JP4984211B2 - Sputtering apparatus and sputtering method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method for performing sputtering for forming an ITO film by a magnetron sputtering method in which a surface of a processing substrate on which a film is formed and a target plate face each other in parallel.

In recent years, progress toward an information society has been remarkable, and the use of display devices has been diversified, and various display devices have been developed and put into practical use.
In particular, liquid crystal display devices have been widely used in place of CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube, CRT).
In a liquid crystal panel for color display for a liquid crystal display device, light from a backlight is displayed through a colored layer of each color, but the light passing through the colored layer of each color is liquid crystal for each pixel. Are controlled on and off as switching elements.
A transparent conductive ITO film (indium oxide doped with tin) has been conventionally used as a material for a control electrode for on-off control using a liquid crystal as a switching element for each pixel.
As a method for forming an ITO film, a method of forming a desired ITO film by sputtering an ITO on a substrate under a predetermined sputtering condition using an ITO sintered body as a target plate is disclosed in JP-A-6-24826. (Patent Document 1), JP-A-6-247765 (Patent Document 2), and the like.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-24826 JP-A-6-247765

Impositional production is carried out from the viewpoint of productivity improvement and cost reduction, but there is a strong demand for enlargement of the transparent glass substrate used for this, and recently, the G6 generation (1800 mm x 1500 mm size) ) Mass production with large glass substrates is becoming a reality.
And, from the viewpoint of productivity, in-line deposition of the ITO film on the processing substrate using such a large-sized glass substrate is performed, as shown in FIG. An inline ITO sputter deposition apparatus has also been proposed.
In the sputtering apparatus shown here, as shown in FIG. 7B, a processing substrate 863 having a large glass substrate as a base substrate is mounted on a carrier 860 and placed in a vertical direction 892 in-line. Then, sputtering is performed while being conveyed, and an ITO film for electrodes is formed on one surface side of the processing substrate 763 by sputtering.
Briefly, the processing substrate 863 is put into the loading chamber 811, passed through the preliminary chamber 812, put into the first sputter chamber 883, sputtered while being transported, and carried into the rotation processing unit 820, where Each carrier is rotated 180 degrees by the rotating unit, the direction is changed, and the carrier is put into the second sputtering chamber 833 and sputtered while being conveyed.
Then, after sputtering, the material is unloaded through the preliminary chamber 832 and the unloading chamber 831.
Here, as shown in FIG. 7B, in a state where the processing substrate 863 is placed on a support member having a frame body 861 for holding the processing substrate 863, which is called a carrier (also referred to as a substrate holder) 860. The carrier 860 is conveyed in a standing state.
The carrier 860 includes a processing substrate holding portion 101 that holds the processing substrate 863 in order by fitting the processing substrate 863 and the back plate 861 into the frame 861, and the processing substrate 863 is arranged along the vertical direction 892. The carrier 860 is fitted into the processing substrate holding part 101 in a state where it stands upright.
Then, as shown in FIG. 7A, the processing substrate 863 is mounted on the carrier 860 together with the processing substrate holding unit 101, is transported in the horizontal direction 891, and stands in the vertical direction 892. Sputtering is performed parallel to the plate 871 and facing the plate 871.
In FIG. 7A, a dotted arrow indicates the carrier 860 conveyance direction.
Although not shown, the sputtering method here was generated by designing the magnetic field to be closed between the outer magnetic pole and the inner magnetic pole on the back side of the target plate 871 (the side opposite to the processing substrate 863 side). This is a magnetron sputtering method in which plasma exists only in the vicinity of the target plate 871.
An example of a large-size processing substrate is a color filter-formed substrate in which a colored layer of each color is formed as a color filter (hereinafter also referred to as CF) on one surface side of a large-size transparent glass substrate. An ITO film for electrodes is formed on the CF forming surface side of the substrate.

