JPS5931590B2 - Continuous physical vapor deposition equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus for conveying a flexible strip-shaped support and forming a vapor deposited layer on the surface thereof, and more specifically, it has a guide roller equipped with a buffer layer, The present invention relates to a continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus that can produce a deposited layer with almost no defects such as pinholes or scratches.

Conventionally, technologies for forming vapor-deposited layers of metals, alloys, or compounds on the surface of flexible strip-shaped supports have been actively researched and developed, and are widely used industrially. , aluminum on the surface of an organic support such as acetate,
Products are manufactured in which a deposited layer of zinc, silver, copper, etc. is formed by physical vapor deposition.

These are mainly used for gold and silver threads, decorations, foils, labels, and packaging materials, but recently various vapor-deposited layers have been used for electronic and electrical materials such as capacitors and printed circuit boards. It is also used in a wide range of new applications such as magnetic recording tapes, photosensitive materials, etc. Formation of the vapor deposition layer on the support is appropriately performed by physical vapor deposition.

Physical vapor deposition refers to all vapor deposition methods such as vacuum vapor deposition, reactive vapor deposition, sputtering, and ion blating that form a thin layer on the surface of a support in a vacuum of about 10-2 to about 10-6 Torr. The following explanation will be based on vacuum evaporation, which is a typical and common type of physical vapor deposition.

Vacuum deposition refers to heating and vaporizing an evaporable material such as a metal, alloy, or compound in a vacuum of about 10-3 to about 10-6 Torr, and then depositing the vapor onto the surface of a support placed in the same vacuum. It is used to adhere and form a vapor deposited layer.
Most of the equipment that is widely used in production for continuously forming a vapor deposition layer on the surface of a flexible strip-shaped support by vacuum vapor deposition is a so-called semi-continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus. What is it? In this method, supports are sequentially fed out from a roll-shaped belt-shaped support attached to a feeding device, vapor deposition is performed on the continuously conveyed support to form a vapor deposition layer, and then a vapor deposition layer is formed. The entire process of winding up the formed support into a roll using a winding device is carried out within a vacuum container.
After winding is completed, the vacuum container is returned to atmospheric pressure and the vapor-deposited support, which has been wound into a roll, is removed from the winding device. In this continuous vapor deposition device, a belt-shaped support is continuously sent out from a delivery device, guided into a vapor deposition chamber, and after being vapor-deposited on the support in the vapor deposition chamber to form a vapor deposited layer, it is continuously fed out by a winding device. A flexible strip support conveying device is provided for winding it up again into a roll. A guide roller for changing the direction of conveyance of the belt-shaped support is always disposed in the conveyance path of such a conveyance device. The belt-shaped support is sent out from the delivery device, guided to the vapor deposition chamber, subjected to vapor deposition in the vapor deposition chamber, and on which the vapor deposited layer has been formed. Pass while touching. Moreover, one or more guide rollers are usually disposed on the side of the belt-shaped support on which the vapor deposited layer is formed, that is, in contact with the surface of the vapor deposited layer. Formation of a deposited layer by vacuum evaporation is carried out, for example, by heating and evaporating the evaporation material under a vacuum of about 10-3 to 10-6 Torr, and causing the vapor to condense on the surface of a support placed in the same vacuum. The vapor deposited layer formed in this way generally has extremely low mechanical strength against scratches, friction, etc., and is susceptible to scratches, although the degree varies depending on the type of support. It has the disadvantage that pinholes are likely to occur.

In particular, when the support is made of an organic polymer material, the deposited layer formed thereon is extremely susceptible to mechanical forces such as scratching, friction, and rubbing. Therefore, if the surface of the vapor-deposited layer comes into contact with the surface of the guide roller when the strip-shaped support after vapor deposition passes through the guide roller, even if the guide roller is precisely prepared, the mechanical stress received from the guide roller will be reduced. The force causes numerous defects such as pinholes or scratches in the deposited layer, which significantly impairs the quality of the deposited film. For example, when aluminum is used as the evaporation material and a polyethylene terephthalate film with a thickness of 100μ is used as the flexible strip support, pinholes or scratches may occur when the evaporation layer surface passes through contact with the surface of one guide roller. The number of defects depends on the material of the guide roller,
Although it depends on the surface precision etc., even if the surface is carefully and precisely prepared and hard chrome plated, and a guide roller with good surface precision and no damage to the surface is used, the diameter will be about 5μ to about 5μ. There are about 50 to about 15 defects such as pinholes or scratches in the range of about 50μ per 1 d.
0 occurrences. If a guide roller with a poorly prepared surface is used, for example a guide roller with protrusions due to scratches or hard deposits on the surface, the surface of the vapor deposited layer may be exposed to the protrusions as it passes through contact with the guide roller. Defects such as scratches or pinholes occur in the deposited layer. Although vapor-deposited films with many defects such as pinholes and scratches can be used for applications such as gold and silver threads, decorations, foils, labels, and packaging materials, they do not have many defects such as pinholes or scratches. It is not suitable for new applications such as printed circuit boards, magnetic recording tapes, or photosensitive materials that require high performance. That is, the conventional continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus has a problem in that it is not possible to produce a vapor-deposited film having no or very few defects such as pinholes or scratches. An object of the present invention is to provide a continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus for continuously forming a vapor deposited layer on the surface of a flexible strip-shaped support, which is free from defects such as pinholes and scratches.

