JPH04193944A - Disk film forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To miniaturize and to make compact disk carrying path by carrying a disk along a carrying loop path while positioning the disk-sustaining means in respective working chambers by using a rotary index type carrying means and forming a film onto the inside and outside of the disk simultaneously. CONSTITUTION:The main body of the device 1 is constituted of a fixed housing 2 of almost circular shape and a hollow rotary carrying drum 3. The delivery of disk D is executed by the disk chacking unit 22 between a disk handling means 25 and a spindle 12 provided in a carrying in-and-out chamber 4a of the disk. Then, a drum 3 is rotated by about 60 deg. stepwise and the disk D is carried by passing along a path 5 through a heating chamber 4b, a primary ground layer forming chamber 4c, a secondary ground layer forming chamber 4d, a magnetic film forming chamber 4c and to a protective film forming chamber 4f successively, and after finishing all of these treatments, the treated disk D is taken out from the carrying-in and-out chamber 4a. By this method, reduction of vacuum zone space for the main body device 1 is attained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention relates to a disk manufacturing method in which a coating is formed by sputtering or the like on both sides of a disk constituting a storage medium formed in an annular shape such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk. The present invention relates to a membrane device.

[Prior Art 1] For example, a film forming method in which a magnetic film is formed on both sides of a magnetic disk by sputtering has been widely used. In this film-forming method, molecules are ejected from a target member serving as a sputtering source and attached to the surface of an opposing disk made of an aluminum substrate or the like. Here, this disk generally has a plurality of layers laminated thereon. For example, three or more layers are formed by sputtering chrome as a base film, laminating a magnetic film such as cobalt on this chrome base film, and then forming a protective film such as carbon on top of this magnetic film. to form.

From the above, a sputtering film forming apparatus requires at least a base film forming process, a magnetic film forming process, and a protective film forming process, and these sputtering film forming processes are performed with the disk in a heated state. , a heating step is also required.

Furthermore, since the base film must be considerably thicker than the magnetic film or the protective film, the base film is generally formed in two steps. Therefore, in this type of film forming apparatus, a disk loading station,
A heating process, a first base film forming process, a second base film forming process, 1i
The steps of forming a fi-sensitive film and forming a protective film are sequentially arranged.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] Incidentally, the above-described film forming process by sputtering is performed in a vacuum state and in an inert gas atmosphere such as argon gas. To this end, each of the above-mentioned processes and the transition between the processes must be placed under a vacuum area isolated from the outside. Moreover, during the film forming process, the surface of the disk and the sputtered particles to be coated must be protected from contamination or adhesion of foreign matter, thus minimizing the generation of foreign matter such as dust and atmospheric contamination. It's something I hate.

For this reason, as a means for transporting the disk between the above-mentioned processes, it is not possible to dispose within this vacuum region a device that may become a source of dust, such as a driving means such as a motor. In addition, as a mechanism for transporting the disk, it is necessary to avoid mechanisms that slide with other members, especially those with large sliding resistance, and use lubricants such as grease to ensure smooth sliding. I can't do it either. Furthermore, if the disks are transferred one after another, there is a risk that the disks may fall off during the transfer, so this is also not very preferable. For this reason, there are extremely large restrictions on the disk transport mechanism in the film forming apparatus.

In the conventional film forming apparatus, these stations are arranged in a straight line and the disks are transported along this line. That is, a disc holder is provided with an arcuate groove that engages the outer circumference of the disc,
This disk holder is mounted on a transport jig, and the transport jig is moved along a linear transport path. As the driving force for this conveying jig, a system has been put into practical use in which a large number of conveying jigs are lined up and pushed from behind to sequentially slide and convey them.

There is also a system that uses a transport bar equipped with a means for holding a plurality of discs and a plurality of fixedly installed disc receiving members, and moves the transport bar to feed the discs in pitch. Are known.

However, according to the slide transport method described above, in order to accurately transport the disk, a mechanism must be provided to guide the transport jig. Furthermore, since this guide mechanism must transport the disk in a stable state, it is necessary to maintain good posture balance during movement.

Therefore, it is necessary to increase the sliding contact area between the transport jig and the guide mechanism to some extent, and since it is not possible to supply lubricant to smooth the sliding between them, it is necessary to Moving: When the conveyance jig is forwarded sequentially from the second side, there is a drawback that there is a high possibility that abrasion powder will be generated due to the sliding friction between the two.

In addition, after the transport jig with the disk mounted on the disk holder finishes the film forming process on the disk and transports the disk outside, it is returned to the loading station again and the next step is performed. It must be circulated to carry out the membrane treatment by mounting a disk on it. For this purpose, a return path is provided at the exit of the protective film forming process, which is the final process, and the disks are brought close to the loading station through this return path after all film formation processes are completed. It is designed to be transferred to an unloading station located at a certain location. Moreover, in order to perform the disk film formation process continuously, this return path is provided on a separate path from the path that performs the disk film formation process, for example, above or behind the disk film formation process path to protect the film. After leaving the film forming process, the disk must be lifted up by an elevator mechanism or the like and transferred to the return path, and at the end of the return path it must be lowered to the unloading station or transported sideways. Become. Therefore, there is also the disadvantage that the disk transport mechanism is extremely complicated and large.

On the other hand, in the pitch feeding method, when the disk is transferred between processes, it is necessary to transfer the disk, and there is a risk that the disk may fall off during this period. In particular, since the transport bar, the disk holding means attached to it, and the fixedly installed disk support member are located under the heating area, there is an increased risk that they will be thermally deformed and the disks will fall off. It becomes something big. Moreover, since these transport bars and disk receiving members are arranged, and a transport space for the transport bar must be secured, the transport of the discs by this transport bar is linear, and the discs must be reversed and returned. As a result, there is a problem in that the film forming apparatus, especially its vacuum head, becomes quite large.

