JPH11350112A - Packing method of evaporating material in pvd device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a packing method of an evaporating material in a PVD device, which makes it possible to uniformize the thickness of a formed thin film and to improve the variation between products. SOLUTION: In a PVD device in which a plasma beam 16 generated by a plasma gun 11 is guided onto a powdery, particulate or pellet like evaporating material M stored in a crucible 13 in the inside of a vacuum chamber 12 and a thin film is formed on the lower surface of a substrate 17 positioned at the upper side of the evaporating material M, the evaporation material M is supplied to a reduced amt. part of the evaporation material M in the crucible 13 and the upper surface of a newly supplied part of the material M in the crucible 13 is smoothed by uniformly pressurizing so that simultaneously the packing density of the newly supplied evaporation material M is maintained constant.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for charging a vaporized raw material in a PVD apparatus in which a plasma beam is guided by a magnetic field onto the raw material in a vacuum chamber.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a PVD apparatus in which a plasma beam generated by a plasma gun is guided by a magnetic field onto a powdery, granular, or pelletized evaporative raw material accommodated in a crucible in a vacuum chamber. And
In the vacuum chamber, the evaporation material is evaporated by a plasma beam, and a thin film is formed on the lower surface of the substrate located above the evaporation material.

In this PVD apparatus, when a thin film is continuously formed for a long period of time, it is necessary to compensate for the reduced amount of the evaporative raw material stored in the crucible. For example, as shown in FIG. Feeder 51 having shape
The supply and filling of the evaporation raw material M into the crucible 52 are performed. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the blade 5 is brought close to a feeder 53 having the same shape as described above.
The evaporation material M is supplied from the feeder 53 to the crucible 55 while the crucible 55 is reciprocated horizontally, and the upper surface of the evaporation material M is scraped off by the blades 54 to prevent excessive supply of the evaporation material M. At the same time, a method of filling the evaporation material M while smoothing the upper surface of the evaporation material M has been adopted.

[0004]

Among the above-mentioned methods of filling the evaporation raw material M, in the case of the method shown in FIG.
Since the evaporation material M is simply dropped and supplied to the crucible 52, the packing density of the evaporation material M in the crucible 52 becomes uneven. Further, in this method, the upper surface of the evaporation material M supplied to the crucible 52 is not smooth. For this reason, the deposition rate during film formation in the PVD apparatus becomes unstable, and not only the film thickness distribution of the formed thin film in the substrate moving direction and the direction perpendicular thereto is not uniform, but also the substrate and the thin film There is a problem that the entire thickness including the above varies between products.

Further, in the case of the method shown in FIGS.
Although the upper surface of the evaporation raw material M in the crucible 52 is smoothed more than in the method described above, the smoothness is not always sufficient. Further, the packing density of the evaporation raw material M is still uneven. For this reason, the same problem as described above occurs, although there is some difference. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional problems, and a method of filling a vaporized raw material in a PVD apparatus which enables uniformity of the thickness of a formed thin film and improvement in variation between products. It is intended to provide.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a plasma beam generated by a plasma gun is placed on a powdery, granular, or pelletized evaporative material contained in a crucible in a vacuum chamber. In the method of filling an evaporating material in a PVD apparatus, which is guided by a magnetic field and forms a thin film on a lower surface of a substrate located above the evaporating material, the evaporating material is supplied to a reduced portion of the evaporating material in the crucible, The upper surface of the new supply section of the evaporation raw material is uniformly pressed to be smooth, and the packing density of the newly supplied evaporation raw material is kept constant.

[0007]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 6 show a PVD apparatus 1 to which a filling method according to the present invention is applied. The PVD apparatus 1 is provided with a vacuum chamber 12 having a plasma gun 11 mounted on a side surface thereof. In the vacuum chamber 12, a crucible 13 containing powdery, granular, or pellet-shaped evaporation raw materials M is arranged. An annular coil 14 and a pair of upper and lower magnets 15 are provided on the outer periphery of the plasma gun 11 so as to surround the periphery thereof, and a carrier gas flows from the outside into the vacuum chamber 12 at the center of the plasma gun 11. Sent in. Then, a plasma beam 16 generated by the plasma gun 11 is guided into the vacuum chamber 12 by the annular coil 14, and is formed into a sheet by a pair of upper and lower magnets 15.

