JPH04285161A - Sputtering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To previously prevent a flake becoming the factor of a large flaw from being stuck on a base plate in relation to a sputtering device which is used as a film forming means in the process for producing a magnetic recording medium and a semiconductor device, etc. CONSTITUTION:In a device wherein the sputtering particles generated from a target (t) are stuck to a base plate 1, this sputtering device is constituted so that a net 19 for inhibiting pass of a flake is provided between a flake generating part and the base plate 1.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus used as a film forming means in the process of manufacturing magnetic recording media, semiconductor devices, and the like.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the layer structure of a thin film type magnetic recording medium. A Ni-P layer 2 is plated on an aluminum substrate 1, and a Cr layer 3, a magnetic layer 4 made of CoCrTa, and a C layer 5 are formed in this order, and on top of that, a Lu layer is formed.
A lubricant layer 6 consisting of b is applied. Cr layer 3, C
The magnetic layer 4 made of oCrTa and the carbon layer 5 are continuously formed using a continuous sputtering apparatus as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, a vacuum chamber 7 has a substrate supply chamber 81 and a preheating chamber 82 on one side, and a substrate discharge chamber 10 on the opposite side. Since the vacuum chamber 7 is constantly evacuated and a sputtering atmosphere is maintained, in order to supply the substrate 1 into the vacuum chamber 7 for sputtering, the door 91 of the substrate supply chamber 81 is opened and the substrate is supplied. After that, the door 92 of the next preheating chamber 82 is opened and the sample is fed into the preheating chamber 82, and after the preheating chamber 82 is sufficiently evacuated, the door 93 of the partition wall is opened and the sample is fed into the vacuum chamber 7. After moving inside the vacuum chamber 7 and performing sputtering from targets t1, t2, and t3 on both sides, the door 12 of the partition wall on the exit side is opened, and the substrate discharge chamber 1 in a vacuum state is opened.
0, close the door 12, open the exit door 13, and take it out.

[0004] In the case of a layer structure as shown in FIG. 4, the target t1 is Cr, the target t2 is a magnetic material made of CoCrTa, and the target t3 is carbon, and the substrate 1 is placed between the targets t1, t2, and t3 on both sides. By passing through, the Cr layer 3, the magnetic layer 4 made of CoCrTa, and the C layer 5 are formed in this order.

By the way, each target t1 in the vacuum chamber 7
, t2, and t3, as shown in FIG. 6, a shielding plate 14 and an adhesion prevention plate 15 are provided. That is, the target t is fixed to the backing plate 16 and covered with the shielding plate 14 so that only a predetermined region of the target t is exposed. Then, by the deposition prevention plate 15 having an opening 17 in front of the target t, only the particles that have passed through the opening 17 are sputtered onto the substrate 1, and other sputtered particles are blocked by the deposition prevention plate 15, and the inner wall of the vacuum chamber 7 It is designed to prevent it from adhering to other objects.

[0006]

However, the particles scattered from the target t adhere to the adhesion prevention plate 15, and deposits as shown at 18 are generated. Then, the deposits peel off and become flakes, which move to the substrate 1 side together with the sputtered particles from the target t while floating in the vacuum chamber and adhere to the substrate 1.

These flakes are made of a different material from the particles that fly directly from the target t to the substrate 1 and become foreign matter. This has an adverse effect on the magnetic field and causes errors during magnetic recording/reproduction. In addition, since the flakes are peeling powder of the adhesion to the adhesion prevention plate 15, etc., the target t
Unlike sputtered fine particles, large foreign particles measuring several tens of micrometers are mixed in, and a large area becomes a defect on the magnetic film of a magnetic recording medium.

[0008] In recent years, with the demand for higher recording densities in magnetic recording media, magnetic heads have become thinner, the track width during recording/reproduction has been reduced, and there has been a trend toward higher BPI density. The large defects described above are an impediment to such high-density recording.

A technical object of the present invention is to focus on such problems and to prevent flakes, which cause large defects, from adhering to a substrate.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the basic principle of a sputtering apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a substrate on which sputtering is performed, and t is a target. In the device of the present invention, a net 19 is provided between the substrate 1 and a flake generating area such as near the adhesion prevention plate to prevent flakes from passing through.

[0011] In the invention of claim 2, the target t and the substrate 1
A magnet is disposed in a region other than the path of sputtered particles between the sputtered particles and is configured to attract flakes.

0012

[Operation] According to the invention of claim 1, a net 19 is provided between the flake generating portion and the substrate 1 to prevent the flakes from passing through.
Because of this arrangement, even if the flakes generated in the flake generating section try to move toward the substrate 1, the flakes are blocked by the net 19 and cannot reach the substrate 1. Some of the fine flakes pass through the net 19 and adhere to the substrate 1, while others adhere to the net 19, but since the flakes that pass through the net 19 and adhere to the substrate 1 are fine, conventional It is not a large-area defect like .

Furthermore, in the structure in which the magnet is disposed in a region other than the path of the sputtered particles between the target t and the substrate 1 as in the second aspect of the invention, when the flakes are magnetic,
It is magnetically attracted and captured by a magnet. Therefore, the amount of flakes that reach and adhere to the substrate side is reduced, and the number of defects on the substrate is reduced. Furthermore, since the magnet is disposed in a region other than the path of the sputtered particles between the target t and the substrate 1, it does not prevent the sputtered particles generated from the target t from flying toward the substrate.

