JPH05287513A - Ion plating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the sure supply of materials to be evaporated by as much as assigned amts. to the prescribed positions in a bell-jar without opening a door and to prevent evaporated materials from being shielded by devices supplying these materials to be evaporated. CONSTITUTION:Parts feeders 30, 31 which can supply the materials 15 to be evaporated by as much as the assigned amts. to the prescribed positions are provided into the bell-jar 11 which is a vacuum vessel and at least slider parts 32, 33 of these parts feeders 30, 31 are constituted retreatably to the outside of an evaporation route for the evaporated materials so that the materials 15 to be evaporated can be surely supplied by as much as the assigned amts. to the prescribed positions in the bell-jar 11 without opening the door 18. The slider parts 32, 33 of the parts feeders are retreated to the outside of the evaporation route for the evaporated materials, by which the shielding of the evaporated materials is prevented and the thin films having a uniform film thickness and color tones are formed on the work.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention evaporates an evaporating material in a bell jar which is a vacuum container, ionizes the evaporating material and ionizes the evaporating material or a compound produced by a reaction between the evaporating material and an atmospheric gas. The present invention relates to an ion plating device that adheres to a substrate to form a thin film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ion plating apparatus heats an evaporating material placed in a predetermined position such as a crucible in a bell jar or irradiates it with an electron beam to evaporate it, ionize the evaporating material, and evaporate the evaporating material. Alternatively, a compound formed by a reaction between the vaporized substance and an atmospheric gas is attached to an object to be processed to form a thin film. In performing the treatment for forming this thin film on the surface of the object to be treated, in the usual case, an ion bombardment is performed to clean the surface of the object to be treated in advance, in which case, for example, argon gas is introduced into the bell jar. It is necessary to maintain a predetermined pressure inside the container.

Also, in the case of performing a treatment for forming a thin film on the surface of an object to be treated after ion bombardment, nitrogen gas, for example, is further introduced into the bell jar as a reaction gas, and the nitrogen gas has already been introduced. It is necessary to form a mixed gas with the argon gas that is present and to keep the inside of the container at a predetermined pressure.

However, when the evaporation material to be evaporated in the bell jar is exhausted on the crucible before the thin film forming process for one batch (one lot) is completed, the necessary amount of the evaporation material is replenished on the crucible. Since the door in the bell jar has to be opened, the state inside the bell jar, which had been kept at a predetermined pressure by introducing reaction gas etc., collapses and it is necessary to replenish the evaporation material. It will take time to start up again afterwards.

The time required for this startup is 10
Approximately 15 minutes, the time required for one batch of coating treatment is, for example, 2 hours, and when the treatment is performed 24 times a day for 12 times, the door is opened every time and the evaporating material is replenished. This will require 120 to 180 minutes of wasted time.

Therefore, in order to eliminate such a wasteful time for startup, for example, a manual type evaporator supply device as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-24258. There is one that can replenish the evaporation material without opening the door of the bell jar even when the evaporation material is exhausted.

This evaporative material supplying apparatus accommodates the plate-shaped evaporative material 2 in a stacked state above the crucible 9 for setting the evaporative material 2 in the bell jar 1, and also has a discharge guide 3a formed at the lower end thereof. 3, a rotary ratchet 4 is fixed to one end of a shaft 8 rotatably supported by the bell jar 1 by a bracket 6 and a bearing 7 at the outlet 3a, and is integrally fixed to the other end of the shaft 8. When the handle 5 is rotated, the rotation ratchet 4 rotates in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 10 and the end face of the evaporation material 2 is locked by the claw portion 4a formed on the outer periphery of the storage guide. 3 and drop it on the slider 10,
0 to guide on crucible 9.

[0008]

However, since such an evaporation material supply device has a structure in which it is fixed to the bell jar, such an evaporation material supply device is provided on the evaporation path of the evaporation material evaporated from the evaporation source from above the crucible. Since the slider part which is a part of the evaporation material supply device is located and shields a part of the evaporation material, the film thickness of the thin film formed on the object to be processed set in the shielding area. Becomes thin,
The color tone was likely to be different compared to other unshielded areas.