While the reaction gas is supplied into the vacuum chamber 12, the inside of the vacuum chamber 12 is evacuated from the side and maintained at a predetermined reduced pressure. As shown by the arrows in FIG. 1, the substrate 17 is successively supplied in a horizontal state above the crucible 13 from the left side of the vacuum chamber 12 and is sent out of the vacuum chamber 12 from the right side. Then, a thin film is formed on the lower surface of the substrate 17 which continues to move in the vacuum chamber 12 by vapor deposition. In addition,
1 and 2, the substrates 17 are provided one by one in the vacuum chamber 1.
2, the sheet material continuously wound from the coil may be used as the substrate. Also in this case, the point that the thin film is formed on the lower surface of the substrate under the horizontal movement state is the same as that of the substrate 17, except that the substrate is not interrupted during the formation of the thin film.

The crucible 13 has, for example, a rectangular shape as shown in the figure, and is provided so as to be able to reciprocate horizontally in a direction parallel to the moving direction of the substrate 17 by a driving mechanism (not shown). Above the crucible 13, a pair of downwardly narrowed feeders 18 having a reduced cross-sectional shape are provided so as to face each other at intervals in the reciprocating direction.
In addition to the blade 19 and the pair of rollers 20, a pair of rolls 20 are provided so as to be able to rotate forward and backward in conjunction with the reciprocating motion. This roll 2
0 may be brought into contact with the upper end surface 13a of the crucible 13 and rotated by frictional resistance between the two, or may be rotated by a rotary driving device. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 denotes a simplified bearing box supported from below by a support member 22 formed of a columnar body.
1, the roll 20 is rotatably supported. Below the central portion of the crucible 13, a plurality of magnets 23 are independently juxtaposed and vertically movable along a plane perpendicular to the direction of the reciprocating motion.

FIG. 4 shows the positional relationship among the crucible 13, the feeder 18 for supplying the vaporized material, and the plasma beam 16. FIG. 5 shows a case where the crucible 13 has reached the right limit position in the reciprocating motion. FIG. 6 shows a case where the crucible 13 has reached the left limit position in the reciprocating motion. 4 to 6, for convenience of the following description, the crucible 13 extends to the left and right of the upper surface of the crucible 13.
Considering the x-axis parallel to the direction of motion, the center of the plasma beam 16 on the crucible 13 is defined as the origin of the x-axis (x = 0), and the perpendicular passing through the origin is defined as the y-axis. Further, for the feeder 18, blade 19 and roll 20 forming a pair, an R symbol is added to each of the reference numbers in order to distinguish between the left and right.
(Right) and L (left).
The distance between the center of each lower end opening of R and 18L and the y axis is XR and XL.

Further, the upper end surface of the crucible 13 and the blade 1
The distance between the lower end surface of 9L and the lower surface is D1, and the blade 19L
The height difference between the lower end surface of the feeder 18L and the lower end opening surface of the feeder 18L is D2. In this PVD apparatus 1, as shown in FIG. 4, the blade 19L is located higher than the upper surface of the crucible 13, and the lower end opening of the feeder 18L is located further higher. Feeder 18R and blade 19
R has the same height relationship as the feeder 18L and the blade 19L.

Next, in FIG. 4, MC is the intersection of the top of the crucible 13 with the y-axis (x = 0) and MR is the point of the top of the crucible 13 immediately below the center of the lower end opening of the feeder 18R.
Crucible 1 immediately below the center of the lower end opening of feeder 18L
The point on the upper surface of No. 3 is ML. In addition, crucible 13 to the right
Is the maximum moving distance of SR, and the maximum moving distance of the crucible 13 to the left is SL. First, the movement of the crucible 13 to the right is considered with reference to FIG. In this case, in order to compensate for the evaporation material M reduced by the irradiation of the plasma beam 16,
The MC point must reach at least immediately below the center of the lower end opening of the feeder 18R, and XR ≦ SR must be satisfied. Also, the ML point must reach at least x = 0 and XL ≦ SR. Then, the evaporation material M is supplied from the feeder 18R to the right side of the MC point, while the evaporation material M between the y axis and the MC point is irradiated with the plasma beam 16 and is in a reduced state.

