JPH10228641A - Thin film body and thin film forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To mitigate stress strain and to improve manufacturing yield of a thin film body by forming a thin film so that a width in the lowermost layer part of the thin film of the thin film body having the thin film formed on a support body becomes longer than the width in the uppermost layer part. SOLUTION: A magnetic thin film 2 is formed on the support body 1 to thickness of 50-3000nm by a scattering means such as spattering and evapolation, etc. In this magnetic film 2, slopes (an angle of inclination θ is 90 deg. or below) that the uppermost layer part width x of the magnetic film 2 is shorter than the lowermost layer part width y are formed on the end side parts 2a, 2b in the width direction. Then, these x and y are preferred to be satisfied with 0.05<=(y-x)/y<=0.5. However, the slopes satisfied with the condition whose changing condition may be one like a curved line, or with a fixed width on the way without being a linear one not to be limited by a shape.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film such as a raw material having a magnetic film provided on a support and a thin film forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape, a magnetic film provided on a non-magnetic support is not a coating type using a binder resin, but a binder resin. A metal thin film type which is not used has been proposed. That is, a magnetic recording medium in which a magnetic film is formed by dry plating means such as vacuum deposition, sputtering, or ion plating has been proposed. This kind of magnetic recording medium is suitable for high-density recording because of its high packing density of magnetic material.

[0003]

However, when a magnetic film is formed by conventional sputtering or vapor deposition and an original film of a magnetic recording medium is obtained, streaks caused by stress distortion due to film formation are formed at the ends of the magnetic film. It is made. Therefore, the production yield of the magnetic tape is low. In other words, a magnetic tape can be obtained by cutting the raw material of the magnetic recording medium to a predetermined width, but the area of the streaks formed inside from the end of the raw material is considerably larger than the width of the raw material. For this reason, only a narrow portion at the center in the width direction of the raw material can be used for the magnetic tape.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for producing a magnetic tape or the like with a high production yield.

[0005]

The object of the present invention is to provide a thin film having a support and a thin film formed on the support, wherein the thin film has a width in the lowermost layer portion of the uppermost layer. The problem is solved by a thin film body characterized in that it is longer than the width in the part.

[0006] In particular, in a thin film having a support and a thin film formed on the support, the thin film has a thickness of 50 to 3000 nm, and has a thickness in a lowermost layer portion of the formed thin film. The problem is solved by a thin film body characterized in that the width is longer than the width in the uppermost layer.

In the present invention, the width refers to the length in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support. More specifically, in the case where a long support is placed in a system in which the support travels, the length in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the support is referred to as a width. The thin film has a width y in the lowermost layer and a width x in the uppermost layer of the thin film.
Those satisfying 0.05 ≦ (y−x) /y≦0.5 are preferable.

A scattering means for scattering the particles, a guide means for guiding a support on which the particles scattered by the scattering means are attached and deposited, and provided along the guide means;
And a mask member provided corresponding to an end in the width direction of the support, wherein a thin film formed by attaching and depositing the particles scattered by the scattering means on the support is provided. The problem is solved by a thin film forming apparatus characterized in that the mask member is configured so that a thin film having a width in a lower layer portion longer than a width in an uppermost layer portion is formed.

In particular, evaporating means for evaporating the particles, running means for running a support on which the particles evaporated by the evaporating means adhere and accumulate, guide means for guiding the support running by the running means, A mask member provided along the guide means, and provided corresponding to an end in the width direction of the support, and attaching particles evaporated by the evaporating means to the support. The problem is solved by a thin film forming apparatus characterized in that the mask member is configured so that a thin film formed by deposition has a width in a lowermost layer portion longer than a width in an uppermost layer portion.

[0010] The shape of the mask member has a predetermined length along the traveling direction of the support, and has an inclined line with a short mask length on the initial side where particles start to adhere and accumulate on the support. Shape. Then, a thin film having the above characteristics is formed on the support by using the above apparatus.