In the carrier 860 shown in FIG. 7B, a groove in which a driving force from a driving motor not shown (not on the carrier side) is transmitted by meshing with a gear (not shown) is cut. A forming portion 868 is provided at the lower portion thereof, and in order to suppress wear by the gears as much as possible, conveyance support rails 866 and 867 having flat portions on both sides in the traveling direction of the groove forming portion 868 of the carrier 860 and below, It is provided to support the load of the carrier, and the flat portions of the carrier support rails 866 and 868 are placed on a rotating body 869 such as a bobbin different from the gear on the main body side.
The carrier 860 is conveyed by receiving the driving force from the driving motor by the engagement of the gears at the groove forming portion 868 while being held by the conveying support rails 866 and 867 provided below the carrier 860.
In the G6 generation, since the combined weight of the processing substrate 863 to be sputtered and the carrier 860a is about 100 kg, wear inevitably occurs. Thus, the groove forming portion 868 and the gear 868A are fitted as much as possible. Less.
As a material of the carrier 860, Ti is preferably used from the viewpoint of weight and rigidity.
Sputtering is performed in an Ar gas atmosphere under a pressure of 10 ^{−3 to} 10 ⁻² torr using a plate-shaped ITO having a film composition to be formed as a target.
In this case, it is required to form the film at a low temperature from the viewpoint of heat resistance (degassing from CF) of the colored layer forming CF.
In addition, in such a magnetron sputtering method, for example, a sintered target material having a composition of In ₂ O ₃ , 90 w% + SnO ₂ , 10 w% is used in a low temperature sputtering with a thickness of 8 mm to 15 mm.
For example, as a target, a Cu plate is used as a backing material, indium solder is used as an adhesive layer, and joints are slanted to join a large number of sintered target materials.

In such a sputtering apparatus for forming an ITO film on a processing substrate, sputtering is performed with a target plate and a processing substrate based on a glass substrate to be sputtered facing each other in a standing state. In order to prevent the material scattered from the target plate from adhering to the backing plate holding the target plate, as shown in FIG. A form in which the dressing 350 is provided has been proposed.
When the deposit adheres to the backing plate, it is cooled, so that the peeling becomes more conspicuous than the other portions. Therefore, the anti-adhesive material 350 prevents this peeling.
However, even if the anti-adhesive material 350 is provided in this manner, the non-erosion portion of the target plate adheres to the non-erosion portion of the target plate, becomes thick, and the attached material peels off to the processing substrate. As a result, there is a problem that foreign matter defects and PH and other defects are generated on the processing substrate.

On the other hand, in the case of the magnetron sputtering method in which a plurality of magnets are arranged on the back surface side of the target plate 320 that is not the processing substrate surface side and are swung, the amount of the target plate dug by the sputtering processing is as shown in FIG. As shown, the sputtering action range in the target plate due to the swing of each magnet overlaps between adjacent magnets, but the amount of digging of the target plate in the overlapping region (hereinafter also referred to as “A region”) 321 is a non-overlapping region. An area 323 that is less than the target plate digging amount in 322 and that does not dig in the outer periphery of the erosion area of the target plate (hereinafter also referred to as B area) 323 is generated. It was a problem that could not be used. In this case, nodules are generated in the vicinity of the area where the outer periphery of the erosion area of the target plate is not dug (B area), which causes a problem in quality.
A nodule is a thin deposit of ITO itself to which the material scattered from the target plate adheres, and this causes abnormal discharge, which causes a scratch in film formation.

As described above, in recent years, progress toward the information society has been remarkable, and the use of display devices has been diversified. In particular, liquid crystal display devices have become widespread, improving productivity and reducing costs. Therefore, imposition production is performed, but there is a strong demand for larger processing based on the glass substrate used for this, and recently, a large transparent glass substrate of G6 generation (1800 mm × 1500 mm size). Mass production at has become a reality.
In such a situation, in the sputtering apparatus as shown in FIG. 7A, the target plate 871 and the processing substrate 863 face each other in an upright state and are sputtered while being conveyed. There is no one that can efficiently use the target plate in the sputtering process, and there is a demand for the countermeasure.
The present invention corresponds to this, the sputter apparatus that performs sputtering by the magnetron sputtering method, with the target substrate and the surface on the film forming side of the processing substrate facing each other in parallel, and generation of nodules can be eliminated. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sputtering apparatus that can uniformly excavate the entire surface of the erosion portion and, as a result, can efficiently use the target plate in the sputtering process.
At the same time, generation of nodules can be eliminated, and furthermore, the entire erosion portion can be dug uniformly in the sputtering process, and as a result, an attempt is made to provide a sputtering method that can efficiently use the target plate. Is.

