JPS63246249A - Method and apparatus for thin film formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent elution of metal ion and mixture of metal powder, by using an intaglio printing of which the surface is ceramics and a doctor blade of which the edge is ceramics. CONSTITUTION:For an intaglio printing 1, a specific pattern is formed on an electrolytic copper layer of the intaglio printing 1, and hard chromium plating is processed thereon, and otherwise the same specific pattern is formed on a stainless plate and ceramic coating is covered thereon. Further, either of a flat board state intaglio printing or a cylindrical one is preferable as its form. For a doctor blade 21, the doctor blade ordinarily used such as a plate of not more than several mm in thickness or the like is coated by ceramics. At least a portion in contact with ink of the surface of the intaglio printing 1 is coated by ceramics. Further, at least the cutting edge of the doctor blade 21 is coated by ceramics. Inorganic nitrides, inorganic carbides, inorganic oxides, composite oxides, etc., are used as ceramics.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a thin film forming method and apparatus for preventing metal ion elution and metal powder contamination.

<Conventional technology> Conventionally, insulating coatings for semiconductor devices and alignment films and
In order to form functional thin films related to various electronic components, such as insulating coatings, liquid crystal panel sealants, and conductive coatings, it is necessary to
A thin film forming apparatus such as that disclosed in No. 8-170864 was used.

In this thin film forming apparatus, a flat intaglio plate having a large number of ink cells (or groups) arranged in a predetermined pattern and a printing medium are placed side by side on a base, while several tens to thirty ink cells are placed in the vicinity of the intaglio plate. Between the intaglio plate and the substrate to be printed, the printing roll support frame has a printing roll and an ink supply device for filling ink cells of the intaglio plate with ink made of a polymer solution having a viscosity of 000c, p, s. It is movable and equipped with a doctor on the printing roll support frame. In this thin film forming device, after ink is supplied and excess ink is scraped off with a doctor, the printing roll is rotated while being pressed against the intaglio, and the intaglio is applied to the surface of the soft convex portion made of synthetic resin on the printing roll. The ink in the ink cell is deposited in a predetermined pattern, and the ink in the convex portions is printed on the surface of the printing medium while rotating the printing roll to which the ink is deposited, thereby forming the predetermined pattern.

The intaglio plate used here has an iron plate as its support, the surface of which is plated with copper using a method such as electrolytic plating, and after surface polishing, a predetermined pattern is processed in a photolithography process, and then the hardness is Hard chrome plating is applied to increase the durability.

Examples of structures other than those described above include those in which a predetermined pattern is processed on an intaglio plate after surface polishing of rolled steel, or a predetermined pattern is processed on a stainless steel plate using the same method as described above.

On the other hand, as for the doctor blade, a stainless steel doctor (SLIS420) or a Swedish steel doctor is usually used.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> Recently, in addition to inks containing dyes and pigments, various inks containing highly reactive additives have been increasing.

However, if the ink is in contact with the intaglio, or more specifically, if the contact area between the ink and the intaglio is large due to the mechanism of the thin film forming device, the reaction between the ink and the metal layer that is the base of the intaglio becomes a problem. . For example, when the ink is polyimide, which is a polymer solution for a liquid crystal alignment film, the nitrogen element contained in the resin itself in the polyimide or the NMP of the main diluting solvent
There was a risk that the nitrogen element itself would form a complex ion with the metal ions eluted from the intaglio due to additives, etc., and the metal would remain in the formed thin film, significantly affecting the properties of the thin film. . This is because the hard chrome plating applied to the intaglio plate has cracks caused by internal stress and pinholes created during the plating film formation process inside the plating film.

On the other hand, the intaglio or doctor blade may wear out due to friction between the intaglio and the doctor blade, and metal powder may be mixed into the thin film. Possible types of metal include iron, chromium, and nickel, which are used to make intaglios and doctor blades. Additionally, copper ions may be included in the metal powder. This is because if the plating bath is contaminated with copper ions when the chrome plating layer on the intaglio is formed,
When this chromium plating layer wears out, copper ions will be eluted.

Further, by using an irregularly worn doctor or intaglio plate, roughness may occur on the surface of the formed thin film.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for forming a thin film that prevents the elution of metal ions and the mixing of metal powder, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the first invention forms a thin film using an intaglio plate whose surface is made of ceramic and a doctor blade whose cutting edge is made of ceramic. That is, the first invention supplies ink to an intaglio plate having many recesses formed on its surface and whose surface is made of ceramic, fills the ink into the recesses of the intaglio plate with a doctor blade whose cutting edge is made of ceramic, and then prints. The ink in the recesses of the intaglio is transferred to the surface of the relief plate of the printing roll by pressing the intaglio plate with an elastic letterpress formed on the surface of the roll, and then the printing roll and the material to be printed are brought into pressure contact with each other to print the material. It is constructed so that the ink on the surface of the letterpress of the printing roll is transferred to the surface of the body.

