JPH08157122A - Thin film manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the device space as well as to avoid winding deviation of a core by horizontally placing the axis of the core for winding a base plate in a feeding chamber and a winding chamber. CONSTITUTION: Cores 31, 32 for winding a base plate 1 are installed in a feeding chamber and a winding chamber with their axes being horizontal. In order to convey the base plate 1 to the core 32 from the core 31, a feeding roll 34 is installed in the feeding chamber, and a winding roll 35 is installed in the winding chamber with their axes being horizontal. Pressing rolls 36 for tightly contacting the rolls with the base plate 1 are faced to the feeding roll 34 and the winding roll 35, so that the rolls may not be deviated from the base plate 1, and idle rolls 33 rotatable around center shafts for changing the direction of the base plate 1 are provided on both sides. The axes of the pressing roll 36 and the idle roller 33 are horizontal. The winding deviation of the cores 31, 32 can be avoided, the installation space can be reduced, and the space for maintenance can be secured.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film manufacturing apparatus for depositing, for example, each layer of a thin film photoelectric conversion element on a flexible substrate conveyed from a feeding chamber to a winding chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Each layer including a photoelectric conversion layer containing a-Si as a main material is formed on a flexible substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) made of a long polymer material or a metal such as stainless steel. The method of manufacturing a thin film photoelectric conversion element is excellent in productivity. As a method for forming a plurality of layers on a long substrate, there are a roll-to-roll method for forming a film on a substrate moving in each film forming chamber and a method for forming a film on a substrate stopped in the film forming chamber. There is a stepping roll method in which the substrate portion after the film is sent out of the film forming chamber.

In these thin film manufacturing apparatuses, the feed core around which the substrate is wound and the winding core around which the substrate is wound are installed in a substantially horizontal direction, and the substrate is transported and film-formed in the horizontal direction. However, in such a device configuration, it is necessary to make the device width wider than the width of the substrate in the short-side direction, which requires a very large installation space for the device. Further, when maintaining the film forming chamber, it is necessary to take the opening in the vertical direction, and it is necessary to secure a space for maintenance in the lower part and the upper part of the apparatus. Further, on the surface of the substrate lying in the horizontal plane, there is a problem that flakes of reaction products adhere to the substrate and the electrodes and the film characteristics and device characteristics are deteriorated.

In order to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Application No.
No. 120942 describes an apparatus in which a feed core and a take-up core are installed vertically and a substrate is conveyed in a vertical plane to form a film. 2 and 3 are drawings attached to the above specification. In this thin-film photoelectric conversion element manufacturing apparatus, the cores 31 and 32 are held in the feed chamber 21 and the winding chamber 24, respectively, which are installed on the pedestal 25 with their axes being vertical, and therefore a vacuum seal is provided at the bottom. There is a bearing 53, which holds the reference tapered cone 51 with its axis vertical. Then, the standard taper cone 51
A core drive motor 54 arranged outdoors is directly connected to the shaft of the. A driven taper cone 52 faces directly above the reference taper cone 51. The driven taper cone 52 can be moved up and down by the core asset mechanism 55 thereon. In order to convey the substrate 1 from the core 31 to the core 32, a feed roll 34 is arranged in the feed chamber 21 and a winding roll 35 is arranged in the winding chamber 24, and an outdoor drive motor 57 is directly connected thereto. The rotating shaft is supported by a vacuum-sealed bearing 56, and the feed roll 3
4. The take-up roll 35 is opposed to a pressing roll 36 for closely contacting the substrate so that the substrate does not shift, and an idle roll 33 that is rotatable around a central axis that changes the direction of the substrate is provided on both sides. 34 or winding roll 35, pressing roll 36, each idle roll 33
Is supported by an upper support bearing 58, and lower ends of the idle roll 33 and the pressing roll 36 are respectively supported by a lower support bearing 59. The feed chamber 21 and the take-up chamber 22 are provided with doors 61 and 62 that open in the direction of arrow 63 on the front surface, respectively. The doors 61 and 62 are used to take in and out the cores 31 and 32 and set the substrate 1. The film formation on the substrate 1 in the film forming chambers 22 and 23 is performed by pressing the substrate 1 against the top plate 45 above the wall body 44 surrounding the high voltage electrode 41 by a mechanism (not shown), which is built into the ground electrode 42 and supplied to the AC power supply 46. The substrate 1 is heated by the heater connected to the substrate 1 and the high voltage electrode 4
The gas 71 is introduced into the space 7 between the discharge chambers generated during 1 and a voltage is applied to the high voltage electrode 41 by the RF power source 47 to generate plasma in the film forming space 7. The film is formed on the substrate 1 facing the opening 48 of the top plate. The high voltage electrode 41 is attached to the door 72, and the door 72 is attached to the arrow 73.
The electrode can be opened for maintenance work. Similarly, the ground electrode 42 can be attached to the door to facilitate maintenance work.

