JP5153410B2 - Lens film forming method, vapor deposition apparatus, and lens manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lens manufacturing system in which a processing apparatus is controlled by a computer, and more particularly to a manufacturing system for depositing a thin film on a lens.

  In the manufacture of spectacle lenses, there are those to which a multilayer coating technique is applied in which a plurality of thin films are formed on a lens, and optical characteristics such as antireflection and functions such as water repellency are imparted. In particular, the formation of an antireflection film on an optical member such as a plastic lens is performed using a vacuum evaporation apparatus when the antireflection film is a multilayer vapor deposition film made of an inorganic oxide. In the case where a water repellent film is formed on the antireflection film by vapor deposition, a vacuum deposition apparatus is known in which the formation of the antireflection film and the water repellent film is continuously performed (for example, Patent Document 1).

In the above-described vapor deposition apparatus, before starting the vapor deposition treatment of the antireflection film, etc., the vacuum pump is operated to start depressurization of the vapor deposition chamber, and when the predetermined degree of vacuum is reached, the vapor deposition material installed in the vapor deposition chamber is heated. After the gas out process to vaporize and remove excess components such as impurities, start the ion gun while supplying ionized gas (inert gas, oxygen, etc.) to the ion gun installed in the deposition chamber ( An ion gun pretreatment (hereinafter also referred to as ion beam pretreatment) is performed in which energization is started and irradiation is performed to supply the generated ion beam to the lens. After these gas out treatment and ion gun pretreatment were completed, the vapor deposition material was vaporized, and vapor deposition was performed while irradiating with an ion beam.
JP 2006-70291 A

  However, in the above conventional example, the lens surface is irradiated with an ion beam in order to improve the durability of the film formed on the lens (film adhesion, etc.), which discharges unnecessary components of the deposition material. Since the ion gun pretreatment (ion beam pretreatment) was sequentially performed, there was a problem that the cycle time from the introduction of the lens into the processing apparatus to the next introduction became long.

That is, in the conventional gas outgassing process, the process is executed while monitoring the degree of vacuum in the vapor deposition apparatus, and when the degree of vacuum (pressure in the vapor deposition chamber) is reduced below a predetermined value, heating of the vapor deposition material is started. To do. Then, the start of vaporization of the heated vapor deposition material is determined based on the fact that the degree of vacuum has decreased, and if the degree of vacuum does not decrease even after heating for a predetermined time, the vapor deposition material is not set. It was determined that there was a problem such as, and the processing was interrupted. Note that the decrease in the degree of vacuum in the deposition chamber is an increase in the pressure in the deposition chamber, and the improvement (increase) in the degree of vacuum in the deposition chamber is a decrease (decrease) in the pressure in the deposition chamber. (Hereinafter, the degree of vacuum in the vapor deposition chamber is also simply referred to as “atmospheric pressure”.)
In addition, in the ion gun pretreatment of the conventional example, the process is performed while monitoring the atmospheric pressure in the vapor deposition apparatus, and the supply of the ionized gas to the ion gun starts after the atmospheric pressure falls below a predetermined value. After the flow rate of the ionized gas reaches a predetermined value, the ion gun shutter is opened and the ion gun is activated (energization is started). After activation of the ion gun, if the atmospheric pressure rises above a predetermined value, the ion gun or the like may be damaged. Therefore, the atmospheric pressure is monitored to control the energization of the ion gun.

  If an attempt is made to shorten the cycle time by simply executing the gas out process and the ion gun pre-process in the above-described conventional example in parallel, the ion gun is completed before the gas out process is completed. In some cases, the pretreatment may be completed, and the durability of the film formed on the lens decreases.

  Furthermore, when the gas out treatment and the ion gun pretreatment in the above-mentioned conventional example are performed in parallel to shorten the cycle time required for the pre-deposition process of the vapor deposition treatment, an increase in the atmospheric pressure due to vaporization of the vapor deposition material and the gas from the ion gun are performed. There was a problem that it was difficult to identify the cause of the increase in atmospheric pressure due to the increase in atmospheric pressure due to the release.

  Furthermore, the increase in pressure due to vaporization of the vapor deposition material during the gas out process is important information for determining whether the vapor deposition material is normally heated, and as described above, the increase in pressure due to vaporization of the vapor deposition material. When the increase in pressure due to gas discharge from the ion gun is superimposed, there has been a problem that it is difficult to grasp the timing and degree of increase in pressure due to vaporization of the deposition material.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve the productivity of a lens by shortening the time of a pretreatment process for performing a vapor deposition process on the lens.

The present invention is a lens film forming method for generating a film by vaporizing a vapor deposition raw material on the surface of a lens held in the vapor deposition chamber and depositing the vapor deposition raw material, the heating chamber for heating the vapor deposition raw material in the vapor deposition chamber. And an ion source unit for generating an ion beam to irradiate the lens, and before starting the vapor deposition, the vapor deposition raw material is heated by the heating unit to vaporize unnecessary components to be discharged. An ion beam pretreatment step of supplying an ionized gas to the ion source unit, generating an ion beam from the supplied ionized gas and irradiating the lens surface, and the gas outflow step includes: It consists of a preheating process for heating and melting the vapor deposition raw material, and a main heating process for heating and vaporizing the vapor deposition raw material melted by this preheating process under heating conditions different from the preheating. The main heating step includes a pressure increase confirmation step of starting heating under a heating condition different from the preliminary heating and confirming a pressure increase in the vapor deposition chamber, and the ion beam pretreatment step is ionized to the ion source section. A gas introduction step of starting gas supply and continuing supply at a predetermined flow rate; and an ion beam irradiation step of generating an ion beam from an ionized gas supplied at a predetermined flow rate and irradiating the lens surface, A gas extraction step and the ion beam pretreatment step are performed in parallel, and a time point at which the ion beam pretreatment step is completed is set after a time point at which the gas extraction step is completed, and the main heating step and the The ion beam irradiation process has a period in which the ion beam irradiation process is performed at the same time, and the completion time of the ion beam irradiation process is set after the completion time of the main heating process. And, based on the time of confirming the increased pressure by the pressure rising check step, upon completion of the present heat treatment is determined.

  According to the present invention, the gas out treatment of the deposition material and the ion beam pretreatment are performed simultaneously, and the completion point of the ion beam pretreatment is set after the completion point of the gas out treatment. The lens can be prevented from being soiled by irradiation with an ion beam. This makes it possible to ensure the durability of the film formed on the lens while improving productivity.

  Furthermore, by setting the pressure rise due to the gas out treatment after the pressure rise due to the ionized gas introduction treatment (hereinafter also simply referred to as the gas introduction treatment), the pressure rise due to the gas introduction treatment and the deposition raw material in the gas out treatment It is possible to distinguish the increase in atmospheric pressure due to the generation of unnecessary gas, and even when performing the gas extraction process and the ion beam pretreatment at the same time, the cause of the decrease in atmospheric pressure can be easily identified. Accuracy can be ensured.

