JPH08295749A - Apparatus and method for modifying film surface - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a method for modifying a film surface whereby a film can be treated efficiently without requiring a high vacuum and a large apparatus by utilizing ultraviolet radiation. CONSTITUTION: A film to be treated is exposed to ultraviolet rays which have desired wavelenghts in the vacuum ultraviolet region and are emitted by electric discharge caused between electrodes in an atmosphere of a gas convertible into an excimer. The apparatus for this treatment comprises: a hermetically sealed container 3 containing a gas convertible into an excimer; at least a pair of electrodes 2 installed in the container 3; an inlet (slit 8) for introducing the film into the container 3 and an outlet (slit 9) for taking the film out of the container 3; film-conveying means (a sending roll 4 and a winding roll 5) for introducing the film through the inlet into and taking the film through the outlet from the container 3; and a sealing member 10 which tightly seals the inlet and the outlet.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film surface modification device and a film surface modification method. For more information,
The present invention relates to a method for irradiating an ultraviolet ray to variously modify a film surface in order to impart desired properties to one surface or both surfaces of a film material, and a film surface modifying apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the surface modification of a film material is carried out by the action of the plasma by setting the atmosphere of the film to be processed into a plasma state using a discharge chemical reactor. Surface modification has various purposes as follows. For example, when a pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to the surface of a fluororesin film, plasma due to inter-electrode discharge is applied to the surface of the film to roughen the surface of the film so that the pressure-sensitive adhesive easily adheres to the film surface. Alternatively, it gives tackiness to the film surface itself. Further, by applying plasma to the surface of the synthetic resin film, desired hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity is imparted. Furthermore,
After applying the monomer to the surface of the polymer film, cure the monomer by applying plasma.
Polymerize, etc.

However, in order to maintain the atmosphere of the processing environment of the film to be processed in the plasma state, it is necessary to maintain and control it in a high vacuum state, and for that purpose, a pressure reducing device including a vacuum pump and the like is required. Further, since the film to be processed is usually wound on a roll, in order to maintain the atmosphere of the film to be processed in a plasma state for a long time, a film insertion port to a processing environment (inside the closed container) or the like is used. A large-scale sealing mechanism for the closed container for containing the processed film is required. Even if the roll is installed in a closed container, a large-scale seal is required on the output shaft portion of the roll rotation drive device. further,
Even if both the rotary drive device and the rotary drive device are installed in an airtight container, the size of the device is further increased and it takes time to evacuate. As mentioned above, the surface modification by plasma has a problem that the equipment cost and the operation cost are high.

On the other hand, a modification method of irradiating with a laser beam is also adopted, but since the energy density is high, the film to be processed may be inadvertently deformed, deteriorated, melted, damaged or deteriorated. Since the device is a light source, a sweeping device (a driving device or a control device for moving the light source) is required, so that the entire processing device becomes large.

A reforming method of irradiating ultraviolet rays with a mercury lamp is also adopted, but only ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 185 nm or more can be irradiated and the film to be treated is inadvertently heated and melted. It may be deformed. Further, for example, an improvement in the etching rate of various polymers cannot be expected.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and by utilizing ultraviolet irradiation, a particularly high vacuum is not required, and a large-scale device is not required, so that a film can be efficiently formed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a film surface modification device that can be processed.

[0007]

The method for modifying a film surface according to the first aspect of the present invention is to generate ultraviolet rays having a desired wavelength in the vacuum ultraviolet region by causing a discharge between electrodes in a gas atmosphere capable of forming an excimer. It is characterized in that the surface is modified by causing it to emit light and irradiating the surface of the film to be treated with the ultraviolet rays.

A film surface reforming apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is a hermetic container for enclosing a gas that can be excimerized, at least a pair of electrodes mounted in the hermetic container, and the hermetic container. And an inlet and an outlet for the processed film, and a treated film supply means for inserting the processed film into the closed container from the inlet and taking out the film from the outlet, the inlet and the outlet. It is characterized in that a seal member having an airtight function is disposed on the.

A film surface reforming apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is equipped with a hermetically sealed container for enclosing a gas that can be excimerized, at least a pair of electrodes mounted in the hermetically sealed container, and a hermetically sealed container. And the processed film supply means.

A film surface reforming apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is an ultraviolet lamp comprising a glass closed container in which an excimerizable gas is enclosed and electrodes are installed, and a film to be treated is brought close to the ultraviolet lamp. It comprises a processing target film supplying means for pressing and an inert gas supplying means for blowing an inert gas between the ultraviolet lamp and the processing target film.