Therefore, it is conceivable to shorten the tip end side of the slider 10 in FIG. 9 to separate it from the crucible 9, but this causes a problem because the evaporation material cannot be reliably guided onto the crucible 9. .. Further, the supply of the evaporation material to the crucible must be performed by the operator manually rotating the handle, and the supply destination of the evaporation material is on the crucible in the bell jar, which is difficult to see. If the amount is mistakenly supplied in a small amount, there is a possibility that the evaporation material may be exhausted on the crucible during the processing of one batch.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and reliably supplies an evaporating material from a specified amount from the outside without opening a door to a predetermined position in a bell jar which is a vacuum container. It is possible to form a thin film having a uniform film thickness and color tone on the object to be processed by preventing the device for supplying the evaporation material from blocking the evaporation material. In addition, it is possible to raise the state inside the bell jar to a state in which a thin film can be formed when the object to be processed is taken out and the next batch is processed after one batch of coating process is completed. It also aims to be able to do it in a short time.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ion plating apparatus as described above, wherein an amount of evaporation material is designated in a vacuum container at a predetermined position in the container. In addition to providing a parts feeder that can supply only the parts feeder, the slider part that guides at least the evaporation material of the parts feeder to the predetermined position can be retracted out of the evaporation path of the evaporation material. Further, in the above ion plating apparatus, it is effective to provide a small window for loading and unloading the object to be processed in the vacuum container.

[0012]

According to the ion plating device configured as described above, the amount of the evaporating material can be automatically supplied to the predetermined position in the vacuum container by the parts feeder. It is possible to reliably supply the specified supply amount without making a mistake in the supply number of the material or supplying the material while watching the evaporation material in the vacuum container.

Further, in the parts feeder, at least the slider portion is constructed so as to be able to retreat to the outside of the evaporation path of the evaporation material, so that it does not block the evaporation material, so that the film thickness on the object to be processed is reduced. It is possible to form a thin film having a uniform color tone. Furthermore, if a small window for loading and unloading the object to be processed is provided in the vacuum container, only one small window will be opened when processing the next batch after the completion of one batch of coating process. You can put things in and out, so
Since the gas and pressure in the bell jar can be raised to a predetermined state in a short time, efficient processing can be performed.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a main part in a bell jar of an ion plating apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the same ion plating apparatus as a whole, and FIG. 3 is an ion plating apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the pointing device with a part of a bell jar broken away.

In this ion plating apparatus, an evaporation source 20 evaporates an evaporation material 15 set on a predetermined position in a bell jar 11 which is a vacuum container shown in FIG. 2, that is, on a crucible 13A or a crucible 13B (see FIG. 1). At the same time, the vaporized substance 15 'is ionized, and the vaporized substance 15' or a compound formed by the reaction between the vaporized substance 15 'and the atmospheric gas is attached to the object to be treated 16 to form a thin film.

The bell jar 11 has a substantially cylindrical shape whose upper and lower surfaces are closed together in FIG. 2, and a door 18 is attached to a part of the bell jar 11 so as to be openable and closable in the arrow B direction as shown in FIG. Further, the door 18 is provided with a small window 25 for taking in and out the object 16 to be processed, and a small door 26 (shown in FIG. 3) which can be opened and closed is attached thereto. The evaporation source 20 provided below the bell jar 11 includes the electron gun 14A and the crucible 1.
3A and electron gun 14B and crucible 13B,
A probe 12 for generating a plasma state is arranged above it, and an object 16 to be processed which forms a thin film is set above it.

The probe 12 is arranged such that the ring portion 12a is above the evaporation source 20 by, for example, 70 to 200 mm, and the position thereof is not shielded from the passage of the evaporation material 15 'evaporated by the evaporation source 20. The filament 17 is arranged outside.

The evaporation source 20 is located below the bell jar 11 and irradiates the evaporation material 15 set on the two crucibles 13A and 13B with electron beams from the electron guns 14A and 14B, respectively, to generate evaporation material 15 '. Evaporate. In FIG. 2, 21 is an evaporation power supply, 22 is a probe DC power supply, 23 is a workpiece DC power supply, and 24 is a filament AC power supply.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the crucible 13A and the electron gun 14A on one side of the ion plating apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the shape of the crucible 13A. Electron gun 1
4A is provided on a copper hearth 27 as shown in FIG. 4, and a concave portion 27a is formed on the upper surface of the hearth 27, and the crucible 13A is placed there. Similarly, the other electron gun 14B shown in FIG. 1 is also provided in the hearth made of copper, and the crucible 13B is placed in the concave portion of the upper surface thereof.

Both the crucibles 13A and 13B are made of a material having a poor thermal conductivity, such as graphite carbon, in order to enhance the heat retention effect, and the shape of the crucibles 13A and 13B is formed above the cylindrical bottom portion 13a as shown in FIG. A taper portion 13b having a larger diameter is formed toward the upper side, and the strip portion 1 having the same diameter is formed above the taper portion 13b.
3c, a notch 13d is formed in a part of the band 13c, and the crucible 13 is passed through the notch 13d.
The insides of A and 13B are made visible from the outside of the bell jar 11 through a transparent viewing window (not shown).