In short, there is a significant need to simplify and downsize the transport mechanism for disk film forming equipment, which must perform processing in a vacuum atmosphere, with the generation of foreign matter such as dust, and atmospheric contamination extremely averse. However, conventional technology has not been able to fully satisfy such requests.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to significantly simplify and downsize the mechanism for transporting the disk to each process provided for film-forming the disk. The object of the present invention is to provide a disk film forming apparatus that can perform the following operations.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a horizontal circular TM-shaped disk transport loop path consisting of a plurality of work chambers and passages that communicate between the work chambers. a rotary indexing type conveying means having a fixed wall forming a fixed wall and a movable wall forming a vacuum region together with the fixed wall; and a rotary index conveying means that is attached to the movable wall and located in the vacuum region and holds a disk to be processed. and a plurality of disk holding means for performing predetermined processing and machining on the disk in each of the working chambers, and the disk holding means is positioned in each of the working chambers by the rotary index type conveying means, and then the disk conveying loop The feature is that a film is formed on both the front and back surfaces of the disk by transporting the disk along a path.

More specifically, at least a plurality of work chambers each consisting of a separate or single chamber for transferring the disk, a disk heating chamber, and a plurality of film forming chambers each provided with a film forming member are arranged at predetermined angles. At the same time, a horizontal annular disk transport loop path is formed by communicating between the respective work chambers through communication passages formed in an arc shape, and a vacuum area is formed by facing the outer circumferential wall of the horizontally rotating cylindrical body. In this vacuum region, support shafts are provided extending from the outer circumferential wall of the horizontal rotating cylinder toward the inside of the vacuum region at angles corresponding to the positions of the respective work chambers, The present invention is characterized in that a disk holding means for holding the disk is provided on the support shaft.

In addition, a plurality of work chambers each consisting of at least a separate or single chamber for loading and unloading the disk, a disk heating chamber, and a plurality of film forming chambers are installed at the upper position of the disk transport loop path formed in a horizontal annular shape. A vacuum area is formed by communicating between each of the working chambers and the passage through communication ports through which at least a disk can be inserted. An outer circumferential wall of the rotating member is provided facing the outer circumferential wall, and support arms are provided on the outer circumferential wall to extend into the passageway at angles corresponding to the positions of the respective work chambers, and each support arm is provided with a disk. The present invention is also characterized in that the holding means is installed between the passageway and each of the working chambers so as to be movable up and down.

[Operation 1] As described above, by forming the vacuum region by the horizontal annular disk transport loop path, the disk holding means for holding the disk first receives the disk in the disk loading chamber and moves it along the disk transport loop path. During the index transport, respective processing is performed in each work chamber. After the processing in the final working chamber is completed, when the next indexing operation is performed, the processed disk is taken out from the disk holding means, and at that position (the disk loading/unloading is carried out in a single The disk to be processed can be received when the next indexing operation is performed (if a cleaning chamber or the like is provided, then at the next indexing operation). Therefore, there is no need to provide a path for returning the disk, a mechanism for reversing the direction of disk transport, etc., and the disk transport path can be made extremely small and compact.

Moreover, by horizontally rotating a rotary conveying means equipped with an indexing mechanism, the disks are sequentially conveyed to each work chamber, so that within the vacuum area there is a disk holding means and a disk holding means. It is sufficient to arrange only the members that connect the holding means to the conveying means. This makes it possible to save space in the vacuum area.
The entire device can be made smaller and more compact. Also,
The fact that the vacuum area can be made small in this way makes it easier to create a vacuum and maintain the pressure. Since the only part that slides within this vacuum area is the movable wall, there is extremely little risk of dust generation or atmospheric contamination within the vacuum area. will improve.

Furthermore, during work, the disc is always held in the disc holding means, and there is no need to transfer it during work, so it is possible to hold the disc in an extremely stable state, and it is There is very little risk that the disc will fall off. Therefore, transitions between work chambers can be performed at high speed, improving overall processing efficiency.

Here, as the disk holding means, it is possible to use a disk holder that is easy to attach and detach, such as a disk holder equipped with an arc-shaped disk engagement groove that supports the outer periphery of the disk, Since this is not necessary, it is also possible to use a disk clamp means for clamping the inner circumference of the disk, a chuck means for chucking the outer circumference of the disk, or the like. When a disk clamping means is used, the work can be carried out while rotating the disk clamped by the disk clamping means. Furthermore, when processing a large-diameter disk, the disk can be chucked (by this configuration, the disk can be held in an extremely stable state).

When forming a film by sputtering, the work chamber includes a disk loading/unloading chamber,
It can be constructed of a disk heating chamber and a plurality of film forming chambers in which film forming members are arranged, for example, one or two base film forming chambers, a magnetic film forming chamber, and a protective film forming chamber. Alternatively, a disc loading chamber, a disc heating chamber, and a plurality of film forming chambers each provided with a film forming member;
It can also be composed of a disc ejection chamber and a cleaning chamber for the disc holding member. The film forming chambers are appropriately set as necessary, and for this purpose the number of chambers must be increased or decreased. However, the above-mentioned increase or decrease in the number of chambers can be easily dealt with by increasing or decreasing the number of positions to be indexed by the rotary index type conveyance means.

[Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 9.

In this embodiment, an apparatus configured as an apparatus for forming a coating by sputtering on both sides of a disk is shown.

1 and 2 show the overall configuration of a sputtering film forming apparatus. In the figure, ■ is an apparatus main body, and this apparatus main body 1 includes a fixed housing 2 formed in a substantially annular shape,
It consists of a hollow rotary conveyance drum 3 provided inside the fixed housing 2.

The fixed housing 2 is formed with six chambers 4a to 4f and an arcuate passage 5 that communicates the adjacent chambers with each other. Among the six chambers 4a to 4f, the first chamber 4a serves as a disk loading/unloading chamber for loading and unloading the disk D into and out of the film forming apparatus. In addition, the second chamber 4
b is a heating chamber for heating the disk D; a third chamber 4c and a fourth chamber 4d are chambers for forming a first layer and a second layer base film forming a base film, respectively; and a fifth chamber 4e is for forming a magnetic film. The sixth chamber 4f is a protective film forming chamber.