In the film surface reforming apparatus of the second to fourth aspects, the film-to-be-treated supplying means comprises a supply roll for feeding the film-to-be-treated and a winding roll for winding the film-to-be-treated. It is preferable that at least the take-up roll is rotated by the driving device, since the film to be processed can be continuously processed.

In the film surface modification device according to the second to fourth aspects, the glass lining layer is formed on the surface of the electrode in order to prevent silent discharge or corona discharge from being transferred to arc discharge. In addition, it is preferable in that a protective layer with less risk of peeling can be formed, and the electrode is hollow, and a coolant supply means for supplying and discharging a coolant to the cavity of the electrode is provided. It is preferable in that the electrode heated by the discharge can be prevented from being damaged.

The "excimerizable gas" in the claims means a gas composed of molecules that are excited by the energy of discharge to form a dimer (so-called excimer). Then, when the excimer is decomposed, a single wavelength of ultraviolet light is emitted.

[0014]

According to the film surface modification method of the first aspect of the present invention, since the surface of the film to be treated is irradiated with ultraviolet rays instead of plasma, a high vacuum is not particularly required, and a laser beam is used. Since the energy density is not high, the film to be processed is inadvertently deformed, altered, melted,
There is little risk of damage or deterioration, and there is no need for a sweeping device associated with a point light source. Therefore, since a large-scale device is not required, the facility cost and the operating cost can be reduced, and the film can be efficiently processed. Further, since the single-wavelength ultraviolet light is emitted by the excimer, the film to be processed is not inadvertently heated due to the mixture of long-wavelength ultraviolet light as in a mercury lamp.

Further, the processing speed of the film is increased by one digit or more as compared with the ultraviolet irradiation by the mercury lamp.

In the film surface modification method of the present invention, since it is possible to irradiate ultraviolet rays having a single wavelength, it is easy to adjust the wavelength by selecting a gas. Therefore, by selecting the wavelength of ultraviolet rays and adjusting the irradiation time. Thus, the optimum conditions can be easily set according to the type and degree of surface modification.

According to the film surface reforming apparatus of the second and third aspects of the present invention, the function and effect of the film surface reforming method of the first aspect can be obtained, and the electrode surface and the film to be treated can be effectively separated from each other. In addition, since there is no glass plate for the purpose of isolation, there is no reduction in the intensity of the ultraviolet rays applied to the film to be processed, and there is no need for replacement work due to deterioration of the glass plate. As a result, it is possible to reduce the operating cost of the device, and moreover, the highly efficient reforming process is maintained.

Further, according to the film surface modification apparatus of the fourth aspect, the function and effect of the film surface modification method of the first aspect can be obtained by using the excimer lamp, so that the equipment cost can be reduced. Is possible.

[0019]

EXAMPLES Examples of the film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of the film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing another embodiment of the film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are schematic sectional views showing still another embodiment of the film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention.

A film surface reforming apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as reforming apparatus) 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a hermetically sealed container 3 in which two pairs of electrodes 2 (see also FIG. 2) are arranged, and the hermetically sealed container 3. The container 3 includes a film feed roll 4 that allows the film F to pass through for reforming, a film take-up roll 5 that takes out the modified film F, and a circulation mechanism 6 for the enclosed gas G. A motor for rotation driving is connected to the winding roll 5 via a speed reducer (both not shown). A high-frequency high-voltage power supply 7 is connected between both electrodes 2 (see FIG. 2), and a discharge is generated between the electrodes 2 by energization. The energy of this discharge causes the enclosed gas G to emit ultraviolet rays. There is.

In the present embodiment, xenon gas is used so as to emit ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 172 nm. However, the present invention is not limited to xenon gas, and other rare gas, halogen gas or a mixture of both gases can be used. Any gas such as gas that can emit ultraviolet rays depending on discharge energy can be selected.

As shown in the figure, the two pairs of electrodes 2 are arranged above and below the film F to be treated, and the film F is allowed to pass between the electrodes 2 of both pairs. Nothing other than a space is interposed between the target film F and the film to be processed F. This is for the following reason.
That is, it is conceivable to separate the enclosed gas G space and the film F insertion space with a window member, but as the material for the window member, quartz glass, CaF _2, or the like, which generally has good ultraviolet transmittance, is conventionally used. They are used, and they absorb a part of them when they transmit ultraviolet rays. In addition, the window member may be deteriorated or deteriorated particularly by irradiation with vacuum ultraviolet rays due to long-term use, and it is necessary to replace the window member. Further, in order to improve the ultraviolet ray transmittance of the window member, in the case of quartz glass, high purity is required, which is expensive. For CaF ₂ also becomes expensive since it is a single crystal, also possible to manufacture a large-sized article is almost impossible. Therefore, such a situation can be avoided by adopting the closed container 3 without using the window member.

