JPS59142837A - Mass production type vapor-phase growing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form uniformly good quality films on many substrate by arranging zigzag many substrates and counter electrodes in a reaction chamber to form a flow passage of reaction-gas between them, and bringing the reaction gas into uniform contact with the substrates. CONSTITUTION:Thermal electrodes 2 supporting substrates 3 and many counter electrodes 4 being parallel to them and having equal spaces are arranged respectively in a row and vertically. Between the counter electrodes, voltages are impressed respectively to generate a glow discharge and a reaction gas is decomposed to deposit the components on the substrate 3. In this apparatus, one side of one of electrodes 2, 4 is fixed respectively to a pair of confronted inner walls in the reaction chamber 1 and spaces (x), (y) are taken between the other side of the electrodes and the innerwalls so as to have a little space between another pair of confronted inner walls and other two sides of the electrodes 2, 4. Thus, good quality films are formed uniformly on many substrates.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a Tosan type vapor phase growth apparatus that simultaneously forms thin films on a large number of substrates by plasma CVD in one reaction chamber, such as those used in the production of.

In a vapor phase growth apparatus using the plasma CVD method, a flat plate electrode is placed opposite the substrate on one of the horizontally arranged electrodes, and a voltage is applied between both electrodes to generate a glow discharge to decompose the reactant gas. Those that produce a thin film of one of the components of the reactant gas on top are known. However, in this case, there is a risk that the film of byproducts deposited on the inner wall of the reaction chamber may peel off and adhere to the substrate, resulting in defects in the film. Furthermore, when a large number of substrates are processed simultaneously in one reaction chamber, the reaction chamber occupies a large area, which is not suitable for mass production equipment.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, a large number of substrates 3, which are heated by contacting both surfaces of a thermal electrode 2, and electrodes 4, which are opposed to the substrates 3, are alternately arranged in parallel and vertically inside the reaction chamber 1 to avoid falling objects. A device has also been devised in which the reactant gas is introduced at low pressure from the gas inlet 5 and a voltage is applied between the heating electrode 2 and the electrode 4 to prevent the gas from adhering. Since the main flow passes through the space above the substrate 3 and the electrode 4 and does not uniformly apply to each substrate 3, the film has large variations.

In response to this problem, the present invention aims to provide a mass-production type vapor phase growth apparatus that can uniformly produce high-quality films on a large number of substrates.

This purpose consists of - a pair of opposing inner walls of a reaction chamber containing a plurality of electrodes supporting the substrate and parallel thereto and equally spaced opposing electrodes arranged in rows and each vertically, each facing the substrate; By fixing one side of one of the electrodes and leaving a space between it and the other side, and by having the other pair of opposing inner walls have a slight space between the substrate and the other two sides of the opposing electrode. achieved.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 2, parts common to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals. Thermoelectric FJs (susceptors) 2 are vertically erected in a row on the bottom surface 11 of an insulating reaction chamber 1 at equal intervals, and rectangular substrates 3 are attached to both sides of the thermoelectric FJs (susceptors) 2. Rectangular electrodes 4- facing the substrate 3 at equal intervals are suspended vertically from the ceiling 12 of the reaction chamber 1. There is a distance X between the electrode 4 and the bottom surface 11, and a distance y between the thermal electrode 2 and the substrate 3 and the ceiling 12. The width of the substrate 3 and the electrode 4 in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 2 is approximately equal to the width between the side walls of the reaction chamber. When the reactant gas is introduced, the reaction gas passes between the electrode 4 and the substrate 3 as shown by the line 8 and reaches the exhaust lower. Therefore, each substrate 3 is exposed to the same flow of reactive gas, so when a voltage is applied between the thermal electrode 2 and the electrode 4 to generate a glow discharge, a uniform amorphous silicon film is formed on the substrate. do.

Furthermore, if the spacing x, y and the spacing Z between the substrate 3 and the electrodes are designed to be equal, the conductance of the flow path will be almost constant, the gas flow will be smoother and more uniform, and -1- variation will be reduced. A low quality film is formed.

Of course, the same effect can be obtained by fixing the electrode to the bottom of the reaction chamber and the substrate and susceptor to the ceiling, or by fixing each to the opposite side walls of the reaction chamber, contrary to the soil example. be.

As described above, the present invention is configured such that a large number of substrates and counter electrodes are arranged in a zigzag manner in a reaction chamber, and a reaction gas flow path is formed between them so that the reaction gas comes into contact with the substrates evenly. The film formed on the substrate can be made uniform, and the flow of the reaction gas is smooth, so the distance between the electrode and the substrate can be reduced, making it possible to increase the throughput and improve the quality of the film. Therefore, the apparatus according to the present invention is extremely effective particularly for mass production of inexpensive and high-performance amorphous silicon solar cells.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional example of a vertically arranged mass-produced vapor phase growth apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Reaction chamber, 2... Thermal electrode (susceptor), 3...
Substrate, 4... Electrode, X... Distance between electrode and bottom of reaction chamber, y... Distance between substrate (thermal electrode) and ceiling, 1z...
Distance between electrode and substrate. ri'1 concave? 2(2)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] J) An electrode supporting the substrate and a large number of electrodes facing the substrate at equal intervals are arranged in a line in a row and each vertically, and a voltage is applied between each of the electrodes facing each other. in which a glow discharge is generated to decompose a reactant gas and its components are deposited on a substrate: a pair of opposing inner walls of the reaction chamber each fixing one side of one of the substrate supporting electrode and the counter electrode. The electrode is spaced apart from one side of the other electrode, and the other pair of opposing inner walls have a slight space between the substrate supporting electrode and the other two sides of the opposing electrode. One-shot production type vapor phase growth equipment. 2. The mass-produced vapor phase growth apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the distance between the substrate and the counter electrode and the distance between one side of the substrate and the counter electrode and the inner wall of the reaction chamber are approximately equal. Device.