The substrate 1 is conveyed by servo-controlling the drive motors 57 and 54 of the feed roll 34, the take-up roll 35 and the reference taper cone 51 by an externally provided control device so that the substrate surface is within the vertical plane. Do it as it is.

[0006]

In the thin film manufacturing apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the core 31 and the winding chamber 24 are provided in the feeding chamber 21 and the winding chamber 24 so that the substrate is transported and film-formed in the vertical plane. The shaft 32 is held vertically. This core 31
In Nos. 32 and 32, there was a problem that the wound substrate 1 slipped on the core due to its own weight. In particular, when the conductive thin film is formed on the substrate, the substrates become slippery, and winding deviation easily occurs. Further, even when the substrate is wound around the core with a weak tension, the winding deviation easily occurs.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problem of winding deviation and to provide a thin film manufacturing apparatus capable of transporting a substrate within a vertical plane to form a film.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention conveys a substrate wound on a core in a feed chamber so that the surface is in a vertical plane through the film formation chamber. In a thin film manufacturing apparatus that deposits a film on the surface in the film forming chamber and winds it around the core in the winding chamber, at least one of the core in the feed chamber and the winding chamber is installed with its axis horizontal. It has been done. A roll whose axis is inclined in a direction between a horizontal direction and a vertical direction is installed between a core body installed with its axis horizontal and a film forming chamber, and a flexible substrate is a cylinder of the roll. It may be conveyed along the surface. It is effective that the surface of the roll whose axis is inclined is subjected to a treatment to reduce the coefficient of friction with the substrate surface.

[0009]

The winding deviation of the substrate wound on the core body occurs because the axis of the core body is vertical. Therefore, if the axis of the core body in the feeding chamber or the winding chamber is horizontal, The problem is solved. Then, in order to secure the film characteristics, a roll whose axis is oriented in the direction between the horizontal and the vertical is placed between the substrate and the deposition chamber that transports the substrate in the vertical plane, and the substrate is transported along the cylindrical surface. By doing so, the conversion between the horizontal plane of the substrate surface and the vertical plane can be easily performed. Further, on such a cylindrical surface of the roll having an inclined axis, the substrate needs to slide sideways, and therefore, if the surface of the roll is subjected to a treatment for reducing the friction coefficient, the roll slides smoothly.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in which the same parts as those in FIGS.
In the thin film manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in the feed chamber 21 and the winding chamber 24, a core 31 around which the substrate 1 is wound and a core 32 around which the substrate 1 is wound are installed with their axes horizontal.
In order to convey the substrate 1 from the core 31 to the core 32, a feed roll 34 is installed in the feed chamber, and a take-up roll 35 is installed in the take-up chamber with their axes being horizontal. The feed roll 34 and the take-up roll 35 are opposed to a pressing roll 36 for tightly contacting the substrate so that the substrate does not shift, and an idle roll 33 that is rotatable around a central axis that changes the direction of the substrate is provided on both sides. There is. The axes of the pressing roll 36 and the idle roll 33 are also horizontal.
Further, between the core 31 and the film forming chamber 22, and the core 32.
Between the film forming chamber 23 and the film forming chamber 23, a twisting roll 37 whose axis is not parallel to the short-side direction of the substrate 1 and forms an angle with the axes of the cores 31 and 32 is provided, and the substrate 1 is vertically aligned from the horizontal plane. It is possible to transfer from within the plane and within the vertical plane to the horizontal plane. In this figure, an example in which three twist rolls 37 are installed is shown, but it goes without saying that the number of twist rolls may be three or more. By increasing the number of twisting rolls, the twisting angle of the substrate 1 by one twisting roll can be reduced. Immediately before the film forming chamber 22 and immediately after the film forming chamber 23, an idle roll 38 having a vertical axis is installed.

