JPH04212717A - Vacuum deposition method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To considerably increase the efficiency of vacuum deposition, to ensure high productivity and to reduce the size of a device even when two or more layers are formed by melting a material to be vacuum-deposited and irradiating the resulting melt with an electron beam. CONSTITUTION:A material to be vacuum-deposited is melted, the resulting melt 8 is allowed to flow down continuously and a prescribed position of the flowing melt 8 is irradiated with an electron beam 7. Vacuum deposition is carried out on a continuously transferred flexible beltlike substrate 30 with flows 9 of vapor generated in the direction of a normal line of the surface of the flowing melt.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum evaporation method and apparatus, and more particularly to a vacuum evaporation method and apparatus for forming a metal thin film on a continuously transferred flexible strip support by vacuum evaporation. .

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, various thin film forming methods have been used to form magnetic recording media, thin film integrated circuits, energy conversion devices, etc. by forming metal thin films of single metals, alloys, etc. on base materials such as polymer moldings. As is known, a vacuum evaporation method is effective as a forming method for forming a metal thin film with good productivity on a flexible strip-shaped support (hereinafter referred to as a web) that is continuously transported. For example, as a conventional manufacturing method for magnetic recording media,
A coating-type production method has been widely used in which a powder magnetic material is coated on a nonmagnetic support together with an organic binder and dried to form a magnetic layer.

However, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for increasing the storage capacity of magnetic recording media, and it has become necessary to increase the magnetic energy of magnetic recording media and to make the magnetic layer thinner. Therefore, the coercive force Hc and the residual magnetic flux density Br are large compared to a coating type magnetic recording medium in which a magnetic coating liquid in which a powder magnetic material as described above is dispersed in an organic binder is coated on a non-magnetic support and dried. 2. Description of the Related Art Ferromagnetic metal thin film type magnetic recording media, in which a metal thin film made of a ferromagnetic metal material is directly deposited on a nonmagnetic support, are beginning to be used, which allows the thickness of the magnetic layer to be extremely thin.

Methods for manufacturing such ferromagnetic metal thin film magnetic recording media include wet methods such as electrolytic plating and electroless plating, as well as vacuum evaporation, sputtering, ion plating, and CVD. Although there are dry methods such as the above, vacuum evaporation is the most suitable method for forming a magnetic layer on a continuously transported web from the viewpoint of film formation speed and productivity.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a conventional vacuum evaporation apparatus 20. The inside of the vacuum container 32 is heated to 10-
Polyethylene terephthalate or the like is maintained at a pressure in the range of 4 Torr to 10-6 Torr as necessary, and is sent out from the delivery roll 22 and wound up on the take-up roll 23 along the circumferential side of the cylindrical cooling can 24. A web 30 made of a polymeric material is configured to be moved and conveyed in the direction of arrow A in synchronization with the rotation of the cooling can 24.

An evaporation source 21 is located below the cooling can 24.
is provided, and the vapor deposition material 28 in the crucible 27 is heated and melted by an electron beam 31 to generate an evaporation vapor flow 29. This evaporated vapor flow 29 is then transferred to the web 30.
to form a thin film on the web 30. In order to perform continuous vapor deposition on the web 30 having a predetermined width, the electron beam 31 normally heats the vapor deposition material 28 while scanning in the web width direction as shown in FIG. Therefore, the crucible 27 has a container width that is at least parallel to the web width direction.

By the way, the evaporation source 21 is generally arranged at a position that does not coincide with the central axis 26 of the cooling can 24 so that the film-forming crystal structure can be formed obliquely on the web 30. Furthermore, when manufacturing a ferromagnetic metal thin film type magnetic recording medium using such a vacuum evaporation apparatus 20, a part of the evaporated vapor flow 29 obtained by heating and melting the ferromagnetic metal material It is known that the magnetic properties of the magnetic layer formed on the web 30, such as the coercive force Hc and the squareness ratio SQ, can be improved by blocking the magnetic field with the mask 25.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the evaporation vapor flow of the evaporation material obtained by the above-mentioned evaporation source is
Since the evaporated vapor flow has a density distribution expressed by cosn α, with the highest density in the vertical direction, which is the normal to the liquid surface of the molten vapor deposition material, the evaporated vapor flow is directed onto the web 30 at a predetermined incident angle. In a conventional vapor deposition apparatus in which the evaporation source is disposed at a position that does not coincide with the central axis 26 of the cooling can 24, (the direction in which the vapor flow density is maximum) is deviated from above the web 30, and only a small portion of the evaporated vapor flow is deposited on the web, and furthermore, a part of the vapor flow is blocked by the mask. Put it away.

