JPH0742585B2 - Continuous ion plating device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Industrial application" The present invention relates to a continuous ion plating apparatus.

"Prior Art" A batch type vacuum vapor deposition apparatus and an air to air type vacuum vapor deposition apparatus are used for continuously performing vapor deposition processing on a thin plate-like or linear object surface.

As shown in FIG. 3, the batch-type vacuum vapor deposition apparatus is not limited to the vapor deposition chamber 2 in which the material evaporated by the evaporation source 1 is vapor-deposited on the surface of the workpiece W, and the workpiece W is wound. The ricoiler 3, the guide rolls 4 ... And the winding rolls 5 that have been formed are collectively housed in the vacuum chamber 6.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the air-wear type vacuum vapor deposition apparatus is configured such that the object W to be processed enters the vacuum chamber 6 from the atmosphere, is processed, and then returns to the atmosphere again. It is named after. A specific configuration is such that a vacuum chamber 6 is provided so as to surround the vapor deposition chamber 2 and the ion cleaning chamber 7, and the object W to be treated is continuously fed from the ricoiler 3 into the vacuum layer 6. Airtight rolls 8 are provided at the inlet and outlet of the vacuum chamber 6 for the workpiece W.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" In the above batch type vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, since the ricoiler 3 and the winding roll 5 are also housed in the vacuum tank 6, there is no external connection, and the object W to be processed is negative. It is possible to apply a voltage of. Therefore, although it is possible to perform ion plating, in that case, the guide roll bearing portion and the winding reel end portion in the vacuum chamber 6 must be insulated, which is complicated and expensive in terms of equipment. Become. Further, since it is a batch type, there is a drawback that it takes time for loading and unloading and productivity is poor.

On the other hand, in the air-wear type vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, since the recoiler 3 and the take-up roll 5 can be exchanged regardless of the pressure in the vacuum tank 6, the productivity is high, but the object to be processed is intended to be subjected to ion plating. When a negative voltage is applied to W, it is necessary to electrically insulate all the supporting structures such as the guide roll bearing and the end of the take-up reel, which is difficult to achieve from the viewpoint of equipment and safety. Is. In particular, when the front and rear equipments are directly connected to the vapor deposition device, the front and rear equipments also have to be subjected to insulation treatment for the support structure, which is not very feasible. Therefore, in this method, only the so-called vacuum deposition method in which no voltage is applied to the object to be processed W can be applied, and the film quality is poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, continuous ion plating can be performed without performing an insulating treatment on a workpiece support material such as a roll or a guide, and thus cost reduction can be achieved, and productivity is excellent, Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous ion plating apparatus which is excellent in safety.

"Means for Solving Problems" In the present invention, at least an evaporation source (24) on which the material is placed, a discharge region (S ₁ ) in which the material evaporated by the evaporation source is further ionized, and A casing (19) surrounding a vapor deposition region (S ₂ ) which is continuously provided in the discharge region and which deposits ionized vaporized particles on the surface of the workpiece to be supplied, and which electrically insulates the interior from the outside, A lining plate (20) made of a conductive material laid on the circumference of the casing, and an applying means (22) for applying a positive voltage to the lining plate.
It is characterized by comprising.

[Operation] According to the device of the present invention, since a positive voltage is applied to the external atmosphere excluding the object to be processed in the vapor deposition region, it is as if a negative voltage was applied to the object to be processed, and it is evaporated from the evaporation source. The ionized particles are accelerated and collide with the object to be processed, and can form a diffusion bonding thin film on the surface of the object to be processed.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a continuous ion plating apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 is a ricoiler, and a thin plate-shaped or linear object W to be supplied is forwardly wound around and guided by guide rolls 12 arranged at the upper and lower positions and the intermediate position in the height direction. It is transferred and wound up by the winding roll 13.

The guide roll 12 and the intermediate portion of the workpiece W whose transfer path is determined by the guide roll 12 are housed in a vacuum chamber 14. A pair of upper and lower airtight rolls 15 are arranged in the transfer direction at the entrance and exit of the workpiece W into the vacuum chamber 14, whereby the airtightness inside the vacuum chamber 14 is maintained. Reference numeral 16 denotes a vacuum exhaust pump that maintains the pressure inside the vacuum tank 14 at a predetermined vacuum pressure.

The above configuration is the same as that of the conventional air-wear type vacuum vapor deposition apparatus. The features of this device are as follows.

That is, the ion cleaning chamber 17 and the ion plating chamber 18, which are parts of the vacuum chamber 14, are surrounded by a casing 19 made of an electrically insulating material and electrically insulated from the outside. Inside the casing 19, a lining plate 20 made of a conductive material is laid all around.

