JPH062117A - Method and equipment for electron beam heating type vapor deposition - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow a film to be adsorbed by a cooling drum by uniformly applying electrostatic charge to the film under easy conditions at the time of forming a vapor deposited film on the film and to prevent the occurrence of wrinkle and slack in the film. CONSTITUTION:This equipment has an electron beam emission mechanism 10 emitting an electron beam 12, a vapor deposition material holding part 6 holding a vapor deposition material 8, a rotating cooling drum 1, an uncoiler 2 and a recoiler 4 allowing a film F to travel, a bulkhead 16 installed between the cooling drum 1 and the vapor deposition material holding part 6 and having a vapor passing hole 18, and a vacuum vessel holding them. At this time, a floating electron intake 22 is formed in the bulkhead 16, at the position on the upstream side of the vapor passing hole in the traveling direction of the film. Electrostatic charge is applied to the film F by means of floating electrons 20 taken in through the intake 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus and vapor deposition method for forming a vapor deposition film of metal or ceramics on the surface of a long film while it is running.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electron beam heating vapor deposition, in which a vapor deposition material is heated by an electron beam to form a thin film on a substrate, is capable of evaporating a high-melting point material and stably depositing a high-purity film. It is known as a possible method, and in recent years, with the demand for higher functionality of resin films, it has begun to be widely used for vapor deposition of metals and ceramics.

An electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus for a film generally has an electron beam generating mechanism for generating an electron beam, a vapor deposition material holding section for holding a vapor deposition material at an electron beam irradiation position, and this vapor deposition material holding section. On the other hand, a cooling drum which is provided so that a part of its outer peripheral surface faces each other and is rotationally driven by a driving machine, and a film running means for running the film while the film is wound around a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cooling drum. A partition wall disposed between the cooling drum and the vapor deposition material holding portion, having a vapor passage opening formed opposite to the vapor deposition region of the film winding portion of the cooling drum, and a vacuum container accommodating each of the above mechanisms. It is equipped with.

By the way, recently, in order to improve the production efficiency of a vapor deposition film, there is an increasing demand for using a film having a wider width. However, when the width dimension of the film increases, the vapor deposition material is evenly distributed over the entire width of the film. A high power electron beam generation mechanism must be used so that However, if the electron beam generation mechanism is made to have a large output, the amount of radiant heat from the vapor deposition material to the film will increase, the temperature of the film will rise and the film will partially float from the cooling drum
Further, there is a drawback that the temperature is further increased and slack and wrinkles are likely to occur.

As an attempt to improve such a defect, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-247383 discloses that a. At the film winding start position on the cooling drum, by irradiating the film with ions such as Ar, the charge of the film is neutralized in advance, and the film is removed from the cooling drum without wrinkles. b. A film vapor deposition method has been proposed which includes a charging and adsorption step of irradiating a film with an electron beam from an electron gun to charge the film and adsorb the film to a cooling drum between the film winding start position and the vapor deposition position.

[0006]

However, in the above vapor deposition method, the apparatus structure is complicated and the equipment cost is high, and the ion source supply to the ion generating mechanism and the maintenance of the electron gun are required, so that the operation is complicated. In addition, since the gas is introduced into the vacuum container, there is a drawback in that the load on the vacuum exhaust system is large.

Further, it is necessary to uniformly perform ion irradiation and electron beam irradiation over the entire width direction of the film, but when the film is wide, in order to perform ion irradiation and electron beam irradiation uniformly, Since a scanning drive system for scanning these irradiation mechanisms in the width direction of the film is required, uniform irradiation becomes difficult, and the traveling speed of the film is limited.

Further, when the film is directly irradiated with an electron beam by an electron gun, the amount of electric charge remaining on the film after vapor deposition is too large, and when the film is separated from the cooling drum, electric discharge occurs between the cooling drum and the film, which damages the film. May occur. Therefore, in the above apparatus, it is necessary to take measures such as performing glow discharge treatment while introducing gas into the vacuum chamber of the vapor-deposited film, or neutralizing the electric charge by irradiating the vapor-deposited film with ions again. The structure of the device becomes more and more complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus capable of uniformly and gently charging a film with a simple structure and preventing wrinkles and slack from occurring in the film, and An object is to provide a vapor deposition method.

[0010]

An electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention comprises an electron beam generating mechanism for generating an electron beam, a vapor deposition material holding portion for holding a vapor deposition material at a position irradiated with the electron beam, A part of the outer peripheral surface of the vapor deposition material holding portion is provided so as to face the cooling drum, and the film is wound in a state in which the film is wound around a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cooling drum. A film traveling means for traveling, a partition wall disposed between the cooling drum and the vapor deposition material holding portion, and having a vapor passage port formed facing the vapor deposition region of the film winding portion of the cooling drum,
A vacuum container containing each of the above mechanisms is provided, and in the partition wall, on the upstream side in the film running direction with respect to the vapor passage port,
And at a position facing the film winding portion of the cooling drum,
It is characterized in that a floating electron inlet for introducing floating electrons generated from the electron beam generating mechanism into the film is formed.