[0009] For this reason, the conventional vacuum evaporation method in which the evaporation material is deposited onto a web that is continuously transferred as described above has the problem that the evaporation efficiency of the evaporation material deposited onto the web is extremely low. Several solutions have been proposed, but no significant improvement in deposition efficiency could be expected. Therefore, when relatively expensive nonferrous metals such as Co and Co alloys are used as vapor deposition materials, it is difficult to reduce material costs and improve production speed, and there is a problem that productivity is poor. Ta.

On the other hand, in order to form two magnetic layers or other vapor deposited film layers by one vapor deposition process, it has conventionally been necessary to install a plurality of cooling cans. The reason for this is that when trying to direct the evaporated vapor flow onto the web 30 at a predetermined angle of incidence using one can as described above, there are not so many positions that meet that condition; It is extremely difficult to achieve good vapor deposition of two or more layers by installing multiple crucibles in the process, and it is necessary to install multiple cooling cans. Therefore, 2
Deposition of more than one layer requires a relatively large space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems.It is possible to significantly improve the vapor deposition efficiency of the vapor deposition material, to improve productivity, and to reduce the cost of the apparatus even when vapor depositing two or more layers. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum evaporation method and apparatus that can avoid increasing the size of the apparatus and also enable miniaturization of the apparatus.

0012

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above object of the present invention is to continuously flow a molten metal made of a pre-melted vapor deposition material downward and to irradiate a predetermined position of the flowing molten metal with an electron beam. This is achieved by a vacuum evaporation method characterized in that the evaporation material is evaporated onto a flexible strip-shaped support that is continuously transported by a stream of evaporated vapor evaporated in the normal direction to the surface of the fluidized molten metal.

According to another means, the above object of the present invention is achieved by providing a first crucible that is equipped with a heating means for melting the vapor deposition material and that continuously flows out the molten metal downward; A vacuum evaporation apparatus having an evaporation source consisting of a guide member that allows the molten metal flowing out from the guide member to flow in a fixed direction at a predetermined inclination angle, a second crucible that receives the molten metal that flows down along the guide member, and an electron beam generating means. A flexible band-shaped support that is continuously transported by an evaporative vapor flow that is irradiated with an electron beam to a predetermined position of the molten metal flowing along the guide member and evaporated in the normal direction of the surface of the flowing molten metal. This is achieved by a vacuum evaporation apparatus characterized in that the evaporation material is evaporated onto the body.

Furthermore, the above object of the present invention is to irradiate the surface of a molten metal made of pre-melted vapor deposition material flowing diagonally downward and generate electron beams in the normal direction of the surface of the molten metal. The evaporative vapor flow generated by irradiating the horizontal molten metal surface with an electron beam and the evaporative vapor flow generated almost vertically by irradiating the horizontal molten metal surface are simultaneously irradiated at different locations on a continuously transported flexible strip support. This can also be achieved by a vacuum evaporation method characterized by forming a plurality of evaporation layers at once.

Furthermore, the above object of the present invention is to provide a first crucible that is equipped with a heating means for melting the vapor deposition material and that continuously flows out the molten metal downward, and a cooling can for the molten metal that flows out from the first crucible. a guide member that is inclined so as to face the flexible band-shaped support that is continuously transferred thereon; another crucible that allows the horizontal molten metal to face the flexible band-shaped support; and a plurality of electron beam generators. means for directing the evaporated vapor flow generated from the inclined molten metal surface on the guide member and the evaporated vapor flow generated from the molten metal surface of the other crucible onto the flexible strip-shaped support. This can be achieved by using a vacuum evaporation apparatus characterized in that it is configured to form a plurality of evaporated layers at once by irradiating different parts of the evaporation layer at the same time.

[0016]

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of essential parts of a vacuum evaporation apparatus based on one embodiment of the present invention.