The lining plate 20 is provided with a partition wall 20a, which partitions the ion cleaning chamber 17 and the ion plating chamber 18. On the side walls of the casing and the lining plate, slits 21 are formed at the places where the workpiece W penetrates. A positive voltage is applied to the lining plate 20 by the applying means 22, and the negative side of the applying means 22 is grounded. The vacuum chamber 14 and the workpiece W are also grounded.

A pre-stage portion 23 in the vacuum chamber 14 surrounded by the casing 19 is a preheating chamber, and here, a heating means (not shown) for heating the object W to a proper temperature is provided. Further, the ion cleaning chamber 17 is provided with gas injection means (not shown) for injecting argon gas or hydrogen gas.

In the ion plating chamber 18, in addition to an evaporation source 24 on which a vapor deposition material is placed, well-known ionization means (not shown) such as a high frequency method or a direct current discharge method for further ionizing the material evaporated by the evaporation source 24. ) Are provided so that the material that is vaporized and ionized by these can be deposited on the surface of the workpiece W to be continuously transferred. In addition, here, the region for ionizing the evaporated material is the discharge region.
A region where S ₁ and the ionized vaporized particles are vapor-deposited on the surface of the workpiece W is referred to as a vapor deposition region S ₂ .

The operation of the above device will be described below. The thin plate-shaped or linear object W to be unwound from the recoiler 11 is
Pass through the airtight roll 15 and enter the vacuum chamber 14. Here, first, the preheat chamber 23 is heated to an appropriate temperature to remove water and oil, and then enters the casing 19 through the slit 21.

In the casing 19, the ion cleaning chamber 17 is first entered. Here, the potential of the object to be processed W is the ground potential, while the lining plate 20 is applied to a positive voltage, so when argon gas or hydrogen gas is supplied by the gas injection means,
Glow discharge occurs, and the ionized Ar ⁺ ions and H ₂ ⁺ ions collide with the object W to be processed, which is the cathode. This allows
The surface of the object W to be processed is washed.

Next, the workpiece W enters the ion plating chamber 18, where the evaporation source 24 receives evaporated particles of the evaporated material molecules. At this time, the evaporated particles have been ionized by the ionization means, and the ionized particles are accelerated and collide with the object W having a lower potential than the other in the ion plating chamber 18, resulting in the object to be processed. A diffusion-bonding thin film is formed on the surface of W.

That is, in the ion plating, originally, the ionized evaporated particles are accelerated and deposited on the negatively applied object to be processed, but in this apparatus, the negative voltage is not applied to the object W to be processed. The same effect can be obtained.

On the other hand, since the casing 19 is interposed between the lining plate 20 and the vacuum chamber 14, no discharge occurs between the lining plate 20 and the vacuum chamber 14 when a voltage is applied to the lining plate 20. After all, the discharge is stopped only in the casing 19.

The workpiece W is then passed through the slit 21 and the casing.
19 and then to the outside of the vacuum chamber 14 through a plurality of stages of airtight rolls 15. Then, it is wound by the winding roll 13.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the recoiler 11 and the winding roll 13 are assembled, but the configuration is not limited to this.
The object W to be processed flowing from the equipment at the previous stage may be directly connected to the present apparatus and continuously processed. Furthermore, the object to be processed processed by the present apparatus may be directly supplied to the equipment at the subsequent stage.

[Advantages of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, continuous ion plating can be realized without applying a negative voltage to the object to be processed. This means that when the equipment before and after the equipment is made continuous, it is not necessary to perform insulation treatment on the equipment before and after the equipment, which can be easily realized and the productivity can be greatly improved.

In addition, since it is not necessary to apply a negative voltage to the object to be processed as described above, the safety of workability can be ensured.

Further, there are few portions such as rolls and guides on which the insulating material is applied to the workpiece support material, so that the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are examples of conventional continuous vacuum vapor deposition equipment. FIG. 14 ... vacuum tank, 15 ... airtight roll, 19 ... casing, 20 ... lining plate, 22 ... application means, 24 ... evaporation source, S ₁ ...... discharge area, S ₂ …… deposition area, W: Object to be processed.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A continuous ion plating apparatus for depositing a material which has been vaporized and ionized in a vacuum chamber (14) on a surface of a workpiece (W) to be continuously supplied, which is at least the above-mentioned. An evaporation source (24) on which a material is placed, a discharge region (S ₁ ) where the material evaporated by the evaporation source is further ionized, and a surface of the object to be treated which is continuously provided in the discharge region. A casing (19) surrounding a vapor deposition region (S ₂ ) for vaporizing ionized vaporized particles and electrically insulating the inside from the outside, and a lining plate made of a conductive material laid on the inner circumference of the casing. A continuous ion plating apparatus comprising (20) and an applying means (22) for applying a positive voltage to the lining plate.