On the other hand, when the crucible 13 moves to the left, the MC point needs to reach at least immediately below the center of the lower end opening of the feeder 18L as shown in FIG. No. Also, the MR point must reach at least x = 0 and XR ≦ SL. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the evaporation material M is supplied from the feeder 18L to the left side of the MC point, while the evaporation material M between the y-axis and the MC point is irradiated with the plasma beam 16 and is reduced. It has become. Thereafter, along with the left and right movement, the reduction of the amount of the evaporated material M is repeated between the MR point and the ML point, while the supply of the evaporated material M is repeated between the MC point and the MR point and between the MC point and the ML point. . Then, as will be described later, when returning to the x-axis side, the upper surface of the newly supplied evaporation raw material M is scraped and smoothed by the blade 19R or 19L.
Pressed by 0R or 20L. Preferably, XR = XL and SR = SL.

With this configuration, in the PVD apparatus 1, the plasma beam 16 generated by the plasma gun 11 is placed at an intermediate position between the opposing rolls 20R and 20L on the evaporation material M in the crucible 13 as in the above-described apparatus. The magnetic field is guided by a plurality of magnets 23 disposed below the crucible 13. And the vacuum chamber 12
Inside, the evaporation material M filled in the crucible 13 is evaporated by the plasma beam 16, and a thin film is formed on the lower surface of the substrate 17 which moves the evaporation material M over the crucible 13 by vapor deposition.

On the other hand, after the evaporation material M is supplied from the feeder 18 to the reduced portion of the evaporation material M in the reciprocating crucible 13, the newly supplied evaporation material M is supplied through the gap D 1 at the lower end of the blade 19. The vaporized raw material M is transported toward the roll 20 with a certain thickness D1. In this case, excess vaporized raw material M is transported to the roll 20. Then, by uniformly pressing the upper surface of the new supply part of the evaporation material M having a constant thickness D1 by the roll 20 at a fixed position, the upper surface of the evaporation material M is sufficiently smoothed,
The packing density of the newly supplied evaporation raw material M in the crucible 13 is kept constant as a whole.

As a result, not only can the formation of a thin film be continued continuously for a long time, but also the thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate 17 becomes uniform overall, and the variation among products is improved. Is done. The optimum amount of the evaporating raw material M reaching the roll 20 is determined according to the reduction rate of the evaporating raw material M and the particle size or pellet size of the evaporating raw material M, and accordingly, D1 and D2 shown in FIG. The size of is adjusted.

FIG. 7 shows only an evaporating material filling section of another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.
6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Parts other than the evaporative raw material filling section shown in FIG. 7 are substantially the same as those shown in FIGS. In this apparatus, a crucible 13A is formed in the shape of an annular bottomed container in place of the crucible 13 in the PVD apparatus 1 described above, and rotates relatively to the cylindrical roll 20 in a horizontal plane. Is used. Also in this apparatus, the thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate 17 is made uniform as a whole and the variation among products is improved by the operation substantially similar to the apparatus shown in FIGS. Also, the description of the height relationship between the feeder 18L, the blade 19L, and the roll 20L shown in FIG. 4 applies to the portion shown in FIG. 7 as it is.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show only an evaporative raw material filling section of still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied, and portions common to the above-described apparatuses are denoted by the same reference numerals. Description is omitted. In this device, FIG.
Frusto-conical roll 2 having a diameter increasing outwardly of crucible 13 instead of cylindrical roll 20 in FIG.
0A is used. Then, by using the roll 20A formed in the shape of a truncated cone, the speed of each portion of the upper surface of the evaporation raw material M and the speed of each portion of the outer peripheral surface of the roll 20A that comes into contact with the same are made the same. Unnecessary fine crushing problems are minimized.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied. The same parts as those of the above-described apparatus are denoted by the same reference numerals and described. Is omitted. In this device, a support member 22A including a tension spring member is used at least partially instead of the support member 22 formed of a columnar body illustrated in FIG.
The roll 20 is formed so as to constantly press the upper end surface of the crucible 13.