In the vacuum container, a web 30 is guided along the circumferential side of a cylindrical cooling can 24, and the vapor deposition source 1 according to the present invention is disposed below the cooling can 24. The vapor deposition source 1 is made of, for example, Fe, Co,
A first crucible 2 equipped with preheating means for melting a vapor deposition material made of a ferromagnetic metal such as Ni, and a molten metal 8 of the vapor deposition material continuously flowing out from the first crucible 2 at a predetermined angle of inclination. It is comprised of a guide member 4 that causes the melt to flow in the same direction, a second crucible 5 that receives the molten metal 8 that flows down along the guide member 4, and an electron beam generating means (not shown).

The first crucible 2 is a heat-resistant container configured to be swingable about a rotation axis extending in the width direction of the container. Therefore, the molten metal 8 of the vapor deposition material heated and melted by the electron beam 6 irradiated from the electron source filament 3 provided near the first crucible 2 is heated and melted by appropriately shaking the first crucible 2. By tilting, the first crucible 2, which is swung downward, is uniformly and continuously flowed out over almost the entire width of the container through a notch provided along the width direction of the container at the upper edge of the container. Ru. Note that the electron beam 6 only preheats the molten metal 8 and melts it so that it can flow, and the beam intensity is such that it does not substantially generate a vapor flow that evaporates the molten metal 8 and contributes to film formation. It should be kept at .

The guide member 4 has at least its normal line perpendicular to the width direction of the web 30, and the cooling can 2
It has a wide groove having an inclined bottom surface facing the circumferential side of the crucible 4, and allows the molten metal 8 flowing out from the first crucible 2 to flow at a predetermined angle of inclination. Further, the guide member 4 is
The inclination angle can be changed arbitrarily. The second crucible 5 is a heat-resistant container that receives the molten metal 8 that continuously flows down in a band shape from the lower end of the guide member 4, and has a container width sufficient for the flow width of the molten metal 8. There is.

[0020] Also, the first crucible 2 and the guide member 4
and the second crucible 5 are MgO and Al2O, respectively.
3. Made of refractory containing CaO, ZrO, etc. Therefore, when forming a desired metal thin film on the web 30 using the evaporation source 1 as described above, the guide member 4
The electron beam 7 is irradiated to a predetermined position of the molten metal 8 which is continuously flowing in a band shape in the wide groove while scanning in the width direction of the groove. Here, it is desirable that the electron beam 7 has an accelerating voltage of 10 kV or more. Then, the electron beam 7
An evaporated vapor flow 9 is generated from the surface of the molten metal 8 irradiated with the molten metal 8, and a thin metal film is formed on the web 30 that is guided to run in a position opposite to the guide member 4.

[0021] At this time, the evaporated vapor flow 9 flows into the molten metal 8.
Since the molten metal 8 evaporates with the highest density distribution in the normal direction of the liquid surface, the directivity center of the evaporated vapor flow 9 evaporates from the surface of the molten metal 8 that is flowing at a predetermined angle of inclination. The axis is inclined from the vertical direction by the same angle as the inclination angle of the guide member 4. That is, by appropriately changing the inclination angle of the guide member 4, the central axis of the directivity of the evaporated vapor flow 9 can be arbitrarily inclined.

Therefore, the central axis of the directivity of the evaporated vapor flow 9 can be directed at a desired incident angle with respect to the web 30, and the evaporated vapor flow 9 having a predetermined incident angle with respect to the web 30 can be directed. Since the portion involved in film formation can be expanded, the deposition efficiency of the deposition material deposited on the web 30 can be increased. In addition, since the central axis of the directivity of the evaporated vapor flow 9 can be tilted arbitrarily, the coercive force of the magnetic layer to be formed is particularly useful when manufacturing a ferromagnetic metal thin film type magnetic recording medium. It becomes easy to arbitrarily set the incident angle of the evaporated vapor flow to the web 30 so that magnetic properties such as Hc and squareness ratio SQ are optimized, and a magnetic recording medium with good magnetic properties can be obtained. .

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of a vacuum evaporation apparatus having an evaporation source according to another embodiment of the present invention. The evaporation source 14 includes a first crucible 15 equipped with a preheating means, and a guide member 16 that causes the molten metal 8 of the vapor deposition material continuously flowing out from the first crucible 15 to flow in a constant direction at a predetermined inclination angle. , a second crucible 17 that receives the molten metal 8 flowing down along the guide member 16;
It is composed of electron beam generating means (not shown). The first crucible 15 is a heat-resistant container having a container width that is at least parallel to the width direction of the web 30 and approximately equal to the width of the web 30. And the web 30
A slit opening 19 is provided along the width direction of the container in the side wall facing the container.