These chambers 4a to 4f are arranged on the same circumference with a phase relationship of 60 degrees. Further, a disk transfer chamber 6 is provided outside the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a.

Each of the chambers 4a to 4f and the passage 5 described above are defined by walls at their upper, lower, and outer circumferential portions, or are open at their inner circumferential sides. The outer circumferential surface of the rotary conveyance drum 3 is joined to this opening, thereby forming a sealed annular vacuum area in the chambers 4a to 4f and the passage 5. Therefore, this conveyance drum 3 serves as a movable partition wall that defines the vacuum area.

A rotation drive mechanism 7 for the transport drum 3 is mounted inside the rotary transport tram 3 . This rotary drive mechanism 7 has a motor 7a and a reducer 7b mounted in a fixed member 8, and the output shaft of the reducer 7b is made to protrude upward from the fixed member 8, and a drive gear 7C is attached to the tip thereof. The drive gear 7C meshes with a ring gear 3a fixed to the inner surface of the rotary transport tram 3. Therefore, the rotary cylinder 3 is connected to the motor 7a via the reducer 7b.
The index can be rotated in degrees. In order to ensure smooth rotation of the rotary transport drum 3, two bearings 9 are interposed at the joint between the rotary transport drum 3 and the fixed housing 2. A sealing member 10 is attached to an appropriate location.

The rotary conveyance drum 3 is provided with six disk holding means 11, each with a phase interval of 60°. This disk holding means 11 has a spindle 12, and a disk clamper 13 is detachably attached to the spindle 12. Here, as is clear from FIG. 3, the disc clamper 13 has a pair of clamp pieces 13a that clamp the inner diameter portion of the disc D at the tip end thereof.
, 13a, and the clamp pieces 13a, 13a are connected by fitting each other. Fitting protrusions 13b, 13b of the same shape are protruded from the clamp pieces 13a, 13a, and these fitting protrusions 13b are inserted into the fitting hole 12 provided in the spindle 12.
a (see Fig. 6), and connect both to the fitting protrusion 13b.
A snap action mechanism 14 consisting of an engagement groove 14a provided on the side and an elastic ring 14b provided on the insertion hole 12a side.
It is now possible to maintain the connected state by Further, the spindle 12 is attached to the rotary conveyance tram 3, and is rotatably inserted into a mounting housing 15 provided with a bearing inside.

A magnetic coupling portion 12b is connected to the spindle 12 within the mounting housing 15. Furthermore, drive motors 16 are provided on the fixing member 8 provided inside the rotary conveyance drum 3 at positions facing the film forming chambers 4c to 4f, and the output shaft of each of the drive motors 16 is The magnetic coupling portion 16a is connected, and the pair of magnetic coupling portions 12b and 1
6a, the spindle 12 is rotationally driven in a non-contact manner. This prevents pressure from leaking around the spindle 12 and causing pressure fluctuations within the vacuum region.

Next, the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a transfers the disk D to and from the disk transfer chamber 6, and a shutter 20 is provided between both chambers. Also, between the disk delivery chamber 6 and the outside,
A shutter 21 is provided. A disk chuck unit 22 for chucking the outer diameter portion of the disk D is provided within the disk transfer chamber 6.

As is clear from FIGS. 4 and 5, these disk chuck units 22 have a pair of chuck arms 22b, 22b provided at the tip of a reversing shaft 22a, and each chuck arm 22b has a chuck actuator at the tip. A member 22c is attached. And this chuck operating member 2
2c has a pair of clamping claws 22d.

22d is attached, and these clamping claws 22d, 22
d can chuck the disk D by engaging with an engagement groove 14a provided in the insertion protrusion 13b of the disk clamper 13. and,
The reversing shaft 22a is attached to a rotary actuator 23 consisting of a row clear cylinder or the like, and the chuck unit 22 is
°It is reversible.

Further, this low reactuator 23 is connected to the longitudinal movement means 2.
It is designed to be installed on 4. This back and forth movement means 24
has a pole screw 24b rotated by a drive motor 24a, and a back-and-forth motion block 24c fitted with the ball screw 24b and integrally provided with a ball nut,
The longitudinal movement block 24c is guided by a guide rod 24d.

As a result, the disk chuck unit 22 is led out of the film forming apparatus, and the disk handling means 25
It is now possible to transfer the disk D between it and the spindle 12 provided in the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a.

Here, as is clear from FIG. 1, the disk handling means 25 has a horizontal rotation arm attached to a support 25b disposed on an XY movable base 25a disposed in a clean room 27 isolated by a partition forming member 26. 25c is attached, and chuck operating members 25d, 25 similar to the disc chuck unit 22 are attached to both ends of this horizontal arm 25c.
d and a pair of clamping claws for engaging with the engagement groove 14a provided in the insertion projection 13b of the disc clamper 13, and is configured to be able to be rotated in the horizontal direction by the row reactor 25e. There is.

From the above, the disk D is placed in the disk clamper 1 in advance.
It will be transported to this film forming apparatus in a state where it is clamped at 3.

In FIG. 4, when the disk chuck unit 22 is displaced in the six directions of arrows in the figure by the back-and-forth drive means 24, the disk chuck unit 22 picks up the disk D being handled by the disk handling means 25. , the portion of the disc clamper 13 attached thereto can be chucked and received from the disc handling means 25. Also, while displacing the disk chuck unit 22 in the direction B in the figure, the reversing shaft 22
When a is reversed, this disc chuck unit 22
The disk clamper 13 held between the holding claws 22d and 22a can be attached to the spindle 12, and when the holding claws 22d and 22d are released, the disk D is transferred to the spindle 12. Ru.