In other words, as a result of our deep investigation into the cause of the low quality of vapor-deposited films manufactured using conventional equipment, which have a large number of defects such as pinholes and scratches, the present invention has been developed as a result of our deep investigation into the cause of the low quality of vapor-deposited films produced using conventional equipment. During the process of winding up on the winding device, when the belt-shaped support passes through the guide roller while changing the direction of conveyance, the vapor deposited layer surface formed on the surface of the belt-shaped support contacts the surface of the guide roller. Defects such as pinholes and scratches may occur due to contact, and
The number of defects such as pinholes and scratches increases as the number of contacts increases, that is, the number of guide rollers that the vapor deposition layer surface passes through and comes into contact with, and that most of the defects such as pinholes and scratches The important fact has been discovered that defects such as pinholes and scratches are caused by contact with the guide roller, and that providing a buffer layer on the surface of the guide roller is extremely effective in preventing defects such as pinholes and scratches. This was achieved by discovering that.

The present invention is a continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus characterized in that at least the guide roller with which the surface of the vapor deposition layer comes into contact has a buffer layer around the guide roller.

Here, physical vapor deposition refers to vacuum vapor deposition, reactive vapor deposition, sputtering, ion plating, etc.
-Includes all depositions performed in a vacuum of around 6 Torr.

A guide roller is a roller provided for the purpose of changing the conveying direction of the support when the abrasive band-shaped support is continuously conveyed from the sending device to the winding device. It has a cylindrical shape that rotates while contacting the support, and the material is not particularly limited as long as it maintains its shape, and examples of materials that can be used include iron, aluminum, and rubber. The buffer layer surrounds the cylindrical surface of the guide roller and is made of a soft material.

The buffer layer acts to weaken the pressure on the surface of the vapor deposited layer by absorbing the contact force between the surface of the vapor deposited layer on the flexible strip-shaped support and the surface of the guide roller, which progress while in contact with each other. , its thickness and surface shape are not important. Further, the buffer layer absorbs the pressing force between the flexible strip-shaped support and the vapor deposited layer formed thereon when the flexible strip-shaped support passes through the guide roller. Materials used for the buffer layer include:
Woven or knitted fabrics made of natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, and linen, chemical fibers such as acetate silk, nylon, Tetoron, vinylon, and acrylic, and blends of these are effective; Fabrics such as knitted fabrics are particularly effectively used.

Furthermore, terry cloth, gauze-like, velvet-like woven fabrics, and non-woven fabrics also exhibit sufficient effects. The buffer layer is formed by seamlessly constructing the above-mentioned woven, knitted or non-woven fabric on the surface of the guide roller.

The buffer layer is formed by covering the entire surface of the guide roller with a seamlessly knitted or woven stocking-like cylinder made of the above-mentioned fibers, i.e., like covering the guide roller with stockings. very simple,
This may be done by a method that is easy to carry out. That is, the stocking-like cylinder made of the above-mentioned fibers may be directly placed over the guide roller, or, for example, both ends of the stocking-like cylinder may be attached to rings that are rotatable relative to the guide roller. In any case, as will be described later, it is preferable that the buffer layer is rotatable in the circumferential direction of the cylinder so that it has a small frictional resistance with the surface of the guide roller and easily becomes misaligned. It is preferable that the buffer layer is made of a soft material, such as a material that is adhesively attached to the cylindrical surface of the guide roller or a material that exhibits large frictional resistance against movement in the circumferential direction of the cylinder. I don't like it. A preferable buffer layer is a soft material that has low frictional resistance with the surface of the guide roller and easily causes misalignment (relative positional movement) between the buffer layer and the guide roller. For this purpose, it is best to use fibers woven as in Dojo.
In that case as well, it is preferable that there are no seams on the cylindrical surface. Although there is a continuous coating device having a guide roller covered with stockings made of cotton or the like, its purpose and operation and effects are completely different from the continuous vapor deposition device of the present invention.