Therefore, the molten metal 8 of the vapor deposition material heated and melted by the electron beam 6 irradiated from the electron source filament 3 provided near the first crucible 15 is spread over almost the entire width of the container from the slit opening 19. The liquid flows uniformly and continuously over the slit opening 19, and flows down along the wide groove of the guide member 16 that is continuously disposed in the slit opening 19. The wide groove of the guide member 16 has an inclined bottom surface whose normal line is at least perpendicular to the width direction of the web 30 and which faces the circumferential side of the cooling can 24. 8 is made to flow at a predetermined angle of inclination. Further, the wide groove of the guide member 16 has a groove width that is approximately equal to the container width of the first crucible 15 and the width of the web 30, and the molten metal 8 flowing in the wide groove is It flows down continuously in a strip having a width approximately equal to the width of the web 30 and is received in the second crucible 17 . Further, the inclination angle of the guide member 16 is configured to be changeable as desired.

Therefore, according to the evaporation source 14 of this embodiment, the molten metal 8 can be made to flow in a fixed amount at a time without appropriately shaking the container as in the first crucible 2 shown in the above embodiment. can. Similarly to the evaporation source 1, by appropriately setting the inclination angle of the guide member 16, electrons can be directed to a predetermined position of the molten metal 8 that is continuously flowing in a band shape within the wide groove of the guide member 16. The central axis of the directivity of the evaporative vapor flow 9 that is irradiated and evaporated while scanning the beam 7 in the groove width direction can be arbitrarily tilted.

Therefore, the deposition efficiency of the deposition material deposited on the web 30 can be increased, and especially when manufacturing a ferromagnetic metal thin film type magnetic recording medium, a magnetic recording medium with good magnetic properties can be obtained. medium can be obtained.

Furthermore, according to the vacuum deposition method of the present invention, it is also possible to direct the central axis of the directivity of the evaporated vapor flow 9 in the horizontal direction. Depending on the structure of the vapor deposition apparatus, for example, the arrangement of cooling cans, web conveyance systems, etc., as well as the balance with other equipment, there may be cases where the crucibles must be arranged almost vertically. In such a case, like the evaporation source 10 shown in FIG. The first crucible 11, which is a heat-resistant container configured to be swingable, is tilted by swinging as appropriate. Then, the molten metal 8 of the vapor deposition material heated and melted by the electron beam 6 irradiated from the electron source filament 3 provided near the first crucible 11 is transferred to the first crucible 11 which is swung downward. It is allowed to fall evenly and continuously over substantially the entire width of the container from a notch provided along the width direction of the container at the upper edge of the container, and is received in the second crucible 12 . Therefore, by irradiating a predetermined position of the molten metal 8 falling in a band shape with the electron beam 7 while scanning it in the horizontal direction, it is possible to obtain an evaporated vapor flow 9 whose central axis of directivity is oriented in the horizontal direction.

[0028] In the embodiment described above, the case where there is one evaporation source has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and can also be configured as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, for example. Note that with regard to the reference numerals in FIGS. 6 and 7, the same components are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the evaporation source for forming the first vapor deposited layer 40, which is the lower layer, has the same structure as the evaporation source shown in FIG. That is, the surface of the molten metal 8 made of pre-melted vapor deposition material was continuously flowed diagonally downward, and the electron beam 7 was irradiated from diagonally above the left in the figure to generate electron beams in the normal direction of the molten metal surface. The first vapor deposition layer 40 is formed by the vapor flow 9 . Further, a second vapor deposition layer 50, which is an upper layer, is formed using a third crucible 27 installed at a position substantially parallel to the second crucible 17. That is, the second vapor deposition layer 50 is formed by the evaporation vapor flow 29 generated in a substantially vertical direction by irradiating the horizontal molten metal surface of the vapor deposition material 28 in the third crucible 27 with an electron beam 31 . In addition,
A central mask 25 is optionally provided to separate the vaporized vapor stream 9 and the vaporized vapor stream 29.