In the thin film having such characteristics, the distortion of the stress generated at the end portion in the width direction of the formed thin film is small, and the streak in the width direction is extremely small. Therefore, the portion cut off due to the formation of streaks was reduced, and the production yield was improved.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A thin film according to the present invention is a thin film having a support and a thin film formed on the support, wherein the thin film has a minimum width at a lowermost layer portion of the thin film. It is longer than the width in the upper layer. In particular, in a thin film having a support and a thin film formed on the support, the thin film has a thickness of 50 to 3000 nm.
And the width at the lowermost layer of the formed thin film is longer than the width at the uppermost layer. In the thin film, the width y in the lowermost layer portion and the width x in the uppermost layer portion satisfy the condition 0.05 ≦ (y−x) /y≦0.5.

The thin film forming apparatus for forming the thin film includes a scattering means for scattering particles, a guide means for guiding a support on which the particles scattered by the scattering means are attached and deposited, and And a mask member provided corresponding to an end in the width direction of the support, and formed by adhesion and deposition of particles scattered by the scattering means on the support. The mask member is configured such that a thin film having a lowermost layer width than the uppermost layer portion is formed. In particular, evaporating means for evaporating the particles, traveling means for traveling a support on which the particles evaporated by the evaporating means adhere and accumulate, guide means for guiding the traveling support by the traveling means, and the guide means And a mask member provided along the widthwise end of the support body, and formed by attaching and depositing the particles evaporated by the evaporating means on the support body. The mask member is configured so that a thin film having a lowermost layer width than the uppermost layer portion is formed.
The shape of the mask member is, in particular, a shape having a predetermined length along the traveling direction of the support, and having a short inclined line in which the mask length on the initial side where particles start to adhere and accumulate on the support is short. is there.

The details will be described below. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a thin film, particularly a magnetic recording medium (magnetic tape) provided with a magnetic thin film on a support (in a long raw material, a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (width direction)). FIG. 1 is a support. The support 1 may be magnetic or non-magnetic. Generally, it is non-magnetic. For example, polyester such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide, polyimide, polysulfone, polycarbonate,
An organic material such as an olefin-based resin such as polypropylene, a cellulose-based resin, and a vinyl chloride-based resin, that is, an insulating non-magnetic polymer material is used. Incidentally, an undercoat layer for improving the adhesion of the magnetic film is provided on the surface of the support as necessary. That is, by appropriately roughening the surface roughness, the adhesion of the magnetic thin film formed by, for example, the oblique evaporation method is improved, and the running property is further improved by appropriately setting the surface roughness of the metal magnetic thin film surface. Therefore, for example, an undercoat layer is formed by providing a coating film containing particles such as SiO ₂ and having a thickness of 0.005 to 0.1 μm.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a magnetic film (magnetic thin film) having a thickness of 50 to 300 nm formed on the support 1 by scattering means such as sputtering or evaporation (dry plating means). The magnetic film 2 is formed at the end portions 2a and 2b in the width direction (the horizontal direction in FIG. 1) of the formed magnetic film 2.
Is formed such that the width of the uppermost layer is smaller than the width of the lowermost layer (the inclination angle θ is less than 90 °). Note that the inclined surface in the portion 2a and the inclined surface in the portion 2b
The inclination angles may be different, but the inclination angles are substantially the same. The width y in the lowermost layer and the width x in the uppermost layer of the magnetic film 2 are 0.05 ≦ (y−x).
/Y≦0.5. In particular, 0.05 ≦ (y−
x) /y≦0.2. The value of (y-x) is a dimension in the width direction of the portion on the inclined surface.

In the above description, the case where the cross-sectional shape when the magnetic film 2 is cut along the width direction is a trapezoid has been described. However, although the inclined surface is formed such that the width y in the lowermost layer portion and the width x in the uppermost layer portion of the magnetic film 2 satisfy 0.05 ≦ (y−x) /y≦0.5, FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the degree of change is not linear but may be curved. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the width may be constant from the middle. Or, FIG.
As shown in (1), one end face of the magnetic film 2 may be present on a plane perpendicular to the support. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6, the cross section of the magnetic film 2 may be a drum shape. Further, the shape may be as shown in FIG. In addition, it is not limited to these shapes.