Further, in order to take out the disk D mounted on the spindle 12, the disk chuck unit 22 is displaced in the direction B in the figure, and its gripping claws 22d are removed.

22d grips the disk clamper 13 and moves it in six directions. As a result, the disk D clamped by this disk clamper 13 is moved to the spindle 12.
You will have to take it off from there. Therefore, in order to prevent the clamp pieces 13a, 13a from separating during this attachment/detachment operation, the engagement force between the clamp pieces 13a, 13a constituting the disc clamper 13 is adjusted to the connected state by the snap action mechanism 14. The holding power is stronger than that of

Then, the disc D can be transferred to the disc handling means 25 by reversing the reversing shaft 22a, opening the chuck, and guiding the disc chuck unit 22 out of the shutter 21.

A rod-shaped heater 26 is disposed in the heating chamber 4b, and in the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a,
When the disk D clamped by the disk clamper 13 is transferred to the heating chamber 4b, the disk D is heated to a predetermined temperature state (for example, 250° C.).

Furthermore, four film forming chambers 4c to 4 are provided.
A sputtering cathode source 30 is provided in each case. In each of these film forming chambers 4c to 4f, the first layer base film forming chamber 4C and the second layer base film forming chamber 4d have a target member made of chromium, and the magnetic film forming chamber 4e has a target member made of cobalt. Although a target member made of carbon is provided in the protective film forming chamber 4f, the structure of the target member other than the material of the sputtering cathode source 30 is the same.

Therefore, the structure of this sputtering cathode source 30 is shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

As is clear from these figures, the cathode source 30 has two sets of upper and lower sputter units 31 arranged in parallel with each other, that is, four sputter units 31, and each set of sputter units 3 faces each other.
A disk D is positioned between the two. Each sputtering unit 31 has a cylindrical target member 32 as a cathode member, and the outside of this target member 32 is surrounded by a mask cylinder 33. Both ends of this mask cylinder 33 extend to a casing 35 provided on a fixing arm 34, and are fixed to the wall of this casing 35, and a sputtering opening 33a extending in the axial direction is connected to a disk. It is formed to face D.

Both ends of each target member 32 extend into the casing 35 and are rotatably supported by bearings 36, and are equipped with pulleys 37, which are connected to a transmission belt 38 and a rotary drive means 39. The pulley 37 can be rotated by being connected to the pulley 37. Further, a central shaft 40 held in a non-rotating state is provided inside the target member 32, and a magnet 41 is attached to the central shaft 40 at a position facing the opening 33a. It has become.

The fixing arm 34 that supports each component of the sputtering cathode source 30 described above is attached to an opening/closing door 42 provided in the fixed housing 2, and by opening the opening/closing door 42, the sputtering cathode source 30 is exposed to the outside. The target member 32 and the like can be replaced by opening the target member 32 and the like. Here, each opening/closing door 42 attached to the film forming chambers 4C to 4f and the heating chamber 4b is disposed outside the clean room 27 bordering on the partition forming member 26. Replacement work and the like can be carried out without the operator entering the clean room 27.

When the disk D is located in the film forming chambers 4c to 4f, the four sputtering units 31 provided face the disk D at a position between the upper and lower fixing arms 34. Therefore, the target member 32
When the disc D clamped by the disc clamp means 12 is rotated, the disc D is rotated.
Target molecules irradiated from the opening 33a of the mask cylinder 33 adhere to both the front and back surfaces of the disk D, and a film is formed on the surface of the disk D. In this way, by performing sputtering while rotating the target member 32, the target member 32 is consumed over its entire circumference, so that the utilization efficiency of the target member 32 is improved. In addition, since the disk D is rotated at the same time, unlike coating while moving the disk D in a straight line, there is no streak-like film formation in the direction of movement, and the coating accuracy is It also improves.

Here, the sputtering coating described above is performed under an argon gas atmosphere while keeping the insides of the film forming chambers 4c to 4f in a vacuum state. For this purpose, these film forming chambers 4c to 4f as well as disk loading and
The unloading chamber 4a and the heating chamber 4b must also be maintained in a vacuum state. Furthermore, when the shutter 20 is opened, the disk transfer chamber 6 communicating with the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a must also be brought into a vacuum state. For this purpose, each of the aforementioned chambers 48 to 4f and 6
A vacuum suction device 43 is connected to the
This allows each chamber to be individually evacuated.

Moreover, the film forming chambers 4c to 4f are not necessarily maintained at the same pressure state, but are each maintained at a pressure level according to necessity, and the film forming chambers 4c to 4f are
Argon gas will be supplied within 4f. Further, the vacuum region consisting of the film forming chambers 4c to 4f and the passage 5 needs to be formed as narrow as possible. For this purpose, these film forming chambers 4c to 4f are configured to have the minimum necessary space, and the passage 5 is
As shown in the figure, the minimum space necessary for passing the disk D and the disk holding means 11 that holds the disk D is provided. This provides a kind of labyrinth function, allowing adjacent chambers to be partitioned to some extent. Moreover, the rotary conveyance drum 3
A movable partition wall 44 is installed at a position between adjacent disk holding means 11.

This movable partition wall 44 faces the wall surface forming the passageway 5 with a certain distance therebetween.

By adopting such a configuration, the disk D being handled by the disk handling means 25 is sequentially transferred into the disk transfer chamber 6 each time the shutter 21 is opened or closed, and It is chucked by the disk chuck unit 22. In this state, the row reactor 23 is operated, the disc chuck unit 22 is reversed 18 (1'), the shutter 20 is opened, and the back and forth movement means 24 is operated, so that the disc chuck unit 22 is held by the disc chuck unit 22. The disk D is transferred to the spindle 12 located in the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a.

Here, when the shutter 21 is opened, the inside of the disk delivery chamber 6 becomes equal to the atmosphere in the clean room 27, so every time the disk D is transferred into the disk delivery chamber 6 and the shutter 21 is closed, 6, by operating the vacuum suction device 43 connected to
This chamber 6 is evacuated.