Since the crucibles 13A and 13B of this ion plating apparatus are formed in this manner, the evaporation material 15 is set in these crucibles and the electron guns 14A and
Even if the evaporation material 15 causes a granular splash (splash) when they are melted and vaporized by 14B, the scattered grains hit the strip portion 13c of the crucible and are collected on the bottom portion 13a by the taper portion 13b. ..

Therefore, when an expensive material such as gold is used as the evaporation material 15 and the band portion 13c is not present in the crucible, the gold recovery rate is lowered due to the splash, and therefore the thin film forming process is involved. Although the cost will increase, this embodiment is eliminated and the recovery rate of the evaporation material 15 is improved. Further, since the splash is prevented, the thin film formed on the object to be processed 16 becomes a smooth film.

Further, since the band portion 13c has a notch 13d formed by notching a part in the circumferential direction, the inside of the crucible can be seen through the notch 13d, so that the evaporation material 15 is reduced. The door 18 of the bell jar 11 can always be monitored from the outside without opening. Therefore, when the door 18 of the bell jar 11 is opened in order to confirm the amount of decrease of the evaporation material 15, the state of gas and pressure that keeps the inside of the bell jar 11 at a predetermined state is destroyed. It never happens, so you don't have to waste time trying to bring it back up again.

By the way, in this ion plating apparatus, the evaporation material 15 can be automatically supplied onto the crucibles 13A and 13B. That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, on the side of the door 18 in the bell jar 11, parts feeders 30 and 31 capable of supplying a specified amount of the evaporation material 15 are provided at predetermined positions on the crucibles 13A and 13B. Evaporative material 1 of the parts feeders 30 and 31
The slider portions 32 and 33 for guiding the element 5 to the predetermined position can be retracted to the retracted positions shown by phantom lines in FIG. 1 outside the evaporation path of the evaporated substance 15 '(FIG. 2).

The parts feeders 30 and 31 both supply the supply member using the known vibrations to the supply ports 30a and 31a.
When the vibration is stopped, the supply is stopped.

That is, one parts feeder 30 is
As shown in FIG. 6, a spirally wound loop portion 35 is provided in a bottomed cylindrical storage portion 34, and the loop portion 3 is provided.
As shown in FIG. 7, the vertical cross-section of No. 5 has a U-shape with the upper surface side open, and the inner wall surface 35a is lower than the outer wall surface 35b, so that a small piece is stored in the storage section 34 of FIG. A lid 36 on the upper surface containing the evaporating material 15 serving as a supply member formed into a shape
By closing and oscillating, the evaporation material 15 enters the spiral loop portion 35 and sequentially rises, so that the evaporation material 15 at the leading edge is sequentially dropped from the supply port 30a onto the slider portion 32. It has become.

Since the slider portion 32 is inclined as shown in FIG. 3, the small-piece-shaped evaporation material 15 supplied thereto slides on it and falls to a predetermined position in the crucible 13A. To go. The storage portion 34 for storing the evaporation material 15 is fixed to the door 18 of the bell jar 11,
One end of the slider portion 32 is fixed to a rotary shaft 37, and a lower portion of the rotary shaft 37 is a bearing 38 as shown in FIG.
Is rotatably supported by and protrudes to the outside of the bell jar 11, and its rotation shaft 37 is sealed by three ring-shaped seal members 39a, 39b and 39c.
The inside of the bell jar 11 is kept airtight.

The engaging member 41 is fixed to the rotary shaft 37, and correspondingly the engaging holes 43a, 4a for engaging the spherical portion 41a of the engaging member 41 on the bell jar 11 side.
When the rotating shaft 37 is rotated to engage the spherical portion 41a with the engaging hole 43a, the slider portion 32 of the parts feeder 30 shown in FIG. 1 guides the evaporation material 15 onto the crucible 13A. The position is indicated by the solid line, and when the spherical portion 41a is engaged with the engagement hole 43b, the slider portion 32 is moved to the position indicated by the imaginary line that retreats out of the evaporation path of the evaporated substance.

The rotating shaft 37 is rotated by a rotating mechanism (not shown) using a motor or the like, or at the lower end of the rotating shaft 37, as shown by phantom lines in FIG. 44 may be fixed at a right angle to the axis (the rotation axis may be formed by directly bending the axis), and it may be manually rotated.

