporation method, or an electron evaporation method. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the functional deposition film is a photovoltaic element. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure film forming chamber and the low-pressure film forming chamber is 0.1 Torr or more and 1.1 Torr or less. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure deposition chamber and the low-deposition chamber is not less than 0.2 Torr and not more than 1.0 Torr. 6. A high-pressure film forming chamber having a distance ratio from a point at which a scavenging gas is introduced to a total length of a gas gate in a substrate transfer direction to a high pressure film forming chamber is 0.1 or more and 0.4 or less.
The method for forming a functional deposited film according to the above. 7. A plurality of film forming chambers, a gas gate having a slit-shaped separation passage connecting the plurality of film forming chambers, and a strip-shaped substrate continuously extending in the longitudinal direction through the plurality of film forming chambers and the gas gate. Transport means for moving, gas introduction means for introducing a scavenging gas into the gas gate, and deposition means for depositing each functional deposition film on the strip-shaped substrate in the plurality of film formation chambers, Film forming chamber has p-type or n-type conductivity.
A high-pressure film forming chamber for forming a conductor and a low-pressure film forming chamber for forming a semiconductor having i-type conductivity , wherein the introduction position of the scavenging gas is higher than the center of the separation passage of the gas gate. A functional deposition film deposition apparatus provided on the film chamber side. Wherein said definitive in deposition chamber deposited film forming apparatus RF
Plasma CVD method, microwave plasma CVD method, sputtering method, ion plating method, optical CVD method, thermal CVD method, or M
8. The functional deposition film deposition apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the deposition method is an OCVD method, an MBE method, a vacuum evaporation method, or an electron evaporation method. 9. A semiconductor wherein the low-resistance semiconductor having conductivity p or n-type, the functionality of claim 7, wherein the high-resistance semiconductor is a semiconductor having i-type conductivity Deposition film deposition equipment. 10. The functional deposition film deposition apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said functional deposition film is a photovoltaic element. 11. The functional deposition film deposition apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure film formation chamber and the low-pressure film formation chamber is 0.1 Torr or more and 1.1 Torr or less. 12. The functional deposition film deposition apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein a pressure difference between the high-pressure film formation chamber and the low-pressure film formation chamber is not less than 0.2 Torr and not more than 1.0 Torr. 13. The method of claim distance ratio from the standpoint of the scavenging gas introduced for gas gate full length of the substrate conveying direction to a high pressure deposition chamber, characterized in that 0.1 to 0.4 7
The functional deposition film deposition apparatus as described in the above.