The electrodes 2 are not limited to two pairs, and three or more pairs may be provided depending on the size of the closed container 3. Further, for the purpose of modifying only one surface of the film to be processed F, it may be arranged only on either the upper side or the lower side (see FIGS. 4 to 6). Therefore, only one pair of electrodes may be attached. Further, the film to be processed may be mounted between the pair of electrodes. That is, the electrodes may be positioned so as to sandwich the film to be processed.

The closed container 3 is provided with a slit 8 for inserting the film F and a slit 9 for drawing out the film F. Further, the inside of the closed container 3 of the slit 8 for inserting the film F and the slit 9 for drawing out the film F. Gas seal members 10 are attached to the outside of the closed container 3 (see also FIG. 3). The gas seal member 10 includes elastic plates 1 such as two rubber plates facing the moving direction of the film F.
0a is attached in such a state that the restoring force of each other acts on each other and the film F is pinched. Of course, other known sealing members may be used.

A reflective coating 11 is formed on the inner surface of the closed container 3 so as to reflect the generated ultraviolet rays.
As the reflection coating 11, for example, a metal material having aluminum vapor-deposited over its entire surface, a metal material whose surface is polished and finished, or a high-temperature oxidation treatment after polishing, which desirably totally reflects ultraviolet rays, What was wet-etched with an acid solution, a reflecting mirror having a reflecting surface coated with a dielectric multilayer film, or a mirror having a glass portion made of quartz glass can be used.

On the other hand, a gas inlet 12 and a gas outlet 13 for the enclosed gas G are formed in the closed container 3, and the pipe 1 of the circulation mechanism 6 for the enclosed gas G is formed in these gas inlets 12 and 13.
4 are connected. The circulation mechanism 6 has a dryer 15 and a blower 16 in the pipe 14 in order to circulate the dry enclosed gas G in the closed container 3. A cylinder 17 of the enclosed gas G is also connected to the pipe 14 in order to supplement the gas that slightly leaks from the slits 8 and 9 for inserting and inserting the film F. 18 is a closed container 3
It is a pressure detector for detecting and displaying the internal pressure of.

In the present reforming apparatus 1, the internal pressure of the closed vessel 3 is normally set to be slightly higher than atmospheric pressure (for example, 1.1 atmospheric pressure) to prevent air from entering from the outside. However, when the pressure inside the closed container 3 is set to be equal to or slightly lower than the atmospheric pressure as needed, as in the reformer 19 shown in FIG. Gas seal chambers 20 and 2 on the outside
It is preferable to install 1. Of course, the gas seal chambers 20 and 21 are also equipped with slits 22 and 23 for inserting and removing the film F and a gas seal member 24. If the internal pressure of the gas seal chambers 20 and 21 is set to the atmospheric pressure or higher by filling the enclosed gas or the like, the gas seal chambers 20 and 21 will not be mixed with the atmosphere, and therefore the sealed container 3 Atmospheric pressure does not mix the air into the closed container 3. Reference numeral 25 is a pressure detector for the gas seal chamber.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show an apparatus for reforming the film F in the closed container 3 similarly to the above-mentioned embodiment, and a glass plate is also provided between the electrode 2 and the film F. It is not intervening. In both figures, the circulation mechanism 6
Illustration (see FIGS. 1 and 2) is omitted. In the reforming device 26 of FIG. 4, the feed roll 4 and the take-up roll 5 are used as film supply means. On the other hand, in the reforming apparatus 27 of FIG. 5, a pedestal 28 on which the film F is placed or stretched is used as the film supply means.
The reforming device 27 shown in FIG. 5 is of a so-called batch type in which one or more films F are loaded into the closed container 3.