Furthermore, by setting so that the pressure increase due to the gas discharge process occurs after the pressure increase due to the gas introduction process, or to set the pressure increase due to the gas introduction process after the pressure increase due to the gas discharge process, The time and degree of vaporization can be ascertained, and even if gas outgassing and ion beam pretreatment are performed at the same time, it can be confirmed whether or not the evaporation material is heated normally. As a result, the accuracy of the control can be ensured. In addition, the ion beam irradiation process for irradiating the ion beam and the main heating process have a period that is performed at the same time, and the ion beam irradiation process is completed at least until the main heating process is completed. It is possible to prevent contamination with unnecessary gas, stabilize the film formed on the lens, and improve the durability of the thin film.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 that continuously forms a thin film such as an antireflection film or a water repellent coating on a plastic lens for spectacles. This continuous vacuum deposition apparatus 1 is a device for continuously forming an antireflection film, a water-repellent film, etc. by depositing a deposited lens in a vacuum deposition chamber on a molded eyeglass lens (hereinafter simply referred to as a lens). It is.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an outline of a continuous vacuum deposition apparatus 1. The continuous vacuum deposition apparatus 1 includes a preheating chamber 100 that heats the lens 20, a first deposition chamber 200 that forms an antireflection film on the lens 20, and a water repellent film that is formed on the lens 20 on which the antireflection film is formed. A second vapor deposition chamber 300 is provided. Moreover, the preheating chamber 100, the 1st vapor deposition chamber 200, and the 2nd vapor deposition chamber 300 are each arrange | positioned the vacuum apparatus which is not shown in figure so that it may become the vacuum of predetermined | prescribed atmospheric pressure.

  An outline of processing of the lens 20 in the continuous vacuum deposition apparatus 1 will be described.

  First, a plurality of lenses 20 are arranged on the disc-shaped coat dome 2 to constitute one lot. The coat dome 2 is placed on the support base 101 supported on the open / close base 103 of the preheating chamber 100. The support base 101 is raised to move the coat dome 2 from the bottom of the preheating chamber 100 to the preheating chamber 100. When the raising of the support base 101 is completed, the bottom of the preheating chamber 100 is sealed with the open / close base 103 that supports the lower part of the support base 101. The upper part of the coat dome 2 is supported by a conveying means 500 (not shown) provided on the support base 101 of the continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 and moves from the preheating chamber 100 to the second vapor deposition chamber 300 through the first vapor deposition chamber 200. It is possible. Further, the coat dome 2 supported by the conveying means 500 can be rotated by an actuator (not shown).

  In the preheating chamber 100, the lens 20 of the coat dome 2 is preheated by a heater (such as a halogen heater) 102 driven by the control device 12. When the preheating is completed, the control device 12 drives the transport unit 500 to move the coat dome 2 to the first vapor deposition chamber 200.

  In the first vapor deposition chamber 200, a plurality of vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are heated by electron guns 30 and 31 as heating sources, and the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are evaporated (vaporized) to cause the lens 20 to have a predetermined antireflection film or the like. A film is formed. Furthermore, the first vapor deposition chamber 200 includes an ion gun 14 as an ion source that irradiates the lens with an ion beam in order to improve the strength and adhesion of the film formed on the lens 20. The driving of the electron guns 30 and 31 and the selection of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 are controlled by the control device 12. The first vapor deposition chamber 200 is provided with an optical film thickness meter 10 for monitoring the formation state of the thin film, and the monitoring result is sent to the control device 12 to control the electron guns 30 and 31. In the case where there is only one evaporation material, either the electron gun 30 or 31 may be operated. Further, the ion gun 14 irradiates the lens 20 with an ion beam in the pretreatment of the ion gun, thereby improving the peel strength (or film adhesion) of the film formed on the lens 20 and improving the durability of the film. Improve.

  When the formation of the antireflection film is completed, the control device 12 drives the transport unit 500 to move the coat dome 2 to the second vapor deposition chamber 300.

  In the second vapor deposition chamber 300, a support base 301 that supports the coat dome 2 is movably disposed on an openable / closable base 303. The coat dome 2 that has moved from the first vapor deposition chamber 200 moves to the second vapor deposition chamber 300 by the transport means 500.

  A heater (such as a halogen heater) 302 that is controlled by the control device 12 and a vapor deposition material 340 that is heated by the heater 302 are disposed on the open / close base 303. A water repellent film is formed on the lens 20 disposed in the coat dome 2. Form.

  When the formation of the water repellent film on the lens 20 is completed, the open / close base 303 supporting the lower portion of the support base 301 is lowered in a state where the coat dome 2 is supported by the support base 301, and the processing of all processes is completed. Thereafter, the coat dome 2 moves from the support base 301, and the lens 20 on the coat dome 2 is carried to the next process.

  In the above description, the antireflection film is formed in the first vapor deposition chamber 200 and the water-repellent film is formed in the second vapor deposition chamber 300. However, any thin film can be vapor deposited by changing the vapor deposition raw materials 41, 42, and 340. it can. In the first vapor deposition chamber 200, not only the two vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 are vaporized simultaneously, but only one of the electron guns 30 and 31 may be operated to perform vapor deposition using one vapor deposition material. Further, in this example, an opening / closing mechanism for taking out the coat dome 2 is provided in the second vapor deposition chamber, but a vacuum chamber equipped with an opening / closing mechanism is further provided in the second vapor deposition chamber without providing the opening / closing mechanism, 2 After moving the coat dome 2 from the vapor deposition chamber to the vacuum chamber, the coat dome 2 may be taken out from the vacuum chamber. Moreover, although this example is a case where the vapor deposition chambers arrange | positioned continuously are two, three or more may be sufficient.

  Next, FIG. 2 shows a first vapor deposition chamber 200 and a control device 12 as a first film formation chamber.

  In the first vapor deposition chamber 200, the coat dome 2 that has moved from the preheating chamber 100 is positioned at an upper portion in the first vapor deposition chamber 200, which is a predetermined position, by the conveying means 500 provided on the support base.

  An optical film thickness meter 10 for detecting a thin film formation state is installed at a predetermined position above the first vapor deposition chamber 200, and the monitor glass 51 constituting the optical film thickness meter 10 is arranged in the first vapor deposition chamber 200. It is possible to receive the vapor of the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 by being arranged at a predetermined position.

  In the lower part of the first vapor deposition chamber 200, a hearth part 400 having a container 40 composed of a crucible or a hearth for housing vapor deposition raw materials (film forming materials) 41, 42, and an electron beam to the vapor deposition raw materials 41, 42 of the container To improve the strength and film quality (such as denseness) of the deposited thin film, and the shutter 5 that selectively blocks the vapor of the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42. An ion gun 14 that generates and emits an ion beam from a gas (inert gas, oxygen, etc.), a gas supply device (gas unit) 15 that supplies an ionized gas to the ion gun 14, and a gas supply device 15 that supplies the ion gun 14 A flow meter 150 or the like for measuring the flow rate of the ionized gas is provided. The ion gun 14 is provided with a shutter (ion gun shutter) 141 for protecting the main body of the ion gun 14, and an ion beam can be irradiated when the shutter 141 is opened.

  The shutter 5 and the shutter 141 are provided with actuators (not shown) and are controlled by the control device 12 described later. Further, the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 are different kinds of materials, for example, the vapor deposition material 41 is a low refractive index material, and the vapor deposition material 42 is a high refractive index material.

  In the vicinity of the upper coat dome 2, a substrate thermometer 6 is provided for measuring the temperature of the lens 20 as a film formation object held by the coat dome 2, and the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition chamber 200 is further provided. A vacuum gauge 7 for measuring (degree of vacuum) and a vacuum device 8 for reducing the pressure in the first vapor deposition chamber 200 are provided. Further, a heater 9 for heating the lens 20 held on the coat dome 2 is provided. The heater 9 is composed of a halogen heater or the like.