A shielding member is provided between the floating electron intake port and the vapor deposition material holding unit to prevent vapor emitted from the vapor deposition material holding unit from directly flowing into the floating electron intake port. It may be.

Further, a magnetic field parallel to the axis of the cooling drum is generated in the flow path of the floating electrons generated by the electron beam generating mechanism, and the path of the floating electrons emitted from the vapor deposition material holding unit is suspended in the floating path. A magnetic field generation mechanism that bends toward the electron intake may be provided. Further, a shutter mechanism for adjusting the opening / closing amount of the floating electron inlet may be provided.

On the other hand, in the electron beam heating type vapor deposition method according to the present invention, the film is run in a state in which the film is wound on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cooling drum, and is arranged so as to face the film winding part. The vapor deposition material is irradiated with an electron beam, and vapor generated from the vapor deposition material is passed through a vapor passage opening formed in a partition wall arranged between the cooling drum and the vapor deposition material holding portion to remove the vapor from the film winding portion. While adhering to a part of the film, floating electrons generated by the electron beam being reflected by the vapor deposition material are taken in from the floating electron inlet formed in the partition wall, so that the film is formed on the upstream side in the film running direction with respect to the vapor deposition region. Supply stray electrons,
The film is electrically charged so that the film is adsorbed to the cooling drum.

[0014]

In the electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus and vapor deposition method according to the present invention, a part of the floating electrons generated by the reflection of the electron beam applied to the vapor deposition material passes through the floating electron inlet formed in the partition wall. The film is electrically charged by contacting the film with the film. Since the charged film is adsorbed on the cooling drum, even if the amount of heat radiation from the vapor deposition material is large, it is difficult for the film to lift from the cooling drum, and wrinkles and slack can be prevented from occurring.

Since the film is charged by using the floating electrons as described above, the apparatus structure can be simplified and the temperature can be made uniform under mild conditions as compared with the method of forcibly irradiating the electron beam with an electron gun. It is easy to charge the film.

[0016]

1 is a schematic view showing a first embodiment of an electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a cylindrical cooling drum made of metal or the like, which is rotationally driven by a driving device (not shown). A long film F is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the cooling drum 1 in the drum circumferential direction, and is continuously run between the uncoiler 2 and the chiller 4. A vapor deposition material holding portion 6 is arranged so as to face the film winding portion of the cooling drum 1, and a vapor deposition material 8 such as metal or ceramics is accommodated therein.

An electron beam generating mechanism 10 such as an electron gun is arranged on the side of the vapor deposition material holding portion 6 near the recoiler 4,
The electron beam 12 generated by the electron beam generating mechanism 10 is bent by a magnetic field generated by a magnetic field generating mechanism (not shown) and is applied to the vapor deposition material 8. If the width of the deposited film to be formed is large, the electron beam generating mechanism 10 may be scanned in the width direction of the film F. The vapor deposition material 8 is heated by the electron beam 12, and the vapor 14 thereof is radiated toward the cooling drum 1. At the same time, a part of the electron beam 12 is reflected or scattered by the vapor deposition material 8 to become floating electrons 20,
These floating electrons 20 are accumulated in a relatively high density in the vicinity of the cooling drum 1, particularly in the upstream side of the film winding portion in the film running direction.

The electron beam generating mechanism 10 is not limited to the illustrated position, and the installation position may be arbitrarily changed as long as the electron beam 12 can irradiate the vapor deposition material 8.
However, when the electron beam generating mechanism 10 is at the position shown in the drawing, the floating electron density becomes high at a position on the upstream side of the film winding portion of the cooling drum 1, which is convenient for the present invention.

A partition 16 is provided between the cooling drum 1 and the vapor deposition material holder 6. The partition wall 16 has a semi-cylindrical portion 16A for accommodating the cooling drum 1. Between the inner peripheral surface of the semi-cylindrical portion 16A and the outer peripheral surface of the film winding portion of the cooling drum 1, a constant amount is provided. Gaps are formed.

A rectangular vapor passage port 18 is formed in the semi-cylindrical portion 16A at a position facing the vapor deposition material holding portion 6 in the axial direction of the cooling drum 1. The vapor passage port 18 has the same overall length as the vapor deposition width of the film F on the cooling drum 1.