When the bearing box 21 is fixed in an immobile state, when the supply amount of the vaporized raw material M to the vicinity of the roll 20 becomes excessive due to irregularities in the particle size of the vaporized raw material M, the vaporized raw material M is crucible. Due to the evaporation raw material M that cannot be pressed into and cannot be hardened, the reciprocating motion of the crucible 13 may be hindered or the evaporation raw material M may be finely crushed. By adopting the structure shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 described above, even if the evaporated material M is excessively supplied to the vicinity of the roll 20, the roll 20 can be moved up and down by a spring action. Occurrence of problems such as impeding movement is avoided.

FIG. 13 shows an evaporating raw material filling section of still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied. Omitted. In this device, FIG.
2 support member 22A including left and right tension spring members
Of these, the bearing box 21 is supported from above by using a support member 22B including a compression spring member at least partially instead of the right support member 22A. Then, the same operation as that in the case where the structure shown in FIGS. The support member 2
It is needless to say that 2B may be employed on the left side instead of the right side in FIG. 13, and the support member 22B may be employed on both sides. The support member 2 shown in FIG.
2A and 22B may be applied to the apparatus shown in FIGS.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show a crucible 13 which reciprocates in the structure shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 or the structure shown in FIG.
A mechanism for forcibly rotating the roll 20 forward and reverse in conjunction with the movement of the crucible 13 by engaging a pinion 32 integrally fixed to the rotation shaft of the roll 20 with a rack 31 formed on the upper surface of the roll 20 is shown. By adopting such a mechanism, the frictional resistance between the upper surface of the evaporation material M and the roll 20 is small, and the rotation of the roll 20 during the reciprocating movement of the crucible 13 becomes unstable according to only this frictional resistance. In addition, a constant rotation speed can always be ensured with respect to the movement speed of the crucible 13. The mechanism using the rack 31 and the pinion 32 may be adopted in the apparatus shown in FIGS. Similarly, the mechanism using the rack 31 and the pinion 32 may be applied to the apparatus shown in FIGS.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied. The same parts as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals. Description is omitted. In this apparatus, a tray 41 that surrounds the entire periphery of the crucible 13 and receives the evaporated material M spilled from the crucible 13 is provided. Although it is inevitable that the evaporation raw material M spills out of the crucible 13, the spilled evaporation raw material M can be collected by the tray 41, and maintenance of the apparatus becomes easy. It goes without saying that this tray 41 can also be employed in each of the above-described devices.

FIG. 18 to FIG. 20 show still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied, in which the supply position of the evaporation material M is improved. Portions common to those of the apparatus are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. Among them, FIG.
Each blade 19 has an L-shaped cross section, and a roll 2
An overhang 19x extending toward 0 is provided. FIG. 19 shows that each of the feeders 18 also functions as a blade while the blades 19 are omitted.
Are provided at the lower end portion thereof with overhanging portions 18x and 18y extending outward and in parallel with the upper end surface of the crucible 13.

Further, FIG. 20 shows that, while omitting the blade 19, each feeder 18 also functions as a blade, and the lower end of each feeder 18 is attached to the lower end of the surface of the feeder 18 on the roll 20 side. An overhang portion 18z is provided extending in a far direction in parallel with the upper end surface of the crucible 13. An opening is formed between the overhang 18z and the lower end of the surface of the feeder 18 facing the roll 20 on the side of the roll 20, for supplying the evaporation raw material M. In the case where the evaporation material M accumulates between the blade 19 and the roll 20 due to uneven particle diameter of the evaporation material M and the like, and a state that hinders the rotation of the roll 20 is likely to occur, FIGS. Forming as shown in 20,
This is effective for eliminating the accumulation of the evaporation material M at the lower part of the roll 20 and preventing the above-mentioned trouble. 18 to FIG.
0 is a circular crucible 13 shown in FIGS.
A is also applicable.