  Further, an optical film thickness meter 10 that measures the reflectance of the monitor glass 51 set at a predetermined position of the coat dome 2 is provided above the first vapor deposition chamber 200. The optical film thickness meter 10 is connected to the control device 12 via the film thickness monitor 11, and the optical film thickness meter 10 outputs the ratio of the reflected light amount to the irradiated light amount as light amount data (light amount value). Is done. The configurations of the optical film thickness meter 10 and the film thickness monitor 11 are the same as the configurations of JP 2001-115260 A and JP 2003-202404 A.

  The control device 12 includes a sequencer unit and a computer including a CPU (processor) that sends a command to the sequencer unit, a memory, a disk device, and the like. As will be described later, the control device 12 includes the preheating chamber 100, the first Control of each device in the vapor deposition chamber 200 and the second vapor deposition chamber 300 is performed as described later.

  The control device 12 is connected to an input unit 12a including a keyboard and a mouse for sending commands to each device, and the above-described electron guns 30, 31, shutter 5, vacuum device 8, heater 9, ion gun 14, Control objects such as a shutter 141 and a gas supply device 15 are connected to sensors such as a substrate thermometer 6, vacuum gauge 7, optical film thickness meter 10 (film thickness monitor 11), and flow meter 150. Controls the control object based on input information from each sensor. Further, the control device 12 includes a heater 102 in the preheating chamber 100, a heater 302 in the second vapor deposition chamber 300, a transfer means 500 that connects the preheating chamber 100 through the first vapor deposition chamber 200 to the second vapor deposition chamber 300, the preheating chamber 100, and Elevating devices (not shown) of the open / close bases 103 and 303 of the second vapor deposition chamber 300 are connected to each other. Further, the control device 12 includes a display device (not shown) for displaying the operation state of each vapor deposition device.

  The control device 12 controls the vacuum device 8, the electron guns 30 and 31, and the ion gun 14 based on the information of the vacuum gauge 7 to make the inside of the first vapor deposition chamber 200 a vacuum at a predetermined atmospheric pressure. Further, the control device 12 controls the heater 9 based on the information of the substrate thermometer 6 to bring the lens 20 as the film formation body to a predetermined temperature. Then, the control device 12 stores the light quantity value every time depending on the optical film thickness of the thin film formed on the monitor glass 51 of the optical film thickness meter 10 in the reference light quantity value data storage means. In some cases, power (current and / or voltage) applied to the electron guns 30 and 31 is controlled so as to be equal to a certain value. Further, depending on the type of thin film to be formed and the type of vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 to be vaporized, the ion gun 14 is supplied with ionized gas and irradiated with an ion beam.

  Here, the coat dome 2 is a holding unit that holds the lens 20 such that an antireflection film or the like is deposited on the lens 20. And it is circular so that the several lens 20 can vapor-deposit simultaneously, and the coat dome 2 has a predetermined curvature. The coat dome 2 can be rotated by an actuator (not shown), and is mainly rotated in order to reduce variation in the distribution of evaporated substances that are heated and scattered in the vapor deposition chamber.

  The electron guns 30 and 31 evaporate the vapor deposition raw materials (substances) 41 and 42 accommodated in the container by heating them to the melting temperature of the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42, and deposit them on the lens 20 and the monitor glass 51. ) Is deposited and deposited to form a thin film.

  The container 40 is a water-cooled crucible or hearth liner used to hold the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42.

  The shutter 5 is controlled so as to open when the deposition is started or closed when the deposition is completed, and facilitates control of the thin film. The heater 9 is a heating unit that heats the lens 20 to an appropriate temperature in order to obtain physical properties such as adhesion of a thin film deposited on the lens 20.

  The optical film thickness meter 10 utilizes a phenomenon in which when a transparent substrate having a transparent thin film formed thereon is irradiated with light, the reflected light from the surface of the thin film and the reflected light from the surface of the transparent substrate interfere with each other due to the phase difference between the two. It is a thing. That is, the phase difference changes depending on the refractive index and optical thickness of the thin film, the state of interference changes, and the amount of reflected light changes depending on the refractive index and optical thickness of the thin film. If the reflected light changes, the transmitted light also inevitably changes. Therefore, the same can be done by measuring the amount of the transmitted light, but the case where the reflected light is used will be described below.

  The optical film thickness meter 10 irradiates light of a predetermined wavelength onto the monitor glass 51 held substantially at the center of the coat dome 2 and measures the reflected light. Since the thin film formed on the monitor glass 51 can be considered to be subordinate to the thin film formed on each lens 20, it is possible to obtain information capable of estimating (reproducing) the thin film formed on each lens 20. it can. About the measurement of the film thickness formed in the monitor glass 51, it is the same as that of Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-202404 etc., Based on the number of the peaks of the light quantity which the light reception sensor detected, the increase in film thickness (progress of film formation) ) Can be detected.

  Next, the hearth part 400 for selecting the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the first vapor deposition chamber 200, in order to be able to form thin films having different specifications, a plurality of types of vapor deposition raw materials can be selected in the hearth part 400 that sets the vapor deposition raw materials at the irradiation positions of the electron guns 30 and 31.

  That is, a plurality of containers 40 that store the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 are arranged in a disk-shaped holder 411. The holder 411 is configured to be rotatable and is driven by a hearth actuator 410 such as a motor. The hearth actuator 410 is driven by the control device 12, and each container 40 contains preset deposition raw materials 41 and 42. The control device 12 has the container 40 containing the deposition raw materials 41 and 42 corresponding to the lot as an electron. The hearth actuator 410 is driven so that the irradiation position of the guns 30 and 31 is reached. In this way, it is possible to automatically select any vapor deposition raw material 41, 42 according to the specification (type) of the thin film to be formed.

  Next, the configuration of software executed by the control device 12 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control device 12 includes a computer, and a multitask OS 121 is executed on the computer 12, and the preheating chamber 100, the first vapor deposition chamber 200, and the second vapor deposition chamber 300 are continuously controlled on the OS 121. A program for performing the vapor deposition process 600 is executed. Here, the OS 121 is a preemptive multitask OS.

  In the continuous deposition process 600, a preheating chamber process 610 that controls the heater 102 in the preheating chamber 100, a first deposition chamber process 620 that controls each device in the first deposition chamber 200, and a heater 302 in the second deposition chamber 300. The second deposition chamber process 630 for controlling the process and the process (not shown) for controlling the transfer means 500 are included. Here, the conveyance process for controlling the conveyance means 500 is executed in the background, and the movement of the coat dome 2 is controlled by constantly monitoring each process.

  The preheating chamber treatment 610, the second vapor deposition chamber treatment 630, and the transfer means 500 are the same as those in the above-described conventional example, so that the following explanation will focus on the first vapor deposition chamber treatment 620.

  FIG. 5 shows the entire process of the continuous vapor deposition process 600 and shows the flow of the process according to the movement of the coat dome 2.

  First, when the coat dome 2 is set in the preheating chamber 100, a preheat treatment 611 for preheating the lens 20 on the coat dome 2 for a predetermined time by the heater 102 is executed.

  After the pre-heat treatment, the coat dome 2 moves to the first vapor deposition chamber 200, and the vapor deposition pretreatment consisting of the gas out treatment 621 of the first vapor deposition chamber treatment 620 and the ion gun pretreatment 622 is executed in parallel.

  The gas out process 621 is a process in which the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are previously vaporized to remove unnecessary components. The ion gun pretreatment (ion beam pretreatment) 622 supplies ionized gas to the ion gun (ion source unit) 14 and opens the shutter 141 of the ion gun 14 when the gas flow rate reaches a predetermined value. 14 is started (energization is started), and the surface of the lens 20 in the first vapor deposition chamber 200 is irradiated with the generated ion beam to perform pretreatment to ensure the durability of the formed film.