The disk D brought into the disk delivery chamber 6 and fed into the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a in this manner is first transferred to the heating chamber 4b and heated by rotating the rotary conveyance drum 3. Note that within this heating chamber 4b, the disk D is heated in a rotating state.

Next, transfer to the first layer base film forming chamber 4C,
The upper and lower parts of both sides of this disk D face the sputtering unit 31, and the target member 32 is rotated, and while the disk D is rotationally driven, target molecules from the target member 32 are transferred to the opening of the mask cylinder 33. A base film is formed by attaching it to the surface of the disk D via 33a.

When the process in the first layer base film forming chamber 4C is completed, the second layer base film forming chambers 4d and 1 are sequentially moved.
The process is then transferred to the amorphous film forming chamber 4e and the protective film forming chamber 4f, where a film is formed on the disk D in the same manner as described above. The disk D on which the multilayer coating has been formed in this way returns to the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a again when the rotary transport drum 3 rotates 360 degrees.

When the disk D that has undergone the film-forming process returns to the disk unloading/loading chamber 4a, a pair of disk chuck units 2 provided in the disk transfer chamber 6
In one of the two units 22, a disk D to be subjected to the next film forming process is taken in from the outside and is chucked, but in the other unit 22, the disk D is not chucked. Therefore, this disk D
The disc chuck unit 22 on the side that is not chucked is operated to receive the disc D on which the film forming process has been completed. Thereafter, the disk D on which the film-forming process has been completed is delivered to a disk handling means 25 disposed outside.

After this, steady state operation is performed, and the six disk holding means 1 provided on the rotary conveyance drum 3
1, each spindle 12 has a disk D.
is clamped, and each time the rotary conveyance drum 3 index-rotates, a predetermined operation is simultaneously performed in each of the chambers 4a to 4f.

In this way, after the disk D is held by the disk holding means 11 in the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a, this disk D is always held by the disk holding means 11 in the disk loading/unloading chamber 4a.
1, and do not transfer it (
, and each film forming process, the transition to each process can be performed quickly and accurately, and there will be no inconvenience such as the disk D falling off.

Further, the rotary conveyance drum 3 is index-rotated to feed the disk D into each chamber 4b to 4f sequentially, and when the rotary conveyance drum 3 has rotated 360 degrees, the film forming process has been completed and the disk D is loaded.・
Since it is possible to return to the unloading chamber 4a and take out the disc, compared to a case where the chambers constituting the film forming process are arranged in a straight line, a separate return path for the disk, means for reversing the transport direction, etc. are required. Therefore, the structure of the disk transport mechanism is extremely simplified. Also,
The ability to simplify the configuration of the disk transport mechanism in this way is extremely advantageous in terms of miniaturization, especially in terms of reducing the vacuum area.

Moreover, since the disc D is configured to be transported to each chamber simply by rotating the rotary transport drum 3 facing the vacuum area, the possibility of dust generation is extremely reduced.

Further, in each chamber 48 to 4f, it is preferable to maintain the pressure state required for each operation and to individually manage the atmospheric state, such as filling the chambers with argon gas. For this reason, while a predetermined work is being performed in each chamber, the passages 5 provided between adjacent chambers are kept substantially isolated by the movable partition wall 44.

Therefore, it becomes possible to individually manage the atmospheric condition of each chamber.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1O to 12.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG.
An annular passage 105 is formed in a. In addition, a disk loading/unloading chamber l04a, a heating chamber 10
4b, the first base film forming chamber 104c, the second base film forming chamber 104d, the molar film forming chamber 104e, and the protective film forming chamber 104f are arranged on the top plate part 102b with a phase relationship of 60°, respectively. Therefore, a vacuum region is formed by passage 105 and chambers 104a-104f, and chambers 1048-104f
A vacuum pump (not shown) is connected to the chambers 104c to 104f, which control the film forming process, and an argon gas supply mechanism is connected to the chambers 104c to 104f.

A disk chuck unit 122 is provided within the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a. In addition, this disk chuck unit 122 does not directly exchange the disk D with the disk handling means C (not shown), but has a buffer chamber 150 between it and the outside.
is now being intervened. Between the disk transfer chamber 106 and the buffer chamber 150,
Shutters 151 and 152 are also provided between the buffer chamber 150 and a clean room in which a disk handling means is provided.

A disk chuck unit 122 provided in the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a is equipped with an appropriate mechanism for chucking the inner diameter portion of the disk D, and also includes a reversing means 123 equipped with a low reactor and the like.
Since the chamber 104a is disposed on the back-and-forth moving means 124, this chamber 104a requires a certain amount of space. As is clear from the description of the first embodiment, the disk handling means is disposed within a clean room, and the inside of this clean room is at atmospheric pressure. For this purpose, the disk loading/unloading chamber 10, which has a relatively large space, is used.
If the chamber 104a is opened directly into the clean room, it becomes difficult to evacuate the chamber 104a after the shutter is closed, and it takes a long time to evacuate the chamber 104a. Therefore, a buffer chamber 150 is provided, and this buffer chamber 150
By making the space extremely narrow, the chamber 150 can be evacuated easily and quickly after receiving the disk D from the outside.

The passage 105 includes a disk loading/unloading chamber 104a, a heating chamber 104b, a first base film forming chamber 104c, a second base film forming chamber 104d,
Openings 105a to 105f are formed at the positions of the FiFi film forming chamber 104e and the protective film forming chamber 104f, respectively, to communicate with these chambers. Each of these openings 105a to 105f is made as small as possible within a range that allows the disk D and the disk holding means 111 for holding the disk D to be inserted therethrough.