The reforming device 29 shown in FIG. 6 is a device for effecting a reforming treatment by bringing an ultraviolet lamp 30 in which a gas capable of forming an excimer is enclosed close to the film F to be treated and irradiating the film F with ultraviolet rays. . Although the feed roll 4 and the take-up roll 5 are used as the film supply means, a frame 28 as shown in FIG. 5 may be used.
Further, in order to remove the atmosphere containing oxygen and the like from between the ultraviolet lamp 30 and the film F, a nitrogen gas cylinder 31 and a nozzle 32 for ejecting nitrogen gas N are provided. This is because in the presence of the atmosphere, ozone is generated by ultraviolet rays, and the ultraviolet rays themselves are largely absorbed by the atmosphere. It should be noted that nitrogen gas is not particularly limited for removing air, and for example, argon gas or the like may be used. According to the present reformer 29, the ultraviolet irradiation efficiency is not as high as that of the reformers 1, 19, 26, 27, but it is more advantageous in that the amount of the enclosed gas used is reduced and the equipment is simplified. Equipment cost can be reduced.

Further, the above reforming devices 1, 19, 26, 2
A glass lining 33 is applied to the outer surfaces of all the electrodes 2 of 7 and 29 (see FIGS. 1 to 6). This is to cause normal corona discharge and silent discharge and prevent transition to arc discharge. For this purpose, the glass lining is optimal in that the risk of peeling and breakage is extremely small.

Although not shown, in the above reforming apparatus 1, 19, 26, 27, 29, the electrode 2 is made hollow such as a cylinder or a square tube so that the coolant flows in the inner cavity. Is preferably formed. This is to prevent the electrode 2 from being damaged by the energy applied by the discharge, and to improve the discharge efficiency by cooling the electrode 2. As the cooling agent, known one such as cold water or ethylene glycol is used.

[0033]

According to the film surface modification method of the first aspect of the present invention, since the surface of the film to be treated is irradiated with ultraviolet rays instead of plasma, a large-scale device is not required, and the equipment cost is reduced. The second and third aspects of the present invention are capable of reducing the operating cost, easily setting the optimum conditions according to the type and degree of the surface modification, and efficiently processing the film. According to the film surface reforming apparatus according to the aspect of (1), while exhibiting the effect of the film surface reforming method according to the first aspect, there is no glass plate for the purpose of isolation between the electrode and the film to be treated. In addition, there is no reduction in the intensity of ultraviolet rays applied to the film to be processed, and there is no need for replacement work due to deterioration of the glass plate. As a result, it is possible to reduce the operating cost of the device, and moreover, the highly efficient reforming process is maintained.

Further, according to the film surface modification apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the function and effect of the film surface modification method of the first aspect can be exhibited by using the excimer lamp, the equipment cost can be reduced. Is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing another embodiment of the film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1 or FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing still another embodiment of the film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing still another embodiment of the film surface modifying apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing still another embodiment of the film surface modification apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 19, 26, 27, 29 ... Reforming device 2 ... Electrode 3 ... Airtight container 4 ... Feed roll 5 ... Winding roll 8, 9, 22, 23 ... Slit 10, 24 ... Gas seal member 28 ... Stand 30 ... UV lamp 32 ... Nozzle 33 ... Glass lining

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An ultraviolet ray having a desired wavelength in the vacuum ultraviolet region is emitted by causing a discharge between electrodes in a gas atmosphere capable of forming an excimer, and the surface of the film to be treated is irradiated with the ultraviolet ray. A method for modifying a film surface, which comprises modifying. 2. An airtight container for enclosing a gas capable of forming an excimer, at least a pair of electrodes mounted in the airtight container, an inlet and an outlet for a film to be processed, which are disposed in the airtight container. A film comprising a film-to-be-processed supply means for inserting the film to be processed into the closed container from the inlet and taking it out from the outlet, and a film provided with a sealing member having an airtight function at the inlet and the outlet. Surface modification device. 3. A film surface modification comprising a hermetically sealed container for enclosing an excimerizable gas, at least a pair of electrodes mounted in the hermetically sealed container, and a to-be-processed film supply means provided in the hermetically sealed container. Quality equipment. 4. An ultraviolet lamp comprising a glass closed container in which an excimatizable gas is sealed and an electrode is installed, a film supply means for treating the film to be brought close to the ultraviolet lamp, the ultraviolet lamp and the substrate. A film surface reforming apparatus comprising an inert gas supply means for blowing an inert gas between the film and the treated film. 5. The film-to-be-processed supplying means comprises a supply roll for feeding out the film-to-be-processed and a winding roll for winding the film-to-be-processed, and at least the winding roll is rotated by a drive device. The film surface reforming apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, which is configured as described above. 6. The film surface reforming device according to claim 2, wherein a glass lining layer is formed on the surface of the electrode. 7. The electrode according to claim 2, wherein the electrode is hollow, and the cavity of the electrode is equipped with a coolant supply means for supplying and discharging a coolant. Item 5. The film surface modification apparatus according to item.