  Note that immediately before starting the vapor deposition pretreatment consisting of the gas out treatment 621 and the ion gun pretreatment 622, a predetermined vapor deposition raw material 41 is determined according to the vapor deposition specifications and the type of the lens 20 applied to the lens 20 of the coat dome 2. , 42 drives the hearth actuator 400 so that the container 40 comes to the irradiation position of the electron guns 30, 31, and sets the output of the electron guns 30, 31 according to the specifications of vapor deposition, the type of the lens 20, Preparation processing for setting the processing conditions and confirming the setting state of each device, such as setting the optical film thickness meter 10 according to the thin film to be formed, is performed.

  When the pre-deposition process including the gas out process 621 and the ion gun pre-process 622 is completed, the film formation process 623 is activated to form a predetermined thin film (antireflection film) on the lens 20.

  When the formation of the first thin film on the lens 20 is completed, the film forming process 623 is completed and the end process 624 is activated. In the end process 624, each device in the first vapor deposition chamber 200 is stopped or reset, and the processing result in the first vapor deposition chamber is registered and stored. When the end process 624 is completed, the coat dome 2 is moved from the first vapor deposition chamber 200 to the second vapor deposition chamber 300 by the transfer process. In addition, the process of said 621-624 comprises the 1st vapor deposition chamber process 620. FIG. In addition, after the vapor deposition is completed, the coat dome 2 to which the lens to be vapor deposited next is attached is transferred from the preheating chamber to the first vapor deposition chamber.

  Also in the second vapor deposition chamber 300, a second vapor deposition chamber treatment 630 including a pretreatment 631, a film formation treatment 632, and an end treatment 633 is performed as in the first vapor deposition chamber treatment 620.

  The second deposition chamber process 630 is different from the first deposition chamber process 620 in that the control target is the heater 302, and the other processes are performed in the same manner as the first deposition chamber process 620. The second vapor deposition chamber treatment 630 is mainly performed by starting and stopping the heater 302 and is the same as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-14904.

  In the continuous vapor deposition process 600, the processes 610 to 633 are sequentially performed for each dome, and the thin film of the lens 20 is formed. In the case of the present embodiment, since there are three processing chambers, the processing of different domes proceeds in parallel in each processing chamber.

  Next, the details of the pre-deposition process performed in the first deposition chamber process 620 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the preparation processes such as the above-described various settings are the same as those in the conventional example, and are not described in detail here. However, the following pre-deposition process is started after the preparation process is completed.

  In the pre-deposition process, the gas discharge process 621 and the ion gun pre-process 622 are started simultaneously, and the processes are performed in parallel. That is, the OS 121 of the control device 12 issues a thread for the gas discharge process 621 and a thread for the ion gun preprocess 622, and the CPU executes a plurality of threads in parallel.

  First, details of the gas discharge process 621 will be described, and then, details of the ion gun pre-process 622 will be described.

  In the gas out process 621, the shutter 5 of the hearth unit 400 is closed. First, the control device 12 acquires the atmospheric pressure from the vacuum gauge 7 and determines whether or not the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition device 200 is equal to or less than a predetermined value A. It waits until it becomes below A (S1). Moreover, the vacuum device 8 has started operation in advance, and is controlled by the control device 12 so that a vacuum of a predetermined atmospheric pressure is obtained.

  If the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition apparatus 200 is less than or equal to the predetermined value A, the process proceeds to step S2 and starts a gas discharge process 1 (also referred to as a preliminary gas discharge process or a preliminary heating process) for preheating the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42. To do. In the gas discharge step 1, the control device 12 activates the electron guns 30 and 31 to perform preheating of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 until a predetermined time x. In this gas extraction step 1, the scanning range of the electron guns 30 and 31 is set wide, and the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are heated so as to be warmed up. The outputs of the electron guns 30 and 31 are preset values, and the controller 12 preheats the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 until a predetermined time x preset for each vapor deposition material. The time for performing the preheating is set in advance for each type of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42, and is set to 40 seconds to 60 seconds, for example. The control device 12 counts the time and finishes the preheating when the predetermined time x elapses, and performs the gas discharge step 2 (main gas discharge) in step S4 in which the irradiation condition setting (scan range, power, etc.) of the electron gun is performed later. The process is changed to the same conditions as in the step) and the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the control device 12 acquires the atmospheric pressure from the vacuum gauge 7, and performs an atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process for confirming whether the atmospheric pressure has increased. That is, it is determined whether or not the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are melted by the preliminary heating by the electron guns 30 and 31, and the atmospheric pressure is increased by the vaporization of the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 by the heating under the same heating conditions as the main gas discharge step. . The heating in the atmospheric pressure confirmation process is simply referred to as gas out confirmation heating. When unnecessary gas is not generated from the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 by the gas discharge confirmation heating, it is confirmed that the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 are not set at a predetermined position of the hearth part 400 or that the electron guns 30 and 31 are correctly set. Since it is presumed that no irradiation has occurred, an error of the control device 12 occurs if the atmospheric pressure does not exceed a predetermined value B within a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) after the end of preheating (after the start of heating for confirming outgassing). Can be displayed and the process can be interrupted.

  On the other hand, if the generation of unnecessary gas from the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 is confirmed within a predetermined time after the end of preheating (after the start of gas confirmation heating) and the atmospheric pressure exceeds the predetermined value B, this is confirmed. At this point, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are heated, an unnecessary component is vaporized, and the gas discharge process 2 (main gas discharge process) discharged from the vacuum apparatus 8 to the outside of the first vapor deposition apparatus 200 is executed until a predetermined time y. . That is, the predetermined time y is counted from the time when vaporization of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 is confirmed in step S3 (pressure increase is confirmed). In this gas outflow process 2, in order to promote vaporization of unnecessary components of the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42, the condition setting for the electron guns 30 and 31 to heat the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 is changed from the heating condition setting at the time of preheating. (Hereinafter, heating in Step 4 is referred to as main gas discharge heating, and heating from the pressure increase confirmation process to the main gas discharge process is referred to as main heating). That is, the control device 12 sets the scanning range of the electron guns 30 and 31 to be narrow, and heats the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 intensively, thereby reliably vaporizing unnecessary components. This heating condition change may be performed by powering up the electron guns 30 and 31, and is preferably a combination of narrowing the scan range of the electron guns 30 and 31 and powering up. This gas extraction step 2 is executed until a predetermined time y according to the type of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42. The predetermined time y is preset in the control device 12 and is a value according to the type of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42, for example, a value of 40 seconds to 60 seconds. As described above, the heating conditions for the main gas discharge heating are changed to the same heating conditions at the end of step S2, and are the same as the gas discharge confirmation heating conditions in step S3. Done. The control device 12 counts the time and proceeds to step S5 when the predetermined time y elapses.

  In step S5, since a predetermined time y has passed and unnecessary components of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 have been removed by the gas out process, the control device 12 reduces (or stops) the output of the electron guns 30 and 31 to reduce the vapor deposition material. The heating of 41 and 42 is finished.

  Next, in step S <b> 6, the control device 12 acquires the atmospheric pressure from the vacuum gauge 7, and confirms that the atmospheric pressure has decreased to a predetermined value C or less by the end of heating by the electron guns 30 and 31. That is, generation of unnecessary gas from the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 is stopped, and the apparatus is on standby until the atmospheric pressure is increased to a predetermined value C or less by continuous operation of the vacuum device 8. When the atmospheric pressure falls below the predetermined value C, the gas out process 621 is terminated.