The disk holding means 111 is mounted movably up and down at the tips of six arms 103a attached to the index rotation member 103 with a phase of 60 degrees, which is index-rotated by the rotation drive means 107 by 60 degrees. As shown in FIG. 12, this disc holding means 111 has a receiving member 112 formed in an arc shape, and an arc-shaped receiving member 112 that supports a part of the outer circumference of the disc D is provided on the upper surface of the receiving member 112. A receiving groove 112a is formed. This receiving member 112 is a lifting rod made of a square bar.
113.

The elevating rod 113 is fitted into the arm 113a so as to be movable up and down, and extends downward. Each chamber 1 mentioned above
Fixed housing 1 in lower position from 048 to 104f
The piston rod 1 of the cylinder 157 for lifting and lowering is attached to the outer wall of the main body part 102a of 02 and extends into the passage 105 through a through hole 156 provided in this wall part.
57a to rise.

Further, a partition member 158 is attached to the lifting rod 113. This partition wall member 158 opens the opening 105 of the top plate portion 102b when the lifting rod 113 is raised and the disk D supported in the receiving groove 112a of the disk receiving member 112 is placed in the chambers 104a to 104f.
Each of these chambers 104a-104f can be closed by abutting against the lower surface of the opening position of chamber a-105f. And this chamber 104a-104
In order to make f even more effective, this partition wall member 15
On the upper surface of 8, there is a sealing member 1 that comes into contact with the top plate portion 102b.
59 is installed.

Since the disk holding means 111 supports and holds the outer periphery of the disk D with its receiving member 112, the disk D cannot be rotationally driven during the film forming process. Therefore, as a cathode of the sputtering coating means 130 provided in the chambers 1040 to 104f constituting the film forming process, a flat target member 132 is provided, and the target member 13
A magnet 141 is provided at a position behind 2. The target member 132 is made of chromium in the base film forming chambers 104C and 104d for the first and second layers, cobalt in the magnetic film forming chamber 104e, and carbon in the protective film forming chamber 104f. There is no particular difference from the first embodiment described above. And heating chamber 104b
Needless to say, a heater is also provided.

When the disk D is carried into the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a, the disk holding means 111 located below the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a is raised and positioned within the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a. . Therefore, first, from the outside, enter the buffer chamber 1.
50, and then, with this buffer chamber 150 under vacuum pressure, the disk D is introduced into the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a, and the disk holding means disposed at the position is This disk D is handed over to 111.

When the disk D is carried into the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a and mounted on the disk holding means 111,
Lower the disc holding hand p5ili and remove the disc D.
into the passage 105, and the index rotation means 10
Rotate 3 by 60° index.

This moves to the position where the heating chamber 104b is provided. Therefore, by operating the cylinder 157 disposed at that position, the disk D is raised together with the disk holding means l11 that holds it.
This disk D is located in the heating chamber 104b, and this heating chamber 104b is sealed by the partition member 158, and the disk D is heated in this state.

When this heating is completed, the first layer base film forming chamber 10
4c, the second layer base film forming chamber 104d, the magnetic film forming chamber 104e, and the protective film forming chamber 104f are sequentially moved to perform multilayer film formation in each chamber. Then, the index rotation means 103
When rotated by .degree., the disk D on which the film forming process has been completed returns to the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a, so that it can be taken out via the buffer chamber 150. At the same time, a newly introduced disk D is sent into the disk loading/unloading chamber 104a, and its heating, first layer base film formation, second layer base film formation, magnetic film formation, and protective film formation are sequentially performed. It will be done.

Furthermore, FIGS. 13 to 15 show a third embodiment of the present invention, and in this embodiment, as is clear from FIG.
Unlike the second embodiment described above, the main body 202a constituting the second embodiment has an annular passage 205 formed therein.
The top plate portion 202b has eight chambers 204a to 20.
4h is provided. Openings 205a to 205h are formed in this top plate portion 202b to allow passage 205 to communicate with chambers 204a to 204h.

Here, the second chamber 204b is a heating chamber.

The third chamber 204c is a first layer base film forming chamber,
The fourth chamber 204d is a second base film forming chamber,
There is no substantial difference from the second embodiment described above in that the fifth chamber 204e is a magnetic film forming chamber and the sixth chamber 204f is a protective film forming chamber. Further, the film forming chambers 204C to 204f are provided with a sputtering coating source having a flat target member similar to that of the second embodiment described above.

However, the first chamber 204a is a disk loading chamber, and this chamber 204a is a disk loading chamber having only the function of loading the disk D. Also,
The seventh chamber 204g is a disk unloading chamber for only unloading the disk D on which the film forming process has been completed, and the eighth chamber 204h is a cleaning chamber.

Therefore, the disc loading chamber 204a and the disc unloading chamber 204g are provided with doors 250a and 250g that allow the disc D to be loaded and unloaded. Furthermore, a disk handling means 251a for carrying in a disk and a disk handling means 251g for carrying out a disk are disposed outside this apparatus, and the disk handling means 251a,
251g, and the disk loading chamber 204a and the disk loading chamber 204g are configured to directly transfer the disk D.

The disk holding means 211 is a rotation driving means 20 such as a motor.
7, the disc receiving member 212 is attached to eight arms 203a attached to an index rotation member 203 that rotates the index every 45°, and an arcuate receiving groove 212a is formed in the disc receiving member 212. Although the points are similar to the second embodiment,
A bridge member 213 having a recess 213a is connected to the lower end of the shaft portion 212a of the disc receiving member 212.

This piece member 213 is provided with a stepped portion 213b, and the stepped portion 213b is adapted to engage with a through hole 203b formed in the arm 203a.

On the other hand, as a mechanism for raising and lowering the disk holding means 211, as shown in FIG.
The piston rod 257a of the sill 257 is connected to the passage 20 through the through hole 256 formed in the main body 202a.
A push-up piece 255 is provided at the tip of the piston rod 257a and has a convex portion 255a that fits into the recess 213a of the bridge member 213. Therefore, when the push-up piece 255 is raised, its convex portion 255a engages with the depression 213a formed in the bridge portion 213 of the disc receiving member 212, and the disc receiving member 2
12 from the arm 203a and open the opening 205.
It can now be introduced into the chimpanzer 204a to 204h via the channels a to 205h.