To supply the evaporation material 15 onto the crucible 13A by the parts feeder 30, the operation button 45 provided on the outside of the bell jar 11 is pushed as shown in FIG. Then, in this embodiment, when the button is pressed, the number of the evaporation materials 15 designated in advance by the operation unit 46 for setting the number of supply of the small-sized evaporation materials 15 is supplied by the parts feeder 30 and the specified number of the evaporation materials 15 is supplied. When the supply is completed, it will stop automatically.

The supply of the evaporation material 15 by the parts feeder 30 may be continued only while the operation button 45 is pressed without providing the operation portion 46. Also,
The supply of the evaporation material 15 by the parts feeder 30 was performed by vibrating the parts feeder 30 and stopping it. However, the parts feeder 30 is always vibrated and the parts feeder 3
It is also possible to provide a door that automatically opens and closes at the tip of the supply port 30a of 0 and supply the evaporation material 15 by opening and closing the door.

The other crucible 13B shown in FIG.
The parts feeder 31 that supplies the evaporation material 15 to the top differs from the parts feeder 30 only in that the storage part 47 is a linear storage part, and supplies the evaporation material 15 according to another basic configuration and vibration. The points are the same, and the evaporation material 15 discharged from the supply port 31a is guided to a predetermined position in the crucible 13B by the slider portion 33.

Then, a rotary shaft 48 rotatably supported on the bottom of the bell jar 11 is fixed to one end of the slider portion 33, and the lower end side of the rotary shaft 48 is projected to the outside in a sealed state with the bell jar 11. As in the case of the parts feeder 30, the slider portion 33 moves the evaporation material 15 into the crucible 13B.
The position shown by the solid line in FIG.
Moves to a position indicated by an imaginary line that retreats out of the evaporation path of the evaporated substance, and that position moves to the engaging member (the engaging member 41 in FIG.
And the like).

In the case of the parts feeder 31, after the small-piece-shaped evaporation material 15 is stored in the storage portion 47, the evaporation material 15 in the storage portion 47 cannot be taken out without permission. There is. Therefore, if an expensive evaporation material such as gold is stored on the parts feeder 31 side, it is also possible to prevent theft.

In order to form a golden coating on the surface of, for example, a stainless steel watch band using this ion plating apparatus, first, the object to be processed, which is the watch band, is washed and then it is shown in FIG. The number for one batch is set at a predetermined position in the bell jar 11 shown.

Next, the door 18 (see FIG. 3) is sufficiently opened to evacuate the bell jar 11 and then closed, and argon gas is introduced into the bell jar 11 to bring the pressure in the chamber to 0.0001.
While keeping the pressure at Pa and keeping the evaporation power supply 21 off, the filament AC power supply 24 heats the filament 17 to emit electrons, and the probe DC power supply 22 applies a predetermined positive voltage to the probe 12,
The electrons emitted from 7 are accelerated and collide with the argon gas molecules in the bell jar 11 to be ionized.

Then, an acceleration voltage having a negative potential of, for example, 50 V is applied to the object to be processed 16 to attract argon ions to the object to be processed 16 and collide with the surface thereof to clean (ion bombard) the surface. Then, nitrogen gas is further introduced into the bell jar 11 as a reaction gas, and the pressure inside the bell jar 11 is maintained at 0.7 Pa as a mixed gas of argon gas and nitrogen gas.

Next, the filament AC power supply 24 is turned off, the evaporation power supply 21 is turned on, the filament of the evaporation source 20 is heated, and the electron gun 1 is driven by a negative high voltage.
An electron beam is emitted from 4A (shown in FIG. 1). At this time, on the crucible 13A of the evaporation source 20, the evaporation material 15, which is metal titanium formed in advance in the form of small pieces, is placed in the parts feeder 3.
It is supplied by a number of 0 and the electron gun 14A
It is vaporized by being irradiated with the electron beam emitted from the and deflected by the magnet. And
The titanium vapor and nitrogen gas are ionized and reacted to form a titanium nitride (TiN) film on the surface of the object 16.

Next, one gold-nickel (Au-Ni) alloy is supplied from another parts feeder 31 in which a gold-nickel (Au-Ni) alloy is similarly cured as the evaporation material 15. In the other crucible 13B (shown in FIG. 1), the electron gun 1
By irradiating an electron beam from 4B, a gold / nickel alloy coating is further formed on the titanium nitride coating formed on the surface of the object 16 to be processed. Finally, the small window 25 is opened by opening the small door 26, and the object 16 to be processed having the golden coating is taken out of the bell jar 11.