  Next, the ion gun pre-process 622 that is executed in parallel with the gas discharge process 621 will be described.

  The control device 12 acquires the atmospheric pressure from the vacuum gauge 7 in synchronization with step S1 of the gas discharge process 621, determines whether or not the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition device 200 is equal to or less than the predetermined value A, and determines the predetermined value. When the pressure exceeds A, the process waits until the atmospheric pressure becomes a predetermined value A or less (S11). This step S11 is executed in synchronization with step S1 of the gas discharge process 621, and it is confirmed that the atmospheric pressure is equal to or less than the predetermined value A as in step S1. Here, the predetermined value A of the atmospheric pressure is a value that can vaporize the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 and that can activate the ion gun 14, and is a preset value. When the atmospheric pressure exceeds the predetermined value A, the process waits until the atmospheric pressure becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined value A, as in step S1. Note that step S11 may be synchronized by confirming that the atmospheric pressure confirmation process of step S1 is completed instead of directly confirming the atmospheric pressure.

  If the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition apparatus 200 is equal to or less than the predetermined value A, the process proceeds to step S12, and in preparation for starting the ion gun 14, an ionized gas (for example, inert gas, oxygen) is supplied to the ion gun 14. Start.

  In step S <b> 12, the control device 12 starts supplying ionized gas from the gas supply device 15 to the ion gun 14. At this time, the ion gun 14 is not activated. The control device 12 instructs the gas supply device 15 to set a predetermined flow rate, and starts supplying ionized gas to the ion gun 14. When the control device 12 confirms that the flow rate of the ionized gas is stabilized at the predetermined value by the flow meter 150, the control device 12 continues to supply the ionized gas at the flow rate, and proceeds to step 13 in synchronization with the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process of step S3. move on. By supplying the ionized gas, the ionized gas flows out into the first vapor deposition apparatus 200 through the ion gun 14, so that the atmospheric pressure rises, but the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 of the hearth part 400 are in a preheating stage. It can be specified that the cause of the increase in atmospheric pressure is the supply of ionized gas to the ion gun 14.

  Next, in step S13, after waiting for the predetermined time x set in step S2 of the gas discharge process 621 to elapse, the control device 12 confirms whether or not the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition device 200 has increased. To do. The process of step S13 is performed in synchronization with step S3 of the gas out process 621. Alternatively, the ion gun pre-processing 622 may execute step S13 upon receiving an interrupt from step S3 of the gas extraction processing 621. At the initial stage of the predetermined time x, the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition apparatus 200 increases due to the supply of the ionized gas to the ion gun 14, and at the end of the predetermined time x, the atmospheric pressure is generated by the start of vaporization by the preheating of the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42. Slightly increases, and the atmospheric pressure further increases due to the heating for confirming outgassing in Step 3. If the atmospheric pressure does not become equal to or higher than the predetermined value B within a predetermined time after completion of the preheating (after starting the gas discharge confirmation heating), the deposition raw materials 41 and 42 shown in step S3 are set incorrectly, or the electron guns 30 and 31 are correctly irradiated. Since it is estimated that it has not been performed, the control device 12 outputs an error to the display device and interrupts the processing. In addition, this step S13 may synchronize by confirming that the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process of step S3 is completed instead of confirming the atmospheric pressure directly.

If the atmospheric pressure has deteriorated beyond the predetermined value B in step S13, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, power is supplied to the ion gun 14 to start up, and start-up is confirmed.
The step S14 (ion beam gun start-up / confirmation step) includes an ion gun start-up step for powering on the ion gun, an ion for setting a predetermined current and voltage, and confirming that the current and voltage have reached a predetermined value. It consists of a gun acceleration process. When it is confirmed that the current and voltage have reached predetermined values in the ion gun acceleration step, it is determined that the activation has been completed, and the process proceeds to step 15.

Next, in step S15, a preprocessing step is performed in which the lens 20 is irradiated with an ion beam from the ion gun 14 during a predetermined time Q3 from the time when the activation of the ion gun 14 is completed, and the lens is preprocessed. In the pretreatment period Q3 by the ion gun 14, the operation state of the ion gun 14 is monitored, and if there is an abnormality in the operation state (voltage or current value), an error is displayed on the display device and the ion gun pretreatment 622 is performed. restart. When a restart occurs during step S15, the total time of the irradiation time before restart and the irradiation time after completion of restart is set as the predetermined time Q3. The process from the ion gun activation process to the end of the pretreatment process is called an ion beam irradiation process.

  When the predetermined time Q3 has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S16, and the control device 12 performs an end process of the ion gun pre-process 622. In this termination process, the ion gun 14 is powered off (supply voltage 0 V), the shutter 141 is closed, and the supply of ionized gas from the gas supply device 15 is stopped. However, in the film formation process 623, when assisting the film formation by the ion gun 14, the supply of the ionized gas from the gas supply device 15 is continued, and the power to the ion gun 14 is changed to the assist condition value.

  As described above, the gas discharge process 621 and the ion gun pre-process 622 are executed in parallel, and when these two processes are completed, the pre-deposition process is completed, and the film forming process 623 shown in FIG. 5 is started. can do.

  Next, the timing of the pre-deposition process including the gas out process 621 and the ion gun pre-process 622 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  When the pre-deposition process is started at time T0, after the atmospheric pressure confirmation process (for example, several seconds) is performed in the gas out process 621, the preheating in step S2 (the gas out process 1, the preliminary gas out process in the figure) starts. Is done. Similarly, in the ion gun pretreatment 622, after the atmospheric pressure confirmation process (synchronization process, for example, several seconds) is performed, the supply of ionized gas to the ion gun 14 in step S12 is started.

  The gas discharge process 1 of the gas discharge process 621 is performed from the completion of the atmospheric pressure check (time T1) to a time T4 at which a predetermined time x elapses. On the other hand, in the ion gun pretreatment 622, the gas supply start / confirmation process of the ionized gas is performed at time p from the completion of the pressure check (time T1) to the time T3. It takes time until the flow rate of the inert gas actually supplied to the ion gun 14 is stabilized after the control device 12 commands the gas supply device 15 to supply the ionized gas at a predetermined flow rate. The time until the predetermined flow rate is confirmed (primary confirmation processing) is set to P1 (completion time T2), and after the first confirmation processing, it is confirmed whether the flow rate is stabilized at the specified value (secondary confirmation) The time until processing is P2 (completion time T3). At this time T3, step S12 of the ion gun pretreatment 622 is completed, and the supply of ionized gas to the ion gun 14 at that flow rate is continued until the pretreatment step is completed. The period from the end of the second confirmation process to the start of the ion gun activation / confirmation process (from time T3 to T5) is referred to as a gas supply standby process, from the start of the gas supply start confirmation process to the gas supply standby. The period from the end of the process (time T1 to T5) is referred to as a gas introduction process. The ionization gas supply start confirmation step in step S12 requires time p obtained by adding the times P1 and P2. Therefore, the time from the atmospheric pressure confirmation step to the second confirmation processing step is executed in the period of time P obtained by adding the time (several seconds) for performing the atmospheric pressure check to the time p. The first half of the gas discharge process 621 (before the start of the pressure rise confirmation process) is a period of time X obtained by adding the time (several seconds) for checking the atmospheric pressure to the predetermined time x of the gas discharge process 1 (preliminary gas discharge process). Executed. The time P1 required for the first confirmation process in the gas supply start / confirmation process is, for example, 8 seconds, the time P2 required for the second confirmation process is, for example, 5 seconds, and the time P required in step S12 is, for example, 13 seconds, which is a time shorter than 40 to 60 seconds of the predetermined time x of the gas extraction step 1.