The film forming chamber is not limited to the two 22 and 23.
It may be a single room or three or more rooms. As the film formation method, each film formation
Roll-to-roll method for forming a film on a substrate 1 moving in a room
Film formation, or film formation on the substrate 1 stopped in the film formation chamber
After the film formation, the substrate part where the film formation is completed is sent to the outside of the film formation chamber.
Either of the wrapping roll methods may be used, or both may be mixed.
It may be. The film formation method uses SiH as the main source gas._Four, S
i₂H₆, Si₂Cl ₂H₂At least one of
A plastic for forming amorphous Si, microcrystalline Si, polycrystalline Si, etc.
Chemical vapor phase reaction method such as Zuma CVD method, Ag, Al, Cr
Metal such as ITO, ZnO, SnO2, SiOx, etc.
Sputtering method for forming metal oxide, vapor deposition method, etc.
anything is fine. The substrate is misaligned in the vertical plane in the deposition chamber.
As a means for transporting without causing misalignment, the above
The technique described in the specification may be adopted.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, both the cores 31 and 32 of the feeding chamber 21 and the winding chamber 24 are horizontally installed, but of course, one of them, which is particularly troubled by winding misalignment, is horizontally installed. However, the other may be installed vertically. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the substrate 1 and the twist roll 37. As shown in this figure, the substrate 1 needs to slide laterally by Δx shown in the figure while being conveyed in contact with the twisting roll 37. Therefore, the treatment for reducing the coefficient of friction with the substrate 1 or the thin film formed on the substrate was performed especially for the twist roll 37. This treatment is performed by vapor-depositing or applying a substance that reduces the coefficient of friction with the substrate 1 or the thin film formed on the substrate on the surface of the twist roll 37. As a result, the substrate 1 smoothly slides in the lateral direction while being conveyed on the twisting roll 37, and the positional displacement of the substrate, the winding displacement on the core, the thin film formed on the substrate, and the characteristic deterioration of the element are reduced. It was

[0013]

According to the present invention, in a thin film manufacturing apparatus for forming a film on a substrate in a vertical plane, the axis of the core body around which the substrate is wound is horizontal in the feed chamber and the winding chamber.
The problem of winding misalignment of the wound substrate is eliminated, the space for the device can be saved, the space for maintenance can be secured, and a thin film manufacturing apparatus with good film characteristics can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a thin film manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view of a conventional thin-film photoelectric device manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view of a conventional thin-film photoelectric device manufacturing apparatus.

4 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the twist roll of the apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Flexible Substrate 21 Feed Chamber 22, 23 Film Forming Chamber 24 Winding Chamber 31, 32 Core 33, 38 Idle Roll 34 Feed Roll 35 Winding Roll 36 Pressing Roll 37 Twisting Roll

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A flexible substrate wound on a core body in a feed chamber is conveyed through a film forming chamber so that the surface is in a vertical plane, and a film is formed on the surface in the film forming chamber and wound. What is wound around a core in a take-up chamber, wherein at least one of the core in the feed chamber and the take-up chamber is installed with its axis horizontal. 2. A flexible substrate, wherein a roll having an axis inclined in a direction between a horizontal direction and a vertical direction is installed between a core body installed with the axis horizontal and a film forming chamber. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the film is conveyed along the cylindrical surface of the roll. 3. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the surface of the roll whose axis is inclined is subjected to a treatment for reducing the coefficient of friction with the surface of the flexible substrate.