A sputtering apparatus according to the present invention is a sputtering apparatus that performs sputtering for forming an ITO film by a magnetron sputtering method with a target substrate and a surface on a film forming side of a processing substrate facing each other in parallel. One or more magnets are arranged on the back surface side that is not the substrate surface side, and the one or more magnets are swung so that the entire processing substrate surface side of the target plate is an erosion portion, or the processing substrate surface side of the target plate is In addition, the peripheral portion facing in one direction of either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction is left as a non-erosion portion and the other is used as an erosion portion, and the peripheral portion on the processing substrate surface side of the target plate is an erosion portion. Close to the outer periphery, outside, the processing substrate surface side is a plane along the target plate surface, Both are disposed an auxiliary member to the ITO sintered surface portion of the substrate surface, and said auxiliary member is Ru der which is characterized in that a floating state electrically floating.
Then, in the above-described spatter apparatus, the target plate, along the backing plate surface and extending to the outer periphery of the erosion portion, and is characterized in that is provided with a thin portion.

Further, an upper SL any of the sputtering apparatus, the substrate, and mounted on a carrier, in-line, performs a sputtering process while conveying, sputtering deposition of ITO film electrode on one side of the substrate It is characterized by being a film.

  Here, a portion that greatly contributes to sputtering and is eroded is called an erosion region. In the case of a magnetron sputtering type sputtering device that confines plasma with magnetic flux using a magnet, the magnet is swung to increase the erosion area, but there is a restriction on the rocking of the magnet, and the target plate has a non-erosion area. It is normal.

The sputtering method of the present invention is a sputtering method in which sputtering is performed by depositing an ITO film by a magnetron sputtering method with the surface on the film-forming side of the processing substrate and the target plate facing each other in parallel. One or more magnets are arranged on the back surface side that is not the substrate surface side, the one or more magnets are swung so that the processing substrate surface side of the target plate is the only erosion portion, and the erosion portion of the target plate In the vicinity of the outer periphery of the substrate, on the outside, the processing substrate surface side is a flat surface along the target plate surface, and at least the auxiliary portion made of sintered ITO on the surface portion of the processing substrate surface side is disposed, it is intended to perform a sputtering process, and the auxiliary member is characterized in that a floating state electrically floating Ah .
Then, in the above-described spatter method, arranging a plurality of magnets for the swing, sputter working range in the target plate by swinging of the respective magnets overlaps sputter working range and a part by the magnet adjacent to this, An overlapping region in the target plate is provided, and over the entire erosion part, the amount of the target plate dug by sputtering in the overlapping region is the same as the amount of the target plate dug by sputtering in the non-overlapping region. The swing operation of each magnet is controlled, and the swing operation of each magnet is controlled by fixing the width and position of the swing range of each magnet. It is characterized by being controlled by changing the speed in motion. It is intended.
Alternatively, the swing operation of each magnet is controlled by changing the position of the swing range with the width of the swing range of each magnet and the speed of swinging being constant. Is.
Alternatively, the swing operation of each magnet is controlled by changing the width of the swing range of each magnet.
Further, in any one of the above sputtering methods, the processing substrate is mounted on a carrier and sputtered while being conveyed in-line, and an ITO film for electrodes is formed on one surface of the processing substrate by sputtering. It is what is characterized by.