  At time T4 when the gas outflow process 1 is completed, the latter half of the pre-deposition process is started. The gas discharge process 2 (main gas discharge process) of the gas discharge process 621 is performed from the completion of the pressure increase check in the pressure increase confirmation process (time T5) to time T8 when a predetermined time y elapses.

  On the other hand, in the ion gun pretreatment 622, the activation process of the ion gun 14 is performed at a time Q1 from the completion of the check for the increase in pressure in the pressure increase confirmation process at time T5 to the time T6. When the activation process of the ion gun 14 is completed, the acceleration process of the ion gun 14 is performed at time Q2 from time T6 to T7, and the process of step S14 is completed (time T7). When the acceleration process is completed, a pretreatment process for irradiating the lens 20 with the ion beam is performed in a period from time T7 to time T8 when the predetermined time Q3 elapses. Here, each time of the latter half of the ion gun pretreatment 622 is, for example, 2 to 3 seconds for the pressure rise confirmation process, and the time Q1 for the activation process of the ion gun 14 is 8 seconds, for example. The acceleration process time Q2 is, for example, 8 seconds, and the preprocessing time Q3 is, for example, 45 seconds. Therefore, the time Q required for the entire second half of the ion gun pretreatment 622 is 63 to 64 seconds of the atmospheric pressure check time + Q1 + Q2 + Q3.

  On the other hand, the time Y required for the entire second half of the gas discharge process 621 is the sum of several seconds required for the pressure check and the predetermined time y of the gas discharge process 2, and the pressure check time is 2-3 seconds. If the time y is 60 seconds, the overall processing time Y is 62 to 63 seconds, which is substantially equal to the processing time Q in the second half of the ion gun pretreatment 622.

  When the gas discharge process 621 and the ion gun preprocess 622 are executed in parallel at the timing as described above, the change in the atmospheric pressure in the first vapor deposition apparatus 200 is as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the atmospheric pressure during the deposition pretreatment period, the supply voltage to the ion gun 14, the supply current to the electron guns 30 and 31, and the time.

  When the atmospheric pressure check is started at time T0 and the atmospheric pressure check is completed at time T1, the supply of ionized gas in the ion gun pretreatment 622 is started, and the atmospheric pressure rises due to the ionized gas flowing out from the ion gun. At this time, the gas out treatment 621 is also performed in parallel. However, since the scanning range of the electron guns 30 and 31 is wide and in the initial stage of preheating, almost no unnecessary gas is generated from the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42.

  Therefore, in the first half of the pre-deposition treatment at time T0 to T4 (before the start of the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process), the preheating of the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 and the supply of ionized gas to the ion gun 14 are combined to cause the increase in atmospheric pressure. Is the supply of the inert gas to the ion gun 14, and the gas discharge process 621 and the ion gun pre-process 622 for monitoring the atmospheric pressure can be executed in parallel.

  From time T4, which is the latter half of the pre-deposition process (after the start of the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process), after the check for the increase in atmospheric pressure is completed, the degassing process 621 generates an unnecessary gas from the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 (see FIG. In the main gas discharge step) and the ion gun pretreatment 622, the activation processing and pretreatment of the ion gun 14 are executed in parallel.

  In the gas discharge process 621, since the scan range of the electron guns 30 and 31 is narrowed at the end of the gas discharge process 1 (time T4), the gas discharge process 2 during the pressure check process from time T4 to T5 and from time T5 to T8. Vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are intensively heated to generate unnecessary gas. Since the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are melted by the preliminary heating in the gas outflow process 1, unnecessary gas can be generated immediately after the start of the atmospheric pressure check process.

  On the other hand, in the ion gun pre-processing 622, after the pressure rise is checked, an ion gun activation start process for powering on the ion gun is performed from time T5, and then the ion gun is set to a predetermined current and voltage from time T6. Execute the ion gun acceleration process. When it is confirmed that the current voltage of the ion gun has reached a predetermined value, the ion gun start-up / confirmation process is terminated, and the predetermined value is maintained from time T7 and the ion beam is supplied from the ionized gas supplied to the ion gun 14. And the pre-processing for irradiating the lens 20 is performed until the processing time Q3 elapses. The voltage fluctuation of the ion gun from the start of activation of the ion gun 14 to the end of the pretreatment of the ion gun is indicated by a dashed line in the figure.

  The flow rate of the ionized gas to the ion gun 14 is constant from the end of the ionized gas supply start / confirmation process in step S12 (time T3) to the end of the ion gun pretreatment process in step S15 (time T8). Therefore, in the latter half of the pre-deposition process, it can be specified that the factor that the atmospheric pressure fluctuates is the generation of unnecessary gas due to the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process and the gas extraction process 2 of the gas extraction process 621. In addition, it is possible to grasp the generation start timing and the extent of unnecessary gas.

  As described above, in the latter half of the pre-deposition treatment at times T4 to T8, the generation of the unnecessary gas of the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 and the activation and pretreatment of the ion gun 14 are combined, so that the cause of the increase in atmospheric pressure is the vapor deposition raw material 41, Since it is possible to identify the unnecessary gas generated from 42 and to know the generation timing and extent of the unnecessary gas, the gas extraction process 621 and the ion gun pre-process 622 that need to monitor the atmospheric pressure are processed in parallel. Can be executed. In addition, by setting the completion time of the ion beam irradiation process to be the same as or after the completion time of the gas discharge process, contamination of the lens by unnecessary gas during the gas discharge process can be prevented by the ion beam, and the durability of the film is increased. Sex can be secured.

  As described above, when performing a plurality of processes in which the atmospheric pressure needs to be monitored in parallel, the start of supplying ionized gas to the ion gun 14 and the preheating of the deposition materials 41 and 42 are performed in parallel. After the gas supply is stabilized and the fluctuation of the atmospheric pressure is suppressed, an unnecessary gas is generated from the deposition raw materials 41 and 42 to confirm the increase in the atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the gas discharge process 2 and the activation and pretreatment of the ion gun 14 are performed. By executing in parallel, it is possible to accurately grasp the factor that the atmospheric pressure fluctuates during the execution of processing. That is, it takes time from the start of the supply of the ionized gas to the ion gun 14 until the gas extraction step 2 is started. During this time, the flow rate of the ionized gas is kept constant, and the deposition raw materials 41 and 42 are parallel to the ionized gas supply. By performing the preliminary heating, it is possible to specify the fluctuation of the atmospheric pressure due to the ionized gas supply, and it is possible to specify the fluctuation of the atmospheric pressure due to the generation of unnecessary gas from the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42. In particular, even when two pre-deposition processes are being performed simultaneously, the timing and extent of unnecessary gas generation from the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 can be grasped, so whether or not the vapor deposition raw material is normally heated. It can be confirmed, and control using information on the timing and degree of unnecessary gas generation is also possible.

  By executing these two pre-deposition processes at the same time, it is possible to significantly reduce the time until the film formation process 623 starts, and the productivity of the vapor deposition apparatus for forming a film on the lens 20 can be improved. It can be greatly improved.