[0030] In this way, the web 30 continuously transferred on one cooling can 24 is simultaneously irradiated with two or more evaporated vapor streams at appropriately separated locations to form a plurality of vapor deposited layers at once. I can do it. This is because conventionally, for example, when trying to simultaneously form the first vapor deposition layer 40 and the second vapor deposition layer 50 by using a structure in which the second crucible 17 and the third crucible 27 are installed together, the efficiency is reduced. When trying to direct each of the evaporated vapor streams onto the web 30 at a good incident angle, the crucible installation positions that satisfy the conditions for efficiently forming both evaporation layers are narrow and almost overlap, which reduces the degree of freedom in crucible installation. There are hardly any. However, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, the degree of freedom in controlling the irradiation angle of the evaporated vapor flow is dramatically improved, and multiple crucibles can be installed to achieve good vapor deposition of two or more layers. There is no need to provide a plurality of cooling cans as in the conventional method, and two or more layers can be deposited without reducing the deposition efficiency of the deposition material, and it is possible to avoid increasing the size of the apparatus. In the case of this embodiment, the first vapor deposited layer 40 and the second vapor deposited layer 50 may be made of different vapor deposited metal materials.

The device shown in FIG. 7 differs from the device shown in FIG. 6 in only one point, and is otherwise completely the same. That is, this is a structure in which the third crucible 27 in FIG. 6 is eliminated and the second crucible 17 is also used. This device is suitable for cases in which the vapor deposition material for each vapor deposition layer is the same, and since the third crucible 27 can be omitted compared to the device shown in FIG. 6, further progress can be made in terms of miniaturization of the device. can.

Although the apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is configured to generate two evaporative vapor streams, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the present invention can generate three or more evaporative vapor streams. I can do it. In this case, for example, by installing an evaporation source similar to the evaporation source on the left side shown in FIG. 6 on the right side of the third crucible 27, the third evaporation layer can be formed. Furthermore, for example, by installing an evaporation source similar to the evaporation source on the left side shown in FIG. 7 on the right side, it is possible to form third and fourth evaporation layers that are different from the evaporation materials of the first and second evaporation layers. can.

In each of the embodiments described above, electron beam heating is used as a preheating means for heating and melting the vapor deposition material, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, resistance heating, induction heating, etc. Other heating means can also be used. Further, the vacuum evaporation method of the present invention is not limited to obtaining a ferromagnetic metal thin film, but can also obtain various thin films such as a conductive film and a Si thin film. Further, the shapes of the crucibles and guide members as described above are not limited to the shapes of the embodiments described above, and of course they can take various shapes.

[0034]

According to the present invention, a molten metal made of pre-melted vapor deposition material is continuously flowed downward, and an electron beam is irradiated to a predetermined position of the flowing molten metal, and the normal line of the surface of the flowing molten metal is The vapor deposition material is deposited onto a flexible strip support that is continuously transported by a directional vapor stream.

Therefore, by appropriately inclining the flowing direction of the molten metal, the central axis of the directivity of the evaporated vapor flow evaporating in the normal direction to the surface of the flowing molten metal can be set at a predetermined angle with respect to the flexible band-shaped support. The flexible strip support can be directed at an angle of incidence to enlarge the part of the evaporated vapor flow that has a predetermined angle of incidence with respect to the flexible strip support. The vapor deposition efficiency of the vapor deposition material deposited on the body can be increased. In addition, since the central axis of the directivity of the evaporated vapor flow can be tilted in any direction, for example, when depositing a ferromagnetic metal thin film type magnetic layer on the flexible strip-shaped support, It becomes easy to arbitrarily set the incident angle of the evaporated vapor flow so that the magnetic properties of the magnetic layer are optimized, and a magnetic recording medium with good magnetic properties can be obtained. Therefore, the vapor deposition efficiency of the vapor deposition material deposited on the flexible strip-shaped support is increased, which reduces waste of the vapor-deposition material, and the transfer speed of the flexible strip-shaped support can be increased. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a vacuum deposition method and apparatus that can provide a thin film with good properties and high quality.