(Function)
The sputter apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, so that the surface on which the processing substrate is formed and the target plate face each other in parallel, and sputtering is performed by magnetron sputtering. Thus, it is possible to provide a sputtering apparatus that can dug the outer periphery of the target plate as uniformly as the inside in the sputtering process.
Specifically, one or more magnets are disposed on the back surface side of the target plate that is not the processing substrate surface side, the one or more magnets are swung, and the entire processing substrate surface side of the target plate is used as an erosion portion, or The processing substrate surface side of the target plate is the erosion portion other than the opposite peripheral portion in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction as a non-erosion portion. Auxiliary, near the outer periphery where the peripheral portion of the side becomes an erosion portion, and outside, with the processing substrate surface side being a plane along the target plate surface, and at least the surface portion on the processing substrate surface side is made of sintered ITO member has disposed, and said by auxiliary member is in the floating state electrically floating, achieves this There.
That is, the entire processing substrate surface side of the target plate is set as an erosion portion, or the processing substrate surface side of the target plate is non-erosioned in a peripheral portion facing in either one of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Sputtering range in the target plate of the swinging range of the magnet reaches the auxiliary base so that the remaining part is an erosion part, and the magnet is swung. Close to the outer periphery where the peripheral part of the target plate on the processing substrate surface side becomes an erosion part, and outside, the processing substrate surface side is a plane along the target plate surface, and at least the surface part on the processing substrate surface side is sintered. By arranging the auxiliary member to be ITO, no nodules can be generated, One can writing digging the target plate outer peripheral portion toward the inside and comparable in sputtering process.
In the conventional sputtering process, the region (B region) 323 that has no excavation shown in FIG. 6B can be dug to the extent of the non-overlapping region 322 shown in FIG. 6B.
The auxiliary member is in an electrically floating state, so that the auxiliary member is hardly sputtered.
When the auxiliary member is grounded, the outer periphery of the target plate can be dug to the same extent as the inside in the sputtering process reliably, and in the case of a floating state in terms of efficient use of the target plate However, since it is sputtered, the frequency of replacement is increased as compared with the case of floating.
In order to eliminate the generation of nodules, it is effective to eliminate the non-erosion portion. However, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a conventional anti-adhesive material 350 provided around the target plate is provided. In the case of the target part, if the swinging width of the magnet is moved to eliminate the non-erosion part and the erosion part is made to the limit of the target plate, the stainless steel adhesion material 350 is sputtered.
For this reason, the anti-adhesive material 350 is floated instead of being electrically grounded to prevent spattering on the anti-adhesive material 350. However, since the prevention of spatter is still not complete, the present invention In this case, the auxiliary member is formed using the material that can be sputtered (the same material as the target).
And the said target plate is extended in the outer periphery of the erosion part, and is providing the thin part along the backing plate surface, By setting it as the form of invention of Claim 2, the erosion part of a target plate and at least its It is assumed that the sputtering effect on the backing plate from the boundary with the substrate made of sintered ITO on the surface side of the processing substrate surface can be almost eliminated.
Normally, the adhesion-preventing material (same as the auxiliary member) and the target plate do not overlap, but by providing the thin portion on the target plate, they overlap.

Also, the pre-Symbol substrate, mounted on the carrier, in-line, performs a sputtering process while conveying, the ITO film for electrode on one side of the substrate is to sputter deposition, according to claim 3 The present invention is particularly effective by adopting the form of the invention .

The sputtering method of the present invention provides a sputtering method that eliminates the generation of nodules and further allows the outer periphery of the target plate to be dug uniformly as much as the inside in the sputtering process by adopting such a configuration. It is possible.
Further, the entire erosion area of the target plate can be dug uniformly.

As described above, the present invention can eliminate the generation of nodules in the sputtering apparatus that performs sputtering by the magnetron sputtering method with the target substrate and the surface on the film forming side of the processing substrate facing each other in parallel. Has made it possible to provide a sputtering apparatus that can efficiently use the target plate in the sputtering process and can evenly dig into the entire surface of the erosion portion.
At the same time, nodule generation can be eliminated by sputtering using the magnetron sputtering method with the target substrate and the target substrate facing each other in parallel, and sputtering can be eliminated. As a result, it is possible to provide a sputtering method in which the entire surface of the portion can be dug uniformly and the target plate can be used efficiently.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing a surface of a target portion in an example of an embodiment of a sputtering apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along A1-A2 in FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of an unused target portion, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the target portion after use, and FIG. 3 is a state in which the target plate and the carrier face each other. 4 (a) to 4 (c) are diagrams showing the relationship between the position in the x direction and the moving speed, and FIG. 5 (a) is one of the embodiments of the sputtering apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 5B is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a carrier and a rotating roll for conveyance in an example, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a conveyance driving gear in addition to the carrier as seen from the B1 direction of FIG.
1A is a view as viewed from the A3 side in FIG. 1B. In FIG. 1, the x direction is the horizontal direction, and the direction of movement of the processing substrate is the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the target portion. In FIG. 1, the dotted double arrow indicates the swing of the magnet in the x direction.
In addition to the carrier, FIG. 5 shows a rotating roller and a gear.
1 to 5, 10 is a target part, 20 is a target plate, 20 a is a target plate after use, 21 is an erosion part, 21 a is an erosion part after use, 25 is a thin part, and 25 a is a thin part after use. , 30 is a backing plate, 31 is a backing plate surface, 40 is a target holding portion, 41 is a magnet, 50 is an auxiliary substrate, 100 is a carrier, 101 is a processing substrate holding portion, 110 is a frame, 120 is a back plate, 130 Is a processing substrate, 150 is a support part, 161 and 162 are positioning rotary rolls, 161a and 162a are shafts, 171 and 172 are conveyance support rails (also simply called support parts), 190 is a rotary roll (also called a rotating body), and 190a. Is a shaft, 200 is a groove forming portion, and 210 is a gear.