<Scheduling of parallel processing>
Next, a processing time X in which the first half of the pressure check process and the gas discharging process 1 of the gas discharge process 621 are combined, a processing time Y in which the second half of the pressure increase check process and the gas discharge process 2 are combined,
The processing time P in which the first half pressure check process and the gas supply / checking process of the ion gun pretreatment 622 are combined, and the second half pressure rise checking process, the ion gun activation / checking process and the preprocessing process processing time Q in 20 depending on the type of film formed on the film 20. That is, when the gas discharge process 621 and the ion gun preprocess 622 are processed in parallel according to the processing times X and Y of the gas discharge process 621 and the processing times P and Q of the ion gun preprocess 622, If the timing of the process is not adjusted, as described in the above problem, a manufacturing problem occurs. Therefore, in the present invention, the execution timing of the first half process and the second half process of the gas discharge process 621 and the first half process and the second half process of the ion gun pretreatment 622 are optimized.

  For this reason, another example of the timing shown in FIG. 7 will be discussed with reference to FIGS.

  In the following, the processing times X, Y, P, and Q described above are referred to as preliminary gas discharge processing time X, main gas discharge processing time Y, ion gun gas introduction processing time P, and ion gun activation preprocessing time Q. The process during time X is the first half process of gas out, the process during process time Y is the second half process of gas out, the process during process time P is the first half process of ion gun, and the process during process time Q is the second half process of ion gun.

FIG. 9A shows a case where the pretreatment time Q for starting the ion gun is equal to or longer than the main gas discharge processing time Y. in this case,
From time T4, the second half of the gas discharge process and the second half of the ion gun process are started simultaneously. That is, the pressure rise confirmation process is started from time T4, and at the time when the pressure rise confirmation process is completed (time T5), the gas discharge process 2 and the ion gun activation start process are started simultaneously. Since the ion gun activation pretreatment time Q ≧ the main gas discharge processing time Y, the ion gun second half process (pretreatment step) is performed until the main gas discharge processing is completed or after the main gas discharge processing is completed. Since the ion beam irradiation is performed, the lens 20 is prevented from being contaminated by the vaporized impurities 41 and 42 by the ion beam, so that the film formed on the lens 20 can be stabilized. That is, by performing the pretreatment step of irradiating the ion beam until at least the time when the main gas extraction step is completed, the lens 20 is prevented from being contaminated by unnecessary gas, the film formed on the lens 20 is stabilized, and The durability of the thin film such as the antireflection film of the lens 20 can be improved.

  When the ion gun activation pretreatment time Q = the main gas discharge treatment time Y, the timing is the same as in FIG.

  FIG. 9B shows that the ion gun activation pretreatment time Q is less than the main gas discharge treatment time Y, and the main gas discharge treatment time Y is the sum of the ion gun gas introduction treatment time P and the ion gun activation pretreatment time Q. This is the case.

  Also in this case, as in the case of FIG. 9A, the pretreatment process by the ion gun is performed until the gas outgassing process is completed to prevent the lens 20 from being contaminated with unnecessary gas, and the formed film is stabilized. Let For this reason, the pressure increase confirmation process is started from time T4, the main gas discharge process is started when the pressure increase confirmation process is completed (time T5), and the difference W obtained by subtracting the processing time Q from the processing time Y from time T4. What is necessary is just to start the ion gun latter half process from the time of elapse. In this case, the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process in step S13 may confirm the atmospheric pressure increase by confirming that the process in step S3 is completed, or the gas discharge process in step S4 is being executed. You may check. As in FIG. 9A, since the pretreatment step of irradiating the ion beam may be continued at the time of completion of this gas discharge step, the difference W for starting the ion gun activation pretreatment is The difference between the processing time Y and the processing time Q is sufficient, and in this case, the ion gun latter half process is completed after the gas discharge latter half process is completed.

  FIG. 9C shows the case where the sum of the ion gun gas introduction processing time P and the ion gun pre-starting processing time Q is less than the main gas discharge processing time Y. An example of control in this case is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In this case, the first half process of the ion gun and the second half process of the ion gun can be performed within the period of the second half process of gas discharge. The time at which the second half of the ion gun process is started is a value obtained by adding a value equal to or greater than the difference W between the processing time Y and the processing time Q to the time T4. As a result, the pretreatment process by the ion gun is completed or continued at the time when the gas outflow process is completed, so that the lens 20 can be prevented from being contaminated with unnecessary gas, and the film formed on the lens 20 can be stabilized. It becomes possible. A flowchart in this case is shown in FIG. In this case, the increase in atmospheric pressure in step S21 may be confirmed by confirming that the processing in step S3 has been completed, and the increase in atmospheric pressure may be confirmed in step S23. You may confirm that there is. The first half of the ion gun process may be started from time T0.

  FIG. 9D shows that the sum of the ion gun gas introduction processing time P and the ion gun pre-treatment time Q is less than the main gas outgassing processing time Y, and the ion gun gas introduction processing time P is the preliminary gas outgassing processing time X. Is greater than

  The preliminary gas outflow process and the main gas outflow process need to be performed continuously with the pressure rise confirmation process in between. That is, after the vapor deposition materials 41 and 42 are warmed as a whole in the preliminary gas discharge process, the scan range of the electron guns 30 and 31 is narrowed in the main gas discharge process to increase the energy density and generate unnecessary gas. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the vapor deposition raw materials 41 and 42 from being cooled. For this reason, the start of the preliminary gas discharge step is delayed from the start of the gas supply start confirmation step, and the preliminary gas discharge step and the main gas discharge step are set to be continuous with the pressure increase confirmation step interposed therebetween. For this reason, the time W1 for delaying the start of the preliminary gas discharge process from the start time T0 of the gas supply start confirmation process is set to be equal to or greater than the value obtained by subtracting the preliminary gas discharge processing time X from the ion gun gas introduction processing time P. Thereby, the completion of the preliminary gas discharge process is after the completion of the gas supply start confirmation process, and the preliminary gas discharge process and the main gas discharge process can be performed continuously.

  On the other hand, the pretreatment process using the ion gun is performed at least until the completion of the gas extraction process as described above. For this reason, the time W2 for delaying the second half process of the ion gun from the start time T4 of the second half process of the gas discharge is set to be equal to or greater than the value obtained by subtracting the pre-treatment time Q of the ion gun from the main gas discharge process time Y. As a result, the pretreatment process by the ion gun is completed after the completion of the gas discharge process, and the lens 20 is prevented from being contaminated with unnecessary gas, and the film formed on the lens 20 can be stabilized. .

  As described above, in order to execute two different processes (the gas out process 621 and the ion gun pre-process 622) in parallel to improve the productivity while improving the productivity, the control device 12 is required to use the ion gun. When the completion time of the pre-activation process is set at the same time as or after the completion time of the gas discharge process, contamination of the lens 20 due to unnecessary gas during the gas discharge process can be prevented by irradiation with an ion beam. Furthermore, since the preheating and the main heating are set to be continuous, this makes it possible to ensure the durability of the film formed on the spectacle lens 20 while improving the productivity.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, in the gas introduction process, after confirming that the ionized gas is stabilized at a predetermined flow rate after starting the supply of the ionized gas, the vapor deposition raw material is scheduled to be heated, It is possible to easily specify whether the cause of the increase in the atmospheric pressure is in the preliminary gas extraction process or the ion gun gas introduction process.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to the continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a vapor deposition apparatus having one vapor deposition chamber.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the ion beam is supplied by the ion gun 14 as the pre-deposition treatment of the lens 20 has been described, but a plasma gun may be used.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the cycle time can be shortened in the lens vapor deposition process without changing the basic film forming condition method. Can be applied immediately.