Furthermore, when the disk D is moved into the chambers 204a to 204h, a partition member 258 for closing the openings 205a to 205h is attached to the shaft portion 2 of the disk receiving member 2H.
11a, and this partition member 258
A sealing member 259 is provided at.

With this configuration, the disc receiving member 2
11 does not slide against other members during the lifting and lowering operation, and therefore, based on this sliding, there is no risk of dust generation.
By providing the cleaning chamber 204h between the disk unloading chamber 204g and the disk loading chamber 204a, foreign matter attached to the disk receiving member 211 can be removed during the film forming process. especially,
Carbon molecules irradiated from the target member in the protective film forming chamber 204f may adhere to the disk receiving member 211 and the shaft portion 211a, and if the film forming process for the next disk D is started with carbon still attached in this way, Although there is a possibility that carbon may adhere to the disk D during the film forming operation, carbon adhering to the disk receiving member 211 and the like can be removed and cleaned in this cleaning chamber 204h. Note that as the cleaning means disposed in the cleaning chamber 204h, a mechanism for performing an etching process or the like is preferably used.

When forming a film on a small-diameter disk, even if the disk receiving member 111 or 211 described above is used, there is little risk of the disk being dropped during transfer or the like. However, since the disk receiving member is also heated when the disk is heated, there is a risk that the disk receiving member will be thermally deformed, increasing the possibility that the disk will be dropped.

Therefore, when processing a large diameter disk D',
In order to hold it in a stable state, a disk holding member 300 as shown in FIG. 16 may be used. That is, as is clear from the figure, the arc-shaped receiving groove 301a
A disc receiving member 301 is provided, and a pair of chuck pieces 302, 302 are provided for chucking the outer diameter portion of the disc D' from the left and right, and a pair of chuck pieces 302, 302 are provided at the tips of these chuck parts 302, 302 to engage the disc D'. chuck portions 302a, 302a that fit together are provided;
Further, a spring 304 is configured to be pivotally connected to a swinging fulcrum 303 at the middle portion of each chuck piece 302 and act in a direction to separate the other end portions from each other.

As a result, the chuck pieces 302, 302 are always kept in a state of chucking the disk D', and can hold this disk D' in an extremely stable condition when feeding it into each chamber. Furthermore, when carrying the disk D' into and out of the film forming apparatus, it is necessary to release the chuck of the disk D'. Therefore, a roller 305 is attached to the end of the chuck piece 302 opposite to the side where the chuck part 302a is formed.
and a chuck release mechanism for pushing the roller 305 in a direction against the spring 304. Thereby, when it is necessary to attach or detach the disk D', it is only necessary to operate this chuck release mechanism.

[Advantageous Effects of the Invention 1] As explained above, the present invention has the advantage of forming a vacuum region consisting of a plurality of work chambers necessary for film-forming processing and passages between the chambers by a horizontal annular disk transport loop path. Therefore, there is no need to provide a path for returning the disk or a mechanism for reversing the direction of disk conveyance, making it possible to make the disk conveyance path extremely small and compact. The rotary conveyance means equipped with an indexing mechanism is rotated horizontally to convey the disks to each work chamber in sequence, so there is a disk holding means in the vacuum area, and the disk holding means is placed inside the vacuum area. It is only necessary to arrange the parts connected to the conveyance means, which saves space in the vacuum area.In addition, the entire device can be made smaller and more compact, which prevents the generation of dust and atmospheric pollution in the vacuum area. The risk of this occurring is extremely small, improving the quality of the film forming process.Furthermore, during the work, the disk is always held in the disk holding means and there is no need to transfer it, making the disk extremely stable. The disk can be held in a fixed state, there is very little risk of the disk falling off during work, and it is possible to move between work chambers at high speed, which has various effects such as improving overall processing efficiency. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 9 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a cross-sectional view of the film forming apparatus, and Figure 2 is a half-sectional view of the first
3 is an exploded perspective view of the disk clamp member, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the disk chuck unit, FIG. 5 is a side view of the chuck mechanism, and FIG. 6 is a film forming chamber. 7 is a sectional view of a sputtering cathode source, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an assembly of a sputtering cathode source, FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a passageway, and FIGS. FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of the film forming apparatus, FIG. 11 is a front view of FIG. 1O shown in a half-sectional state, FIG. 15 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 13 is a partial sectional plan view of the film forming apparatus, FIG. 14 is a front view of FIG. 13 shown in a half sectional state, and FIG. Explanatory diagram of the configuration of the elevating mechanism of the disc holding means, No. 16
The figure is a sectional view showing another example of the disc holding member. 1. 101, 201: device main body, 2, 102.
202: Fixed house sink, 102a, 202a
: Main body part, 102b, 202b: Top plate part, 3. Low-kuri conveyance drum, 4a. 104a: Disk loading/unloading chamber, 4b, 1
04. b. 204b: heating chamber, 4c, 104c, 20
4c: First layer base film formation chamber, 4d, 104d
, 2.04d: Second layer base film formation chamber, 4e,
104e, 204e magnetic film forming chamber, 4f,
l04f, 204f: Protective film forming chamber, 5,
105. 205: Passage, 6. 106+disk delivery chamber, 7: rotational drive means, 11. 111.
211゜300: Disc holding means, 12: Spindle, 13: Disc clamper, 14 Snap action machine side, 16: Drive motor, 20.21.151
, 152: shutter, 22. 122: Disc chuck unit, 23: Rotary actuator, 2
4: Back and forth movement means, 25, 251a, 251g: Disk hunting means, 26: Heater, 30 Varnish buttering coating source, 31 Varnish buttering unit, 32: Target member, 43: Vacuum suction device, 44:
Movable bulkhead, 103, 203: Index rotation means, 103a. 203a: Arm, 112. 212. 301
: Disk receiving member, 113: Lifting rod, 150
: buffer chamber, 157. 257 Niji Linda, 158. 258: Partition member, 159. 25
9: Seal member, 255: Push-up piece, 302: Jack piece, 304: Spring, D, D': Disc. Fig. 1 To 2 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 6 Fig. io Fig. y θ 65d Fig. 16