[0014]

EXAMPLES Next, examples will be used to explain how the sputtering apparatus according to the present invention is actually implemented. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment (first embodiment) of the invention according to claim 1. 1 is a substrate on which sputtering is performed, and is supported by a holder 20. Targets t, t are arranged on both sides of the passage through which the holder 20 supporting the substrate 1 passes. In front of both targets t, t, a shielding plate 14 and an adhesion prevention plate 15 are arranged as shown in FIG. 6, but they are omitted in this figure.

For example, on both sides of the passage of the holder 20,
Nets 19, 19 made of US or the like are disposed, and sputtered particles from targets t, t pass through these nets 19, 19.
and is deposited on the substrate 1. Further, at this time, since foreign substances such as flakes are blocked by the nets 19, 19, there is no fear that they will adhere to the substrate 1 and form large defects.

While sputtering a large number of substrates, the meshes 19, 19 become smaller due to sputtered particles and eventually become clogged; however, when periodically inspecting the inside of the vacuum chamber, , by exchanging the networks 19 and 19,
The problem of clogging is eliminated. Furthermore, as the mesh size becomes smaller, the sputtering speed decreases, but this can be counteracted by increasing the sputtering power.

It is effective to set the mesh size of the net 19 to about 1 mm or less, but a mesh size of about 5 mm was also sufficient. Next, the experimental results will be explained. In the continuous sputtering apparatus as shown in FIG. 5, a net with a mesh size of 5 mm is provided between the substrate passage and the CoCrTa targets t2 and t2 on both sides, and the sputtered particles pass through this net and adhere to the substrate, Sputtering was carried out using Cr sputtering power of 1 to 2 kW, CoCrTa sputtering power of 0.5 to 2.0 kW, and C sputtering power of 2 to 3 kW.

When sputtering was performed under the same conditions using a conventional device that does not use a screen, large defects of 40 μm or more were generated, and the number of missing errors was 120. On the other hand, when a net with a mesh size of 5 mm as described above was installed, only minute defects of about 1 μm or less were observed. Additionally, the number of missing errors was reduced to 30.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment (second embodiment) of an apparatus for attracting flakes to a magnet as claimed in claim 2. This figure is a rear view of the substrate 1 seen from behind while it is passing between targets. Guide rails G are laid in each of the chambers 81, 82, 7, and 10 shown in FIG. The substrate is transferred in the order of chamber 81 → preheating chamber 82 → vacuum chamber 1 → substrate discharge chamber 10.

Targets t, t attached to a backing plate 16 are disposed on both sides of the substrate path, and each target t, t is surrounded by a shield plate 14 and an adhesion prevention plate 15. In such a device,
Magnets 22, 22 are arranged on both sides of the passage of the carriage 21.

[0021] The flakes peeled off from the adhesion prevention plate 15 etc.
Although fine flakes are scattered in the vacuum chamber, relatively large flakes fall under their own weight and are deposited near the passage of the carriage 21. The magnet 22 attracts the flakes that have fallen into the path of the carriage 21 in this way. Only magnetic flakes are attracted, but since the magnetic properties of the magnetic recording medium depend on the quality of the magnetic film made by sputtering a magnetic material such as CoCrTa, magnetic flakes are prevented from flying toward the substrate. If possible, it is sufficient.

As explained in FIG. 5, the substrate 1 is placed in the vacuum chamber 7.
When transferring inside, the door 93 is opened, but since the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber 1 is higher than that in the preheating chamber 82, when the door 93 is opened, wind is generated from the preheating chamber 82 to the vacuum chamber 7 side. This wind blows up flakes that have fallen and accumulated on the carriage passage, contaminating the vacuum chamber with the flakes. The same applies when the door 12 on the discharge side is opened.

However, because of the presence of the magnet 22, the flakes that peel off and fall from the adhesion prevention plate 15 etc. are attracted and captured by the magnet 22, so the wind when the doors 93 and 12 on both sides are opened will cause the flakes to fall. There is no such thing as soaring. Note that it is more effective to attach a magnet to the carriage 21 as well, as shown by the broken line 23.

The flakes attached to the magnets 22 and 23 are periodically cleaned and removed.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the flake generation portion and the substrate 1 are separated so as to surround the substrate on which sputtering is performed.
Since the net 19 is disposed between the substrate and the substrate, large flakes are blocked by the net 19 and cannot reach the substrate, thereby preventing large defects from occurring on the substrate. Further, by disposing a magnet on the bottom side of the sputtering chamber, fallen flakes are attracted and captured by the magnet, which eliminates the problem of flakes flying up and contaminating the sputtering chamber.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the basic principle of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment (first embodiment) of the invention according to claim 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear view showing an embodiment (second embodiment) of the invention according to claim 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the layer structure of a thin-film magnetic recording medium.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conventional continuous sputtering apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the area around a conventional target.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Substrate 2 Ni-P layer 3 Cr layer 4 Magnetic layer 5 Carbon layer 6 Lubricant layer 7 Vacuum chamber G Guide rails t, t1, t2, t3 Target 81 Substrate supply chamber 82 Preheating chamber 91, 92, 93, 12, 13 Door 10 Substrate discharge chamber 14 Shielding plate 15 Anti-adhesive plate 16 Backing plate 17 Opening 18 Sputtered particle deposits on anti-adhesive plate etc. 19
Net 20 Holder 21 Carriage 22, 23 Magnet

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In an apparatus for attaching sputtered particles generated from a target (t) to a substrate (1), a net (19) is provided between the flake generation part and the substrate (1) to prevent the flakes from passing through. A sputtering device characterized by being provided with. 2. In an apparatus for attaching sputtered particles generated from a target (t) to a substrate (1), a magnet is arranged in an area other than the passage of sputtered particles between the target (t) and the substrate (1). 1. A sputtering apparatus characterized in that the sputtering apparatus is configured to adsorb flakes.