It is to be noted that the type shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 is preferable. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 or FIG.
The upper layer has a shorter width, and the upper layer is within the range of the lower layer, or as shown in FIG. Are preferably of the type in which the width is the same and the upper layer is in the range of the lower layer.

The width y of the lowermost layer of the magnetic film 2 may be the same as the width of the support 1 or may be shorter than the width of the support 1. As a material of the magnetic particles constituting the magnetic film 2, for example, in addition to metals such as Fe, Co, and Ni, Co-
Ni alloy, Co-Pt alloy, Co-Ni-Pt alloy, F
e-Co alloy, Fe-Ni alloy, Fe-Co-Ni alloy, Fe-Co-B alloy, Co-Ni-Fe-B alloy,
A Co-Cr alloy or a material containing a metal such as Al in these materials is used.

The apparatus shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is used for forming the magnetic film 2. The apparatus shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is a schematic view of an oblique vapor deposition apparatus. In these figures, 1 is a support, 1
0 is a cooling can roll, 11 is a crucible, 12 is a crucible 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a magnetic metal, 13 denotes a mask member, 14 denotes an oxygen gas supply nozzle, 15 denotes an electron gun, and 16 denotes a vacuum chamber. Since these configurations are well known in the related art, detailed description will be omitted. 17 is also a mask member. The mask member 17 is provided along the cooling can roll 10. In particular, as can be seen from FIG. 8, the mask member 17 moves in the direction in which the support 1 travels (FIG. 8).
The length of the mask at a deposition start position A having a predetermined length L along the middle and the direction indicated by the arrow) and at which magnetic metal particles evaporated from the crucible 11 begin to adhere and deposit (deposit) on the support 1. a shape having a slope line K such short straight or arcuate than the mask length M _B at the position B of the final length) M _a is masked ends of deposition in the widthwise direction of the support 1. The mask member 17 having such a shape is arranged on both sides along the cooling can roll 10. still,
When manufacturing the type shown in FIG. 5, only one of the pair of mask members 17 may have a shape having the inclined line K.

Then, the inside of the vacuum chamber 16 is, for example, 10 ⁻⁴ to
Evacuate to about 10 ^-6 Torr, and place the electron gun 1 on the magnetic metal 12.
The magnetic film 2 is provided by irradiating an electron beam from 5 to evaporate and depositing (oblique deposition) metal magnetic particles. That is, when the magnetic metal 12 in the crucible 11 evaporates, the evaporated particles are deposited on the support 1 running along the cooling can roll 10. At this time, the particles evaporated in the region corresponding to the mask member 17 are deposited on the mask member 17 and are not deposited on the support 1. Since the mask member 17 has the shape described above, the support 1
The amount deposited on the end side in the width direction is small, and the deposited amount gradually increases inward.

Therefore, when the magnetic film 2 is formed by using the above oblique deposition apparatus, the formed magnetic film 2 is as shown in FIG. After the raw material of the magnetic tape is obtained in this manner, for example, using an ECR microwave plasma CVD apparatus, 1 to 50 nm, particularly 3 to 20 nm is formed on the magnetic film 2.
A protective film made of, for example, diamond-like carbon is provided.

If necessary, a film of a fluorine-based lubricant is provided on the protective film to a thickness of about 1 to 7 nm by means such as immersion or ultrasonic spraying. A so-called back coat film is provided on the surface on the opposite side of the support 1. The present invention can be applied to a case where the back coat film is formed of a metal thin film formed by vapor deposition means. Therefore, in this case, the formed back coat film has a shape as shown in FIG.
The material of the metal particles constituting the metal thin film-based back coat film is, for example, Al, Zn, Sn, Ni, Ag,
Metals such as Fe and Ti are used. Also, Cu-Al-
X (where X is one or two or more selected from the group of Mn, Fe, Ni) alloys, Al-Si alloys,
A Ti alloy or the like is used.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to specific examples.

[0024]

Embodiment 1 Using the apparatus shown in FIGS.
5 mm on a 6 μm-thick PET film.
A length of 000 m was formed to obtain a raw magnetic tape as shown in FIG. The thickness of the formed magnetic film 2 is 180 nm on average.
Met. The width y in the lowermost layer of the magnetic film 2 is 135 mm
Where y and the width x in the uppermost layer are (y−x)
/Y=0.08.