Further, according to the present invention, since the direction of the evaporative vapor flow can be set as desired, two or more evaporative vapor flows can be directed to the flexible strip support that is continuously transferred on one cooling can. can be irradiated simultaneously at suitably distant locations, and multiple vapor deposited layers can be formed at once. Therefore, conventionally, when trying to direct multiple evaporated vapor streams to the flexible strip support at an efficient incident angle, the crucible installation position that satisfies the conditions for efficiently forming each vapor deposition layer is narrow. Whereas there was almost no flexibility in installing crucibles, according to the present invention, the degree of freedom in controlling the irradiation angle of the evaporated vapor flow has been dramatically improved, and multiple crucibles can be installed in one cooling can. Good multi-layer vapor deposition can be achieved, two or more layers can be vapor-deposited without reducing the vapor deposition efficiency of the vapor deposition material, and it is possible to avoid increasing the size of the apparatus.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of essential parts of a vacuum evaporation apparatus based on one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of essential parts of a vacuum evaporation apparatus based on another embodiment for carrying out the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of essential parts of a vacuum evaporation apparatus based on another embodiment for carrying out the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a conventional vacuum evaporation apparatus.

5 is an enlarged perspective view of the evaporation source shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of a vacuum evaporation apparatus based on an embodiment in which there are two evaporation sources in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of a vacuum evaporation apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention in which there are two evaporation sources.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Evaporation source 2 First crucible 3 Electron source filament 4
Guide member 5 Second crucible 6, 7 Electron beam 8 Molten metal 9 Evaporation vapor flow 10 Evaporation source 11 First crucible 12 Second crucible 14 Evaporation source 15 First crucible 16 Guide member 17 Second crucible 19 Slit opening 20 Vacuum deposition device 21 Evaporation source 22 Delivery roll 23 Take-up roll 24 Cooling can 25 Mask 26 Central shaft 27 Crucible (third crucible) 28
Vapor deposition material 29 Evaporated vapor flow 30 Web 31 Electron beam 32 Vacuum container 33 Exhaust device 40 First vapor deposition layer 50 Second vapor deposition layer

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claim 1: Evaporation in which a molten metal made of pre-melted vapor deposition material is continuously flowed downward, and an electron beam is irradiated to a predetermined position of the flowing molten metal to evaporate in the normal direction of the surface of the flowing molten metal. A vacuum deposition method, characterized in that the vapor deposition material is deposited on a flexible strip-shaped support that is continuously transported by a vapor flow. 2. A first crucible that is equipped with heating means for melting the vapor deposition material and that continuously flows out the molten metal downward, and a predetermined slope so that the molten metal that flows out from the first crucible faces the cooling can. A vacuum evaporation apparatus having an evaporation source consisting of a guide member that causes the molten metal to flow in a certain direction at an angle, a second crucible that receives the molten metal flowing down along the guide member, and an electron beam generating means, An electron beam is irradiated onto a predetermined position of the flowing molten metal, and the evaporation vapor flow is evaporated in the normal direction of the surface of the flowing molten metal.
A vacuum evaporation apparatus characterized in that the evaporation material is evaporated onto a flexible strip-shaped support that is continuously transferred. 3. A molten metal made of pre-melted vapor deposition material is continuously flowed diagonally downward, and an electron beam is irradiated onto the surface of the molten metal to generate an evaporation vapor flow in the normal direction of the molten metal surface and a horizontal evaporation vapor flow. By irradiating the surface of the molten metal with an electron beam to generate an evaporative vapor flow in a nearly vertical direction, the evaporated vapor flow is simultaneously irradiated at different locations on a continuously transported flexible strip-shaped support, thereby forming multiple evaporated layers. A vacuum evaporation method characterized by forming . 4. A first crucible that is equipped with a heating means for melting the vapor deposition material and allows the molten metal to continuously flow downward; and a flexible crucible that continuously transfers the molten metal that flows out from the first crucible on a cooling can. a guide member inclined so as to face the flexible band-shaped support, another crucible capable of allowing the horizontal molten metal to face the flexible band-shaped support, and a plurality of electron beam generating means, An evaporative vapor flow generated from the inclined molten metal surface on the guide member and an evaporative vapor flow generated from the molten metal surface of the other crucible are simultaneously irradiated to separate locations on the flexible strip-shaped support. A vacuum evaporation apparatus characterized in that it is configured to form a plurality of evaporation layers at once. 5. The vacuum evaporation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said other crucible is a second crucible that receives the molten metal flowing out from said first crucible.