First, an example of an embodiment of a sputtering apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The sputtering apparatus of this example is in-line with a processing substrate 130 having a large transparent glass substrate of G6 generation size (1800 mm × 1500 mm size) or larger for a display panel as a base substrate mounted on a carrier. 7 is a magnetron sputtering type sputtering apparatus that performs sputtering processing while transporting and sputter-deposits an ITO film for electrodes on one surface side of the processing substrate, and has the same arrangement as the arrangement shown in FIG. It is.
During the sputtering process, the processing substrate 130 is mounted on the carrier 100 shown in FIG. 5A, and the surface of the processing substrate 130 on which the film is formed and the target plate 20 are parallel to each other as shown in FIG. Sputtering is performed while facing and carrying.
As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the carrier 100 includes a processing substrate holding unit 101 that holds the processing substrate 130 by fitting the processing substrate 130 and the back plate 120 into the frame 110 in order. In particular, in the sputtering apparatus of this example, as shown in FIG. 1B, a plurality of magnets 41 are arranged on the back surface side of the target plate 20 that is not the processing substrate surface side, and these are swung. Auxiliary substrate 21 having only the erosion portion 21 on the processing substrate surface side, and a sintered ITO at least the surface portion on the processing substrate surface side on the outer side of the target plate 20 along the outer periphery of the erosion portion 21. A substrate 50 is provided.
The processing substrate surface side of the auxiliary base material 50 is a flat surface along the target plate surface.
The target plate 20 is provided with a thin portion 25 extending along the outer surface of the erosion portion 21 along the surface 31 of the backing plate 30.
In this example, the auxiliary base material 50 is in an electrically floating state.
Here, a color filter forming substrate in which a colored layer of each color is formed as a color filter on one surface side of a G6 generation size transparent glass substrate is used as the processing substrate 130, and an ITO film is formed by sputtering on the color filter forming surface side. To do.

In this example, the sputter action range of the target plate 20 in the swing range of the magnet 41 reaches the auxiliary base material 50 so that the processing substrate surface side of the target plate 20 is only the erosion portion 21. The magnet is swung. In this case, the auxiliary member 50 is disposed on the outer side of the erosion portion 21 of the target plate in close proximity to the outer periphery.
In this way, no nodules can be generated, and the outer periphery of the target plate can be dug to the same extent as the inner side in the sputtering process.
That is, in the conventional sputtering process, the non-excavated region (B region) 323 shown in FIG. 6B can be excavated to the extent of the non-overlapping region 322 shown in FIG.