The partition wall 16 also has a rectangular floating shape having the same overall length as the vapor deposition width of the film F at a position upstream of the vapor passage port 18 in the film traveling direction and facing a part of the film winding portion. The electron inlet 22 is formed in the axial direction of the cooling drum 1. Note that the floating electron intake 22 has a center of the drum and an opening edge of the floating electron intake 22 on the downstream side in the film running direction so that the vapor 14 emitted from the vapor deposition material 8 does not pass through the floating electron intake 22. It is desirable to set the angle α between the line segment connecting O and the line segment connecting the opening edge and the vapor deposition material 8 to be smaller than 90 °.

When the opening width of the floating electron inlet 22 increases, the charge amount of the film F increases and the attraction force to the cooling drum 1 increases. Therefore, the opening width of the floating electron inlet 22 should be experimentally determined so that the charge amount of the film F is optimum.

Next, a vapor deposition method using the above apparatus will be described. First, the inside of the vacuum container is decompressed, and the electron beam generating mechanism 10 is operated to irradiate the vapor deposition material 8 with the electron beam 12 to continuously generate the vapor 14, while traveling the film F from the uncoiler 2 to the ricoiler 4. Let Evaporation material 8
The vapor 14 radially emitted from the vapor passes through the vapor passage port 18 and adheres to the continuously running film F to form a vapor deposition film.

On the other hand, a part of the electron beam 12 applied to the vapor deposition material 8 is reflected or scattered by the vapor deposition material 8 to generate floating electrons 20. Then, some of the floating electrons 20 come into contact with the film F through the floating electron inlet 22 formed in the partition wall 16 to charge the film F. Since the charged film F is adsorbed to the cooling drum 1, even when the amount of heat radiation from the vapor deposition material 8 is large, it is difficult for the film F to rise from the cooling drum 1 and wrinkles and slack can be prevented.

As described above, since the film F is charged by using the floating electrons 20, the structure of the apparatus can be much simpler than that of the means for forcibly irradiating the electron beam with the electron gun, and the floating can be achieved. Since the electrons 20 are evenly dispersed by the repulsive force acting between them, it is easy to uniformly charge the film F over the entire surface, and the attraction force of the film F to the cooling drum 1 can be made uniform. The effect of preventing wrinkles and slack is high.

Next, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In this example, in addition to the configuration of the previous embodiment, a shielding plate 24 (shielding body) standing upright at the opening edge of the floating electron intake 22 on the downstream side in the film traveling direction is integrally formed with the partition wall 16 to hold the vapor deposition material. A feature is that the space between the portion 6 and the floating electron inlet 22 is blocked over the entire length of the floating electron inlet 22.

According to this example, the inflow of the vapor 14 from the floating electron intake 22 can be prevented by the shield plate 24. Therefore, it becomes possible to bring the floating electron inlet 22 closer to the vapor passage port 18, and the inflow density of the floating electrons 20 can be increased accordingly. Since the motion of the floating electrons 20 is random, the shield plate 24 does not prevent the floating electrons 20 from flowing into the floating electron inlet 22.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. This example is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration of the device of the first example, a magnetic field generating mechanism 26 is provided to positively introduce the flow of the floating electrons 20 into the floating electron inlet 22. The magnetic field generation mechanism 26 has a pair of magnetic poles (not shown) arranged near both ends in the longitudinal direction of the floating electron intake 22. By continuously generating magnetic force in these magnetic poles, the floating electron intake 22 is provided. To form a magnetic field extending in the longitudinal direction. Due to this magnetic field, the flow of the floating electrons 20 still having kinetic energy reflected from the vapor deposition material 8 is changed to the floating electron inlet 22.
Turn towards.

The magnetic field generating mechanism 26 of this example forms a magnetic field from the front side of the paper of FIG. 3 toward the other side. The floating electrons 20 receive Lorentz force from this magnetic field and are set so as to jump into the floating electron inlet 22. Moreover,
Similar effects may be obtained by combining magnetic fields.

When the flow of the floating electrons 20 is controlled by using the magnetic field generating mechanism 26 as described above, the charge can be applied to the film F with high efficiency, so that the traveling speed of the film F is increased. It is possible to sufficiently secure the suction force of the film F to the cooling drum 1 even in the case of using a film F that is difficult to be charged (for example, thick).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is characterized in that a shutter 28 for changing the opening width of the floating electron inlet 22 is additionally provided. The shutter 28 has a length over the entire length of the floating electron inlet 22, and is supported by a support mechanism (not shown) so as to be movable along the outer periphery of the semi-cylindrical portion 16A while being parallel to the floating electron inlet 22. ing.

By providing such a shutter 28, the amount of floating electrons 20 flowing in from the floating electron inlet 22 can be arbitrarily changed. Therefore, when using a thick film F that needs to have a higher attraction force to the cooling drum 1, the floating electron inlet 22 is widened, and when a thin film F that may have a lower attraction force is used, it floats. Adjustments such as narrowing the electron inlet 22 are facilitated, and the optimum suction force can be set.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the structures of the embodiments may be combined, or new structures may be added as necessary. For example, the opening width of the floating electron intake 22 may be changed in the longitudinal direction according to the density distribution of the floating electrons 20 around the cooling drum 1, or a shutter having a different opening width in the longitudinal direction may be used as the floating electron. It may be attached to the intake port 22.