In each of the above-mentioned PVD apparatuses, there is no problem when the evaporation material M is a conductive material such as ITO, but when the evaporation material M is an electrically insulating material such as MgO, the Crucible 13 near beam 16,
If an object having the same potential as 13A or an object having the ground potential exists, an abnormal discharge may occur between these objects and the plasma gun 11. Therefore, when the rolls 20 and 20A, the feeder 18 and the blade 19 that are in contact with the crucibles 13 and 13A have the same potential or the ground potential as the crucibles 13 and 13A, abnormal discharge occurs between them and the plasma gun 11. High risk of occurrence. For this reason, in each of the above-described devices, the surfaces of the rolls 20 and 20A are formed of an electrically insulating material such as ceramic, and in addition to the feeder 18, the blade 19, and their supports, which are disposed in the vicinity thereof, If there is a portion where abnormal discharge may occur, it is necessary to perform electrical insulation treatment including that portion.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the magnetic field generated by the plasma gun is applied to the powdery, granular, or pelletized evaporating material contained in the crucible in the vacuum chamber. Guided by
In the method of filling the evaporation source in a PVD apparatus for forming a thin film on the lower surface of the substrate located above the evaporation source,
The evaporation material is supplied to the reduced portion of the evaporation material in the crucible, and the upper surface of a new supply unit of the evaporation material in the crucible is uniformly pressed and smoothed, and the newly supplied evaporation material is evaporated. The packing density is kept constant.

As described above, since the upper surface of the newly supplied evaporated material in the crucible is uniformly pressed to smooth the surface, and the packing density of the newly supplied evaporated material is kept constant. This has the effect that the thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate becomes uniform as a whole, and the variation between products is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a cross section of a PVD apparatus to which a filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an evaporation raw material filling section of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a reciprocating motion of an evaporating material filling section shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining reciprocating motion of an evaporating material filling section shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining reciprocating motion of an evaporating material filling section shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 shows another PVD to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.
It is a top view which shows the outline of the evaporation raw material filling part in an apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 9 is a view schematically showing a cross section of the evaporative raw material filling section shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 12 is a view schematically showing a cross section of an evaporative raw material filling section shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a drive mechanism in an evaporating material filling section in each device.

15 is a sectional view taken along line XV-XV in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the evaporative raw material filling section shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in still another PVD apparatus to which the filling method according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an evaporating material filling section in a PVD apparatus to which a conventional filling method is applied.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an evaporation material filling section in another PVD apparatus to which a conventional filling method is applied.

23 is a sectional view taken along line XXIII-XXIII in FIG.

[Description of Signs] 1 PVD apparatus 11 Plasma gun 12 Vacuum chamber 13, 13A Crucible 16 Plasma beam 17 Substrate M Evaporation raw material

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 22, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All figures

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

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FIG. 2

FIG. 4

FIG. 9

FIG.

FIG. 23

FIG. 3

FIG. 5

FIG. 6

FIG. 7

FIG. 8

FIG. 10

FIG. 21

FIG.

FIG. 11

FIG.

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FIG. 16

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plasma beam generated by a plasma gun is guided by a magnetic field onto a powdery, granular, or pellet-like vaporized raw material housed in a crucible in a vacuum chamber, and is applied to a lower surface of a substrate located above the vaporized raw material. In the method of filling the evaporation material in the PVD apparatus for forming a thin film, the evaporation material is supplied to a reduced portion of the evaporation material in the crucible, and the upper surface of a new supply portion of the evaporation material in the crucible is uniformly pressed. A method of filling a vaporized raw material in a PVD apparatus, wherein the density of the vaporized raw material newly supplied is kept constant.