Further, in this example, the overlapping area on the target plate (corresponding to 321 in FIG. 6) where the sputtering action range on the target plate 20 due to the swing of each magnet 41 partially overlaps the sputtering action area on the magnet adjacent thereto. And the amount of digging of the target plate 20 by sputtering in the overlapping region is the same as the amount of digging of the target plate by sputtering in the non-overlapping region (corresponding to 322 in FIG. 6). As described above, the swinging motion of each magnet 41 is controlled.
For this reason, the entire area of the erosion portion 21 of the target plate 20 can be dug uniformly.
The swinging operation of each magnet is controlled by changing the speed of swinging while fixing the width and position of the swinging range of each magnet, and the width and swinging of the swinging range of each magnet. There are a system in which the speed is controlled to be constant and the position of the swing range is changed, and a control is performed by changing the width (also referred to as a stroke) of the swing range of each magnet.
As shown in FIG. 4A, when one magnet is moved at a predetermined fixed position, as shown in FIG. 6B, an overlapping area (A area) 311 and a non-overlapping area 322 are obtained. In the sputtering apparatus of this example, for example, FIG. 4 (c) shows a case where the digging is performed and the digging amount in the overlapping region (A region) 311 is smaller than the digging amount in the non-overlapping region 322. As shown in FIG. 2, the width and position of the swing range of the magnet are fixed and the swing speed (also referred to as speed) is changed for the one magnet.
In the case of the control shown in FIG. 4 (c), P31-P32-P33-P34-P35-P36-P is set as one swinging range, but the moving speeds in the P32-P33 section and P34-P35 section are made variable. In addition, it is larger than the speed in the P33-P34 section.
Further, the width of the swinging range is also made larger than the width of the swinging range shown in FIG.
Alternatively, for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the width of the swing range of the magnet and the speed in swinging are made constant, and control is performed by changing the position of the swing range.
In the case of the control shown in FIG. 4B, each of P11-P12-P13-P14 and P21-P22-P23-P24 is set as one swing range position.
Alternatively, although not shown, control is performed by changing the width of the swing range of each magnet.

FIG. 1A shows the target portion 10, and the target plate 20 has a square shape, and the entire processing substrate side is only the erosion portion 21, and the auxiliary base material 50 is provided along the outer periphery of the erosion portion 21. .
Here, the target plate 20 is used for the sputtering process while being held along the backing plate 30, and the processing substrate surface side thereof consists only of the erosion portion 21.
Further, in this example, as shown in FIG. 1B, a cross section taken along line A1-A2 in FIG. 1A is provided with a plurality of magnets 41 in a magnetron structure on the back side of the target plate 20 that is not on the sputtering process side. Sputtering is performed by magnetron sputtering.
In this example, a plurality of magnetron-structure magnets are integrated, and a plurality of magnets are oscillated within a predetermined range along the target plate surface in the short side direction of the target plate 20, that is, in the transport direction of the carrier 100. Here, the entire region on the processing substrate side of the target plate 20 is defined as the erosion portion 21 depending on the range of movement and the longitudinal size of the magnetron structure magnet.
In the magnetron structure, because electrons and ions continuously move along the magnetic circuit and do not accumulate locally on the circuit design, heat does not accumulate locally on the structure such as a magnet, In particular, there is no possibility of adversely affecting the film formation distribution, which is preferable.
The magnetron structure is described in the thin film handbook (edited by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and Thin Film No. 131 Committee, published by Ohm Co., Ltd., published on December 10, 1995, first edition, sixth edition, pages 186 to 188). As described, it has been widely used in sputtering and the like.
The arrangement of the magnets, that is, the structure provided by devising the magnetic field, makes it possible to restrain electrons on the surface of the structure, the frequency of ionization collisions is extremely high, and very large target (material) impact current density can be easily achieved. Obtainable.

Here, as the target plate 20, for example, a sintered target plate material having a composition of In ₂ O ₃ , 90 w% + SnO ₂ , 10 w% and having a thickness of 8 mm to 15 mm is used, but the size is increased. For this purpose, a Cu plate is used as a backing material, an indium solder is used as an adhesive layer, and a plurality of sintered target plate materials are joined together.
Here, the sputtering is performed in an Ar gas atmosphere under a pressure of 10 ^{−3 to} 10 ⁻² torr using a plate-shaped ITO having a film composition to be formed as a target plate.
In this case, the film is formed at a low temperature from the viewpoint of the heat resistance (degassing from CF) of the colored layer forming the CF.

The sputtering apparatus of this example performs the sputtering process while being transported in the same manner as the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG. 7, and the flow from the placement of each chamber and the loading and unloading of the processing substrate is basically shown in FIG. This is the same as the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG.
The carrier 100 in this example is the same as the carrier 860 shown in FIG.
The carrier 100 is also transported basically in the same manner as the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG. 7, and a groove forming section that cuts a groove that transmits the driving force from the driving motor 210 by meshing with a gear (not shown). 200 is provided in the lower part of the carrier, and in order to suppress wear due to gears as much as possible, conveyance support rails 171 and 172 having flat portions on both sides and below the groove forming part 200 of the carrier 100 are provided. Provided to support the load of the carrier, the flat portions of the carrier support rails 171 and 172 are placed on a rotating body 190 such as a bobbin different from the gear on the main body side.
In this example, a plurality of such rotating bodies 190 and gears 210 are arranged along the conveyance path for conveyance.