1 is a schematic view of a continuous vacuum deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Schematic of a 1st vapor deposition chamber. Schematic of a hearth part. The block diagram which shows the software structure of a control apparatus. The flowchart which shows the flow of control in a continuous vapor deposition process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the vapor deposition pre-process included in the 1st vapor deposition chamber process performed with a control apparatus, and shows the relationship between a gas out process and an ion gun pre-process. The time chart which shows the timing of the process of a gas out process and an ion gun pre-process. The graph which shows the atmospheric pressure of the period of vapor deposition pre-processing, the supply voltage to an ion gun, the supply current to an electron gun, and the relationship of time. 4A and 4B are time charts showing timings of gas discharge processing and ion gun pretreatment, where FIG. 5A shows the case of the main gas discharge processing time Y ≦ ion gun activation pretreatment time Q, and FIG. Time Q <main gas discharge processing time Y ≦ (ion gun gas introduction processing time P + ion gun activation pretreatment time Q) is shown, and (C) shows (ion gun gas introduction processing time P + ion gun activation pretreatment time Q). ) <Shows the case of the main gas discharge processing time Y, (D) shows (the ion gun gas introduction processing time P + ion gun pre-treatment time Q) <the main gas discharge processing time Y and the ion gun gas introduction processing time. P> Preliminary gas out treatment time X is shown. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the vapor deposition pre-process included in the 1st vapor deposition chamber process performed with the control apparatus in the case of the example of FIG.9 (C).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Continuous type vacuum evaporation apparatus 8 Vacuum apparatus 12 Control apparatus 14 Ion gun 15 Gas supply apparatus 20 Lens 30, 31 Electron gun 41, 42 Deposition raw material

Claims (11)

A lens film forming method for generating a film by vaporizing a vapor deposition raw material on a surface of a lens held in a vapor deposition chamber,
In the vapor deposition chamber, a heating unit for heating the vapor deposition raw material,
An ion source unit that generates an ion beam and irradiates the lens is provided.
Before starting the deposition,
A gas discharge step of heating the vapor deposition material by the heating unit to vaporize and discharge unnecessary components;
An ion beam pretreatment step of supplying an ionized gas to the ion source, generating an ion beam from the supplied ionized gas, and irradiating the lens surface;
The gas discharge step includes
A preheating step of heating and melting the vapor deposition raw material;
It consists of a main heating step in which the vapor deposition raw material melted by this preheating step is heated and vaporized under different heating conditions from the preheating step,
The main heating step includes a pressure increase confirmation step of starting heating under a heating condition different from that of the preheating step and confirming a pressure increase in the vapor deposition chamber,
The ion beam pretreatment step
A gas introduction step of starting the supply of ionized gas to the ion source unit and continuing the supply at a predetermined flow rate;
An ion beam irradiation step of generating an ion beam from an ionized gas supplied at a predetermined flow rate and irradiating the lens surface;
The gas outflow step and the ion beam pretreatment step are executed in parallel, and the time point at which the ion beam pretreatment step is completed is set after the time point at which the gas outflow step is completed,
The main heating step and the ion beam irradiation step have a period to be performed at the same time, and the completion time of the ion beam irradiation step is set after the completion time of the main heating step,
A lens film forming method, wherein a completion time point of the main heat treatment is determined based on a time point when the atmospheric pressure increase is confirmed in the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation step. The gas introduction step includes
Having a flow rate confirmation step of confirming that the ionized gas is stabilized at a predetermined flow rate after the start of supply of the ionized gas;
After the flow rate confirmation process is completed, start the pressure increase confirmation process,
The lens film forming method according to claim 1, wherein the ion beam irradiation step is started after the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation step is completed. The lens forming method according to claim 1 , wherein the gas introduction step is started after the pressure increase confirmation step is completed. When the processing time of the ion beam irradiation process is equal to or longer than the processing time of the main heating process,
3. The lens film forming method according to claim 2, wherein the ion beam irradiation step and the main heating step are started simultaneously after the flow rate confirmation step is completed.   The processing time of the main heating step is longer than the processing time of the ion beam irradiation step, and the sum of the processing time from the start of the gas introduction step to the completion of the flow rate confirmation step and the processing time of the ion beam irradiation step is 3. The lens film forming method according to claim 2, wherein the ion beam irradiation step is started after the main heating step is started when the processing time is longer than the main heating step.   When the processing time from the start of the gas introduction step to the completion of the flow rate confirmation step is longer than the processing time of the preheating step, the preheating step is started after the gas introduction step is started. The lens film-forming method according to claim 2. The gas introduction step includes a flow rate confirmation step for confirming that the ionized gas is stabilized at a predetermined flow rate after the start of supply of the ionized gas,
When the sum of the processing time from the start of the gas introduction process to the completion of the flow rate confirmation process and the processing time of the ion beam irradiation process is less than the processing time of the main heat treatment,
The lens film forming method according to claim 3, wherein the gas introduction step is started after completion of the pressure increase confirmation step. A vapor deposition apparatus that generates a film by vaporizing and vapor-depositing a vapor deposition raw material on the surface of a lens held in a vapor deposition chamber,
A heating unit for heating the vapor deposition material;
An ion source that generates an ion beam and irradiates the lens;
An ionized gas supply unit for supplying an ionized gas to the ion source unit, a vacuum gauge unit for measuring an atmospheric pressure in the deposition chamber,
A controller that acquires information on the atmospheric pressure measured from the vacuum gauge unit, and that controls operations of the heating unit, the ion source unit, and the ionized gas supply unit,
The controller is
Before the vapor deposition, a gas out process for controlling the heating unit to heat the vapor deposition raw material to vaporize and discharge unnecessary components;
An ion beam pretreatment for controlling the ionized gas supply unit to supply an ionized gas to the ion source unit, controlling the ion source unit to generate an ion beam from the ionized gas, and irradiating the lens surface; Do
The gas out treatment
Preheating treatment for heating and melting the vapor deposition raw material;
The vapor deposition raw material melted by this preheating treatment consists of a main heating treatment for heating and vaporizing under different heating conditions from the preheating treatment,
The main heating process controls the heating unit to start heating under a heating condition different from that of the preliminary heating process, obtains measurement data from the vacuum gauge unit, and confirms an increase in atmospheric pressure in the deposition chamber Has a rise confirmation process,
The ion beam pretreatment includes
A gas introduction process for controlling the ionized gas supply unit to start supplying the ionized gas to the ion source unit and continuing the supply at a predetermined flow rate;
An ion beam process for controlling the ion source unit to generate an ion beam from an ionized gas supplied at a predetermined flow rate and irradiating the lens surface;
The gas out process and the ion beam pre-process are executed in parallel, and the time point at which the ion beam pre-process is completed is set after the time point at which the gas out process is completed,
The main heat treatment and the ion beam treatment have a period in which they are performed at the same time, and the time point at which the ion beam treatment is completed is set after the time point at which the main heat treatment is completed,
The vapor deposition apparatus characterized in that the completion time of the main heat treatment is determined based on the time when the pressure rise is confirmed by the pressure rise confirmation processing. The gas introduction process includes:
It has a flow rate confirmation process for confirming that the ionized gas has been stabilized at a predetermined flow rate after the start of supply,
After the flow rate confirmation process is completed, the pressure increase confirmation process is started,
The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the ion beam process is started after the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process is completed.   The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the gas introduction process is started after the atmospheric pressure increase confirmation process is completed.   A method for manufacturing a lens, comprising the step of forming a film on the surface of the lens using the lens film forming method according to claim 1.