In other words, the former is a coating device that prevents slips between the guide roller and the support when transporting the flexible strip-shaped support so that the guide roller and the support are always in close contact with the roller, or even if some slip occurs, the support and the stocking do not slip. Together, they are used to create a slip between the roller and stockings, or to prevent static electricity when coating photographic emulsions. However, since the purpose of the present invention is to reduce the pressing force in contact with the roller, the two not only have completely different purposes but also have completely different effects as described above. Next, the continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking the case of a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus as an example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a continuous vacuum evaporation apparatus, and is a sectional view for explaining the transport path of the support. In the drawing, a vacuum container 10 has a lower deposition chamber 11 and an upper transfer chamber 12.
It is divided into two parts by a dividing wall 24. The support 13 is attached to a delivery device 14 as a roll 15, and its leading end is conveyed via a guide roller 16, a rotating drum 19, and guide rollers 17 and 18 to a winding device 20 so as to be wound up as a roll 21. The support 13 enters the vapor deposition chamber 11 while passing under the rotating drum 19, and the substance evaporated from the evaporation source 25 is deposited on the surface of the support 13 to form a vapor deposition layer. The evaporation source 25 is heated by a heating device (not shown). 22 and 23 are exhaust ports, respectively, and are connected to a vacuum exhaust device (not shown).

Now, the support 13 on which the vapor deposition layer is formed is moved to the guide roller 17.
and the vapor deposited layer side are in contact with each other. A buffer layer 26 is provided on the surface of this guide roller 17. The buffer layer 26 may also be provided on the other guide rollers 16 or 18.) In that case, the finishing precision of the surface of the guide roller may be low. 1st
The figure shows an example of a conveyance path, and it goes without saying that even in a continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus having other conveyance devices, a buffer layer may be provided on the guide roller in consideration of the relationship with the formation of the vapor deposited layer. According to the apparatus of the present invention, a deposited layer with very few defects such as pinholes or scratches can be continuously formed on a flexible strip-shaped support soil.

According to the device of the present invention, the number (density) of the above defects is higher than that of the conventional method.
It is possible to continuously form a deposited layer in which the ratio is about 1/100 or less. According to the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to mass-produce vapor-deposited films that can be used in fields that require vapor-deposited layers with almost no defects, such as electronic and electrical materials, magnetic recording tapes, and photosensitive materials. Next, the effects of the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to Examples.

Example 1 Using the continuous vacuum deposition apparatus shown in FIG.
A cushioning layer 26 was formed by covering the stockings with seamless stocking knitted stockings.

The other guide rollers 16 and 18 are hard chrome plated. The support body 13 has a width of 600W.
! Polyethylene terephthalate with a thickness of 100 μm was used and transported at a transport speed of 60 mnoi. The degree of vacuum in the vapor deposition chamber 11 is maintained at 6×10 −5 Torr, and aluminum is evaporated from the evaporation source 25 heated to 1250° C. and adhered to the surface of the continuously conveyed support 13 to a thickness of 800λ.
An aluminum vapor-deposited layer was continuously formed. The surface of the rolled aluminum vapor-deposited film was carefully inspected over several hundred meters even though the surface of the vapor-deposited layer was in contact with the buffer layer 26, and it was found that there were very few defects such as pinholes or scratches. The number of defects was approximately 150 times lower than in the case where a hard chrome-plated guide roller without a conventional buffer layer was used. Example 2 Using the same equipment as in Example 1, the buffer layer 26
In addition to that of Example 1, the diameter is about 0.15 mm.
m7! A cushioning layer was formed by covering the stockings with seamless stockings knitted from a single strand of L cotton and nylon blend yarn.

The same support body 13 as in Example 1 was used, and the conveyance speed was 25.
It was transported at m/Mm. The degree of vacuum in the vapor deposition chamber 11 is set to 2X10-
Bismuth is evaporated from the evaporation source 25 maintained at 4 torr and heated to 770°C, and a layer of 15 mm thick is formed on the surface of the support 13.
00 business vapor deposition layers were continuously formed. The surface of the rolled-up deposited layer was carefully inspected, and the number of defects such as pinholes or scratches was significantly reduced to about 100 times less than in the case without the buffer layer. Example 3 Using the same device as in Example 1, the buffer layer 26 was prepared in Example 1.
A cushioning layer was formed by placing seamless stocking stockings knitted with a single strand of nylon thread having a diameter of approximately 0.08 m and 71 L over the material.

The same support body 13 as in Example 1 was used, and the conveyance speed was 20.
m/ml! It was transported by t. The degree of vacuum in the deposition chamber 11 is set to 6X1.
Tin is evaporated from the evaporation source 25 maintained at 0-5 Torr and heated to 1200°C to form a layer with a thickness of 60 mm on the surface of the support 13.
A tin vapor deposition layer of 0λ was formed. In this case as well, an extremely high quality tin vapor-deposited film was obtained in which the number of defects such as pinholes or scratches in the vapor-deposited layer was reduced to about one-hundredth of that in the case without the buffer layer. It goes without saying that the flexible support may be made of a material other than polyethylene terephthalate used in the examples.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the device of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A continuous physical vapor deposition apparatus characterized in that a guide roller with which at least the surface of the vapor deposition layer comes into contact has a buffer layer around the guide roller that can cause a shift between the guide roller and the guide roller.