In the sputtering apparatus of this example, simply, the processing substrate 130 (corresponding to 863 in FIG. 7) is put into a loading chamber (corresponding to 811 in FIG. 7), and a spare chamber (corresponding to 812 in FIG. 7) is provided. Then, it is put into the first sputter chamber (corresponding to 813 in FIG. 7), sputtered while being transported, and carried into the rotation processing part (corresponding to 820 in FIG. 7). The direction is changed, the direction is changed, the second sputtering chamber (corresponding to 833 in FIG. 7) is placed, and sputtering is performed while being conveyed.
Then, after sputtering, it is unloaded through a preliminary chamber (corresponding to 832 in FIG. 7) and an unloading chamber (corresponding to 831 in FIG. 7).
In addition, there is a mechanical partition at the boundary of each chamber, and the opening of each partition is performed with the same degree of vacuum in the chambers on both sides.
Moreover, about the material of frame 110 other than the process board | substrate holding | maintenance part 101, rigidity, big, strong, and a light thing are preferable, and Ti and stainless steel are mentioned.

As described above, in the target unit 10 shown in FIG. 1, the target plate 20 is used for the sputtering process while being held along the backing plate 30. The thin-walled portion 25 is provided so as to extend along the plate surface 31 side, and the processing substrate surface side of the target plate 20 is only the erosion portion 21, but this is only the erosion portion 21 shown in FIG. The thin plate portion 25 is integrally added to the target plate as the region.
The target plate 20 and the auxiliary base material 50 must be electrically separated from each other, and there is a gap between the target plate 20 and the auxiliary base material 50 shown in FIG. The backing plate 30 is sputtered. However, in the target portion 10 shown in FIG. 1 of this example, the target plate 20 is provided with the thin portion 25, so that the backing plate 30 can be prevented from being sputtered.
In addition, the shape of the thin part 25 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG.1 (b).

The sputtering apparatus of this example is one example, and the present invention is not limited to this.
An example in which the structure of the target portion of this example shown in FIG. 1 is applied to another type of magnetron type sputtering apparatus, for example, an apparatus that performs sputtering without carrying is included.
Instead of the target portion of this example, the processing substrate surface side of the target plate is configured such that the peripheral portion facing in either one of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction is left as a non-erosion portion, and the rest is used as an erosion portion. There are also things.
In this example, the magnets are swung over the entire erosion portion so that the amount of the target plate dug by sputtering in the overlapping region is the same as the amount of the target plate dug by sputtering in the non-overlapping region. Although the dynamic operation is controlled, in this example, there is a mode in which such control is not performed.
In the case of this form, it is inferior in the efficiency utilization of a target plate compared with this example .
In addition, the sputtering may be performed in a state in which the processing substrate 130 and the target plate 20 are tilted from the vertical direction, or in a horizontal state and facing each other in parallel.
Of course, it is good also as a form which provided the structure arrangement | positioning of each part shown in FIG. 7 linearly.