Claims (21)

[Claims] (1) A fixed wall part forming a horizontal annular disk transport loop path consisting of a plurality of work chambers and passages communicating between the work chambers, and a movable wall part forming a vacuum region together with the fixed wall part. a plurality of disk holding means attached to the movable wall portion and located in a vacuum region to hold the disk to be processed and perform predetermined processing and processing on the disk in each of the working chambers; The disc holding means is positioned in each of the work chambers by the rotary index type transport means and transported along the disc transport loop path, thereby simultaneously forming a film on both the front and back surfaces of the disc. A disk film forming apparatus characterized by the following. (2) The disk according to claim (1), wherein the working chamber is composed of a disk loading/unloading chamber, a disk heating chamber, and a plurality of coating forming chambers each provided with a coating forming means. Film deposition equipment. (3) In order to transfer the disc between the disc loading/unloading chamber and a disc transfer means for loading and unloading the disc, the disc loading/unloading chamber and a disc handling means located outside are connected. 3. The disk film forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a disk transfer chamber that can be opened and closed between the disks. (4) A pair of disc holding means for gripping the disc are provided in the disc delivery chamber with a phase relationship of 180°, and each of these disc gripping means is reversible. (3) Disk film forming apparatus as described. (5) A buffer chamber having a narrow space is provided when transferring a disk between the disk transfer chamber and the disk handling means, and a disk holding means for holding the disk is provided in the buffer chamber. In addition, a shutter that can be selectively opened and closed is provided between the disc transfer chamber and the disc handling means.
) or the disk film forming apparatus described in (4). (6) The work chamber includes a disk loading chamber;
The disk film forming method according to claim (1), comprising a disk heating chamber, a plurality of film forming chambers each provided with a film forming member, a disk ejecting chamber, and a cleaning chamber for a disk holding member. Device. (7) Claim (2) or (6), wherein the plurality of film forming chambers are comprised of at least one or two base film forming chambers, a magnetic film forming chamber, and a protective film forming chamber. Disk film forming apparatus described. (8) A configuration characterized in that buffer chambers each having a narrow space are provided when transferring a disk between the disk loading/unloading chamber or the disk loading/unloading chamber and the disk loading chamber and the outside. The disk film forming apparatus according to (2) or (6). (9) The disk film forming apparatus according to claim (1), wherein the disk holding means comprises disk clamping means for clamping the inner periphery of the disk. (10) The disk film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the disk holding means comprises a disk holder having an arc-shaped disk engagement groove that supports the outer periphery of the disk. (11) Claim (1) characterized in that the film is formed by rotationally driving the disk clamping means by a rotational driving means.
0) Disk film forming apparatus described. (12) The disk film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the disk holding means comprises disk chuck means for chucking the outer periphery of the disk. (13) A plurality of work chambers are arranged at predetermined angles, each consisting of at least a separate or single chamber for delivering and receiving disks, a disk heating chamber, and a plurality of film forming chambers each provided with a film forming member. At the same time, a horizontal annular disk transport loop path is formed by connecting each of the work chambers through an arcuate communication passage, and a vacuum area is formed by facing the outer circumferential wall of the horizontal rotating cylinder. , in this vacuum region, support shafts are provided extending from the outer circumferential wall of the horizontal rotating cylinder toward the inside of the vacuum region at angles corresponding to the positions of the respective work chambers; A disk film forming apparatus characterized by having a configuration in which a disk holding means for holding a disk is provided. (14) Each of the support shafts is rotatably inserted through the outer circumferential wall of the horizontal rotating cylinder, and each of the support shafts is configured to be rotated by a rotation drive means, and the disk holding means is arranged around the inner circumference of the disk. 14. The disk film forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the disk film forming apparatus is configured to clamp the disk. (15) Claim (15) characterized in that the film forming member disposed in each of the film forming chambers has a rotary cylindrical shape.
14) The disk film forming apparatus described above. (16) The disk film forming apparatus according to claim (15), characterized in that two sets of the film forming members are arranged above and below the disk. (17) The horizontal rotary cylinder is provided with partitions between adjacent work chambers without contact with walls that partition and form the communication passages at positions between adjacent shafts among the respective shafts. 14. The disk film forming apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a movable partition wall is provided. (18) A plurality of work chambers each consisting of at least a separate or single chamber for transferring the disk, a disk heating chamber, and a plurality of film forming chambers are installed in the upper position of the disk transport loop path formed in a horizontal annular shape. The working chambers are arranged at predetermined angles, and the passages are communicated with each other through openings through which at least a disk can be inserted to form a vacuum region, and the passages include a rotary index type rotating The outer circumferential wall of the member is provided so as to face, and support arms are provided on the outer circumferential wall and extend to face into the passageway at angles corresponding to the positions of the respective work chambers, and each support arm is provided with a disk holding arm. A disk film forming apparatus characterized in that a means is installed between the inside of the passage and each of the working chambers so as to be movable up and down. (19) The disk holding means is provided with a partition member that closes the communication port when a disk is mounted thereon and moved into each of the working chambers. 18) The disk film forming apparatus described above. (20) The disk holding means is configured to be moved into each of the work chambers by pushing up a lifting rod that is slidably attached to the support arm using a pushing up rod provided at the bottom of the passage. A disk film forming apparatus according to claim 19. (21) An engagement member that engages with the support arm is connected to the disk holding means, and the engagement member is pushed up by a push-up rod to be moved into each of the work chambers. A disk film forming apparatus according to claim (20).