[0025]

[Embodiment 2] The apparatus shown in FIGS.
5 mm on a 6 μm-thick PET film.
A length of 000 m was formed to obtain a raw magnetic tape as shown in FIG. The thickness of the formed magnetic film 2 is 180 nm on average.
Met. The width y in the lowermost layer of the magnetic film 2 is 135 mm
Where y and the width x in the uppermost layer are (y−x)
/Y=0.10 was satisfied.

[0026]

Embodiment 3 Using the apparatus shown in FIGS.
5 mm on a 6 μm-thick PET film.
A length of 000 m was formed to obtain a raw magnetic tape as shown in FIG. The thickness of the formed magnetic film 2 is 180 nm on average.
Met. The width y in the lowermost layer of the magnetic film 2 is 155 mm
Where y and the width x in the uppermost layer are (y−x)
/Y=0.12 was satisfied.

[0027]

COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1 In the apparatus shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the mask member 17 was changed to a rectangular one, and was placed on a PET film having a width of 155 mm and a thickness of 6 μm, as shown in FIG.
A magnetic film 2 having an average thickness of 180 nm and a width of 135 mm and a rectangular cross section was formed to a length of 5000 m.

[0028]

[Characteristics] Regarding the raw material of the magnetic tape obtained in each of the above examples, the condition of the streaks was examined, slits were cut to a predetermined width except for the streaks, and the yield of the obtained magnetic tape was examined. -1. Table 1 (yx) / y Production yield (%) Example 1 0.08 89 Example 2 0.10 92 Example 3 0.12 94 Comparative Example 1 0.00 83 As can be seen from the above, the present invention According to the yield is high.

[0029]

The thin film is formed such that the width of the lowermost layer portion of the thin film is longer than the width of the uppermost layer portion, so that the stress distortion is reduced, the streak generation rate is low, and the production yield of the thin film body is high. And if the streaks are formed, there are few parts to be discarded, so there is less waste and the price is lower.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an original magnetic tape.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a raw magnetic tape.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a raw magnetic tape.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a raw magnetic tape.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a raw magnetic tape.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an original magnetic tape.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an original magnetic tape.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of a main part of a thin film production apparatus (oblique deposition apparatus).

FIG. 9 is a schematic bottom view of a main part of a thin film manufacturing apparatus (oblique deposition apparatus).

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of an original magnetic tape.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Support 2 Magnetic film (magnetic thin film) 10 Cooling can roll (guide means) 11 Crucible 12 Magnetic metal 15 Electron gun 16 Vacuum tank 17 Mask member

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A thin film having a support and a thin film formed on the support, wherein the thin film has a width at a lowermost layer portion longer than a width at an uppermost layer portion. Thin film. 2. The thin film has a width y at a lowermost layer portion of the thin film.
And the width x in the uppermost layer portion is 0.05 ≦ (y−x) /
2. The thin film according to claim 1, wherein y ≦ 0.5 is satisfied. 3. A scattering means for scattering particles, a guide means for guiding a support on which the particles scattered by the scattering means adhere and accumulate, and a width of the support provided along the guide means. A mask member provided corresponding to the end in the direction, wherein the width of the lowermost layer portion of the thin film formed by attaching and depositing the particles scattered by the scattering means on the support is the uppermost layer The thin-film forming apparatus, wherein the mask member is configured to form a thin film longer than the width of the portion. 4. An evaporating means for evaporating particles, a traveling means for traveling a support on which the particles evaporated by the evaporating means adhere and accumulate, a guide means for guiding the traveling support by the traveling means, A mask member provided along the guide means, and provided corresponding to an end in the width direction of the support; and attaching particles evaporated by the evaporating means to the support. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mask member is configured so that a thin film formed by deposition has a width in a lowermost layer portion longer than a width in an uppermost layer portion. 5. The mask member has a predetermined length along a direction in which the support travels, and particles adhere to the support.
5. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the mask length on the initial side where the deposition starts is a shape having a short inclined line.