FIG. 1A is a schematic view showing a surface of a target portion in an example of an embodiment of a sputtering apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along A1-A2 in FIG. . 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of an unused target portion, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the target portion after use. It is sectional drawing which showed the opposing state of the target plate and the carrier. 4A to 4C are diagrams showing the relationship between the position in the x direction and the moving speed. FIG. 5A is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a carrier and a rotating roll for conveyance in one example of the embodiment of the sputtering apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is seen from the B1 direction of FIG. 5A. FIG. 5 is a view showing a gear for driving the carrier in addition to the carrier. FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional magnetron sputtering target, and FIG. 6B is an enlarged view of a part of the target for explaining the target plate after use. is there. FIG. 7A is a schematic configuration layout diagram of an in-line type ITO sputter deposition apparatus, and FIG. 7B is a diagram showing a carrier used in the ITO sputter deposition apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Target part 20 Target plate 20a Target plate 21 after use Erosion part 21a Erosion part 25 after use Thin part 25a Thin part 30 after use 30 Backing plate 31 Backing plate surface 40 Target holding part 41 Magnet 50 Auxiliary base material 100 Carrier 101 Processing substrate holding unit 110 Frame body 120 Back plate 130 Processing substrate 150 Supporting units 161 and 162 Positioning rotary rolls 161a and 162a Shafts 171 and 172 Conveying support rails (also simply referred to as support units)
190 Rotating roll (also called rotating body)
190a Shaft 200 Groove forming portion 210 Gear 310 Target portion 320 Target plate 320A Target plate 321 after use Overlapping region (also referred to as region A)
322 Non-overlapping area 323 Area without digging (also referred to as B area)
330 Backing plate 340 Target holding part 341 Magnet 350 Adhering material 811 Loading chamber 812 Preliminary chamber 813 Sputtering chamber 820 Rotating processing part 821 Rotating part 831 Unloading chamber 832 Preliminary chamber 833 Sputtering chamber 841 to 843 Chamber partition 841a to 843a Chamber partition 860 , 860a Carrier 860A Processing substrate holding part 861 Frame body 862 Back plate (also called pressing plate)
863 Processing substrate 864 Support portion 865 Positioning rotation rollers 865a, 865b Shafts 866, 867 Conveyance support rail (also simply referred to as support portion)
868 Groove forming portion 868A Gear 869 Rotating roller (also referred to as rotating portion)
869a Shaft 871 Target plate 891 Horizontal direction 892 Vertical direction

Claims (9)

  A sputtering apparatus for performing sputtering for forming an ITO film by a magnetron sputtering method with a surface on which a processing substrate is to be formed and a target plate facing each other in parallel, on the back surface side of the target plate that is not on the processing substrate surface side One or more magnets are arranged, and the one or more magnets are swung so that the entire processing substrate surface side of the target plate is an erosion portion, or the processing substrate surface side of the target plate is in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. In any one of the above, the peripheral part facing in one direction is left as a non-erosion part and the other part is an erosion part. On the outside, the processing substrate surface side is a plane along the target plate surface, and at least the processing substrate surface side Surface is disposed an auxiliary member to be sintered ITO with and said auxiliary member is a sputtering apparatus, characterized in that the floating state electrically floating.   2. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target plate is provided with a thin portion extending along an outer periphery of an erosion portion and along a backing plate surface. 3. 3. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing substrate is mounted on a carrier and sputtered while being conveyed in-line, and an electrode is provided on one side of the processing substrate. spatter and wherein the the ITO film is to sputter deposition.   A sputtering method in which sputtering is performed by depositing an ITO film by a magnetron sputtering method with a surface on the side of the processing substrate on which the film is formed and a target plate facing each other. One or more magnets are arranged, the one or more magnets are swung so that the processing substrate surface side of the target plate is only an erosion part, and close to the outer periphery of the erosion part of the target plate In addition, an auxiliary member made of ITO, which is made by sintering at least the surface portion of the processing substrate surface side, is disposed on the outside so that the processing substrate surface side is a plane along the target plate surface, and the sputtering process is performed. The sputtering method is characterized in that the auxiliary member is in an electrically floating state.   5. The sputtering method according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of swinging magnets are arranged, and a sputtering action range on the target plate due to the swinging of each magnet partially overlaps with a sputtering action range by an adjacent magnet. In addition, an overlap region in the target plate is provided, and over the entire erosion portion, the amount of digging of the target plate by sputtering in the overlap region is the same as the amount of digging of the target plate by sputtering in the non-overlapping region. A sputtering method characterized in that the swinging operation of each magnet is controlled.   6. The sputtering method according to claim 5, wherein the swing operation of each magnet is controlled by changing the speed of swing while fixing the width and position of the swing range of each magnet. There is provided a sputtering method.   6. The sputtering method according to claim 5, wherein the swing operation of each magnet is controlled by making the width of the swing range and the speed of swing of each magnet constant and changing the position of the swing range. A sputtering method characterized by being controlled.   6. The sputtering method according to claim 5, wherein the swing operation of each magnet is controlled by changing the width of the swing range of each magnet. The sputtering method according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein the processing substrate is mounted on a carrier and sputtered while being conveyed in-line, and the electrode is disposed on one surface side of the processing substrate. A sputtering method characterized by sputtering the ITO film.

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