In the case of forming a gold coating as described above, "gold / nickel alloy" and "gold (pure gold)" are used as evaporation materials in the storage part 47 of one of the parts feeders 31 in "gold / nickel". Alloy "-" Gold "-" Gold / Nickel Alloy "
It is advisable to arrange them alternately as in the case of ... And supply "gold / nickel alloy" and "gold" alternately onto the crucible 13B.

This is because in the case of a gold-nickel alloy, the gold portion evaporates earlier than nickel in the evaporation process, and in that state, the gold is insufficient and a thin film is formed on the object 16 to be processed. Variation will occur,
This is because a stable thin film can be formed by supplying gold (pure gold) only on the way to make up for the deficiency and then supplying again a gold-nickel alloy.

As described above, according to the ion plating apparatus of this embodiment, the parts feeders 30 and 31 automatically place the evaporating material 15 such as titanium or gold alloy on the predetermined crucible in the bell jar 11 by the designated amount. Since it can be supplied to the specified amount of supply, you do not have to make a mistake in the number of supply of evaporation material like a manual supply device or supply while watching the evaporation material in the bell jar. It can be reliably supplied.

Further, in the parts feeders 30 and 31, both the slider parts 32 and 33 can be retracted outside the evaporation path of the evaporation material, and it does not block the evaporation material, so that the film to be processed is formed. It is possible to form a thin film having a uniform thickness and color tone. Although the above embodiment has been described with respect to the case where there are two crucibles, the present invention can be similarly applied to an ion plating apparatus having three or more crucibles or one crucible.

Further, the parts feeders 30 and 31 are provided with slider portions 32 and 31 which can be retreated from the evaporation path of the evaporation material.
Although only 33 is provided, the retractable portion is not limited to that, and the whole including the storage portions 34 and 47 may be rotated, or the movement may be performed by sliding movement. Further, the parts feeder is not limited to the vibrating type, and any other supplying system may be used as long as it can reliably supply the specified amount of the evaporation material onto the crucible.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of evaporation material specified by the parts feeder is automatically set at a predetermined position in the vacuum container without opening the door of the vacuum container. Since it can be supplied automatically, it does not take time to restore the gas and pressure in the container to the original state like when opening the door and replenishing the evaporation material. Therefore, an efficient thin film can be formed. In addition, reliability can be improved because the specified supply amount can be surely supplied without making a mistake in the number of supply of the evaporation material as in the manual method or supplying while watching the evaporation material in the vacuum container. At the same time, operability is improved.

In the parts feeder, at least the slider portion is constructed so as to be able to retreat outside the evaporation path of the evaporation material, so that it does not block the evaporation material. A thin film having a uniform color tone can be formed. Furthermore, if a small window for loading and unloading the object to be processed is provided in the vacuum container, only one small window will be opened when processing the next batch after the completion of one batch of coating process. Since objects can be taken in and out, the gas and pressure in the bell jar can be raised to a predetermined state in a short time, and efficient processing can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a main part inside a bell jar of an ion plating apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the entire ion plating apparatus of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the ion plating apparatus of FIG. 1 with a part of a bell jar being cut away.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing one crucible 13A provided in the same ion plating apparatus and its vicinity.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a detailed shape of the crucible 13A.

6 is a schematic diagram showing the inside of a storage portion 34 of one of the parts feeders 30 provided in the ion plating apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a loop portion 35 provided in the storage portion 34 and an evaporating material 15 that moves up there.

8 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a rotation support portion of the parts feeder 30 of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional evaporation material supply device.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the portion of the apparatus for discharging the evaporation material.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 bell jar (vacuum container) 12 probe 13A, 13B crucible 14A, 14B
Electron gun 15 Evaporation material 15 'Evaporation material 16 Object to be treated 18 Door 20 Evaporation source 25 Small window 30,31 Parts feeder 32,33 Slider part 37,48 Rotation axis

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An object to be treated, wherein an evaporation material set at a predetermined position in a vacuum container is evaporated by an evaporation source, the evaporation material is ionized, and the evaporation material or a compound by a reaction of the evaporation material and an atmospheric gas is processed. In the ion plating apparatus for forming a thin film by adhering to a substrate, a part feeder capable of supplying a specified amount of an evaporation material to the predetermined position is provided in the vacuum container, and at least the evaporation material of the parts feeder is An ion plating apparatus, characterized in that a slider portion that leads to a predetermined position can be retracted outside the evaporation path of the evaporation material. 2. The ion plating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum container is provided with a small window for loading and unloading an object to be processed.