[0034]

[Experimental Example] An electron beam heating vapor deposition apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 was actually prepared, and the floating electron inlet 22 was formed (experimental example) and not formed (comparative example). The occurrence of wrinkles was compared.

The experimental conditions are as follows. Film F: thickness 25 μm, width 500 mm, made of PET Vapor deposition material 8: Ti vapor deposition film thickness: 1000 Å Vacuum degree: 5 × 10 ⁻³ pa Electron beam generating mechanism 10: Electron impact cathode type self-accelerating electron gun (90 ° Deflection) Acceleration voltage: 30 kV Emission current: 2 A Scan width of electron gun: 500 mm Distance between vapor deposition material holder 6 and film F: 250 mm Outer diameter of cooling drum 1: 400 mm Dimensions of floating electron inlet 22: 100 × 500 mm Film Driving speed of F: 10 m / min

As a result, in the experimental example in which the floating electron inlet 22 was formed, wrinkles and slack due to radiant heat did not occur in the film F, but in the comparative example in which the floating electron inlet 22 was not formed, the film F was formed. , Three wrinkles extending in the length direction were generated. Therefore, it is clear that the film F could be sufficiently charged by forming the floating electron inlet 22.

[0037]

As described above, according to the electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus and the vapor deposition method according to the present invention, a part of the floating electrons generated by the reflection of the electron beam applied to the vapor deposition material is a partition wall. The film is charged by contacting the film through the floating electron intake formed on the film. Since the charged film is adsorbed on the cooling drum, the film is less likely to be peeled off from the cooling drum even when the amount of heat radiation from the vapor deposition material is large, and wrinkles and slack can be prevented.

Since the film is charged by using the floating electrons as described above, the apparatus structure can be simplified and the temperature can be made uniform under mild conditions, as compared with the method of forcibly irradiating the electron beam with an electron gun. It is easy to charge the film, and the film running speed is not limited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a first electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention.
It is a schematic diagram showing an example.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a second embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a fourth embodiment of the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 F Film 1 Cooling Drum 2 Uncoiler (Film Traveling Means) 4 Recoiler (Film Traveling Means) 6 Vapor Deposition Material Holding Section 8 Vapor Deposition Material 10 Electron Beam Generation Mechanism 12 Electron Beam 14 Vapor 16 Partition Wall 18 Vapor Passage 20 Floating Electron 22 Floating Electron Collection entrance

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electron beam generating mechanism for generating an electron beam, a vapor deposition material holding portion for holding a vapor deposition material at the electron beam irradiation position, and a part of an outer peripheral surface facing the vapor deposition material holding portion. A cooling drum provided and rotated by a driving machine, a film running means for running the film while the film is wound around a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cooling drum, the cooling drum and the vapor deposition material holding unit. And an electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus comprising a partition wall disposed between the cooling drum and the vapor deposition area of the film winding portion of the cooling drum and having a vapor passage opening formed therein, and a vacuum container accommodating the above-mentioned mechanisms. In the partition wall, the floating generated from the electron beam generating mechanism is provided in the partition wall at a position upstream of the vapor passage port in the film traveling direction and at a position facing the film winding portion of the cooling drum. An electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus, characterized in that a floating electron inlet for introducing electrons into the film is formed. 2. A shield is provided between the floating electron intake port and the vapor deposition material holding unit to prevent vapor emitted from the vapor deposition material holding unit from directly flowing into the floating electron intake port. The electron beam heating type vapor deposition device according to claim 1, wherein 3. A magnetic field parallel to the axis of the cooling drum is generated in the flow path of the floating electrons generated from the electron beam generating mechanism, and the path of the floating electrons emitted from the vapor deposition material holding unit is suspended in the floating path. The electron beam heating vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a magnetic field generation mechanism that bends toward the electron intake. 4. The electron beam heating type vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a shutter mechanism for adjusting the opening / closing amount of the floating electron intake port. 5. A vapor deposition material, which is arranged in opposition to the film winding portion, is irradiated with an electron beam while the film is running in a vacuum with the film being wound on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cooling drum. The vapor generated from the material is attached to a part of the film winding portion through a vapor passage opening formed in a partition wall disposed between the cooling drum and the vapor deposition material holding portion, and the electron beam is vapor deposited. Floating electrons generated by being reflected by the material, by taking in from the floating electron intake formed in the partition wall, to supply the floating electrons to the film in the film running direction upstream side of the deposition region, to charge the film, An electron beam heating type vapor deposition method characterized in that a film is adsorbed on a cooling drum.