In the second invention, the surfaces of the intaglio plate and the cutting edge of the doctor blade are made of ceramic. That is, the second invention provides an intaglio plate having a large number of concave portions, a doctor for filling the concave portions with ink supplied to the intaglio plate, and an elastic letterpress plate formed on the surface of the intaglio plate, which is pressed against the intaglio plate to fill the concave portions of the intaglio plate. A thin film forming device comprising a printing roll that transfers ink to the surface of the letterpress plate and then transfers the ink to the surface of the printing plate by pressure contact with the printing plate, the intaglio plate and a doctor blade forming a part of the doctor. The cutting edge is made of ceramic.

This invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the intaglio plate of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the doctor blade of the present invention. 1 is an intaglio plate, 2 is a doctor, 3 is a printing roll, 4 is a printing medium, 11 is a concave portion, 21 is a doctor blade, and 31 is a letterpress plate.

As for the intaglio plate 1, a predetermined pattern is formed on the electrolytic copper layer of the intaglio plate 1, and hard chrome plating is applied thereon to a thickness of 1 μm to several μm.
m plated or stainless steel plate (0.5m thick)
A ceramic coating is applied on a predetermined pattern similar to the one described above (see FIG. 2). Further, its shape may be a flat plate or a cylinder.

The doctor blade 21 is made of a commonly used stainless steel plate (5US420) having a thickness of several 111 m or less and coated with a ceramic coating (see FIG. 3).

The ceramic coating is applied at least to the surface of the intaglio 1,
In other words, it is applied to the areas that come into contact with ink.

Furthermore, the treatment is applied to at least the cutting edge of the doctor blade 21.

As the ceramic, inorganic nitride, inorganic carbide, inorganic acid arsenide, composite oxide, etc. are used.

As the inorganic nitride, silicon nitride (Si3N4), titanium nitride (TiN), aluminum nitride (AIN), boron nitride (BN), etc. may be used. Examples of inorganic carbides include chromium carbide (Cr-C) and silicon carbide (StC)
- Titanium carbide (Tic) or the like may be used. As the inorganic oxide, aluminum oxide (A1.Ol), silicon oxide (5i02), titanium oxide (Tic2), etc. may be used. Mullite (3A12
03・2Si02) -Hetalite (Li2O-8i0
2・Al2O3)・Forsterite (2Mg(LSi
02) - Zircon (Zrsio4) etc. may be used.

These inorganic compounds are excellent in abrasion resistance, particularly in sliding and abrasion resistance, as well as thermal shock resistance and chemical resistance. Regarding electrical insulation, for example, aluminum oxide (Al2O3)
has a resistivity of IQIIΩ·cm, and silicon nitride (Si3N4) has a resistivity of 1013Ω·cm.

Methods for coating the intaglio plate 1 and the doctor blade 21 with ceramic include PVD methods such as reactive sputtering and reactive ion plating, low-temperature CVD and plasma CVD. Regarding the ion plating method, low temperature (around 200℃)
It is possible to use methods such as multi-arc discharge type ion plating, which has less uneven film thickness. Inorganic compound films obtained by low-temperature ion plating or low-temperature sputtering have no problems with respect to adhesion strength or coating unevenness.

Regarding the thickness of the ceramic coating, intaglio 1 has a thickness of 0.
．． 1 μm to 10 μm, preferably 0.5 μm to 5°0 μm
m is appropriate. When the ceramic film thickness is thin, for example, 0.1 μm or less, the hardness of the underlying layer is directly reflected in the hardness of the coating surface. On the other hand, the thickness is 10μm
In the above case, the shape and depth of the predetermined pattern processed into the intaglio 1 are adversely affected, and film thickness unevenness inevitably becomes noticeable. Usually, when the thickness is 1 μm or more, the hardness of the ceramic itself, for example, in the case of titanium nitride (TiN), is 1,900 to 2.4001 (v).

On the other hand, the thickness of the ceramic coating in the doctor blade 21 is 0.1 μm to 10 μm, similar to the intaglio 1.
m, preferably 0.5 μm to 5.0 μm.

When the ceramic film thickness is thin, for example, 0.1 μm or less, the hardness of the underlying layer is directly reflected in the hardness of the coating surface.

Conventional intaglio (chrome plated finish, hardness 900Hv) and doctor blade (stainless steel hardness 8001(v))
On the other hand, the ceramic-coated intaglio plate 1 and the doctor blade each have about three times longer lifespan. This is due to the fact that the coefficient of sliding friction is small.

The physical properties of various ceramic coatings are shown below.

Titanium carbide (TiC) Hardness 3,300~4,0OO
V) (N melting point 3,160℃ density
4.92g/cm3 Thermal expansion coefficient (2
00~400℃) 7.8X 10-6/'C Electrical resistance (20℃) 85Ω Elastic modulus 4.48X 10'kg/
+un2 friction coefficient 0.25μ Appropriate coating thickness 4-8μm Chromium carbide (Cr-C) Hardness 1.900-2.200
VHN melting point 1.780℃ density
6.688/c+a3 coefficient of thermal expansion (2
00~400℃>10.3xlO-'/℃ Electrical resistance (20℃) 75Ω Elastic modulus 3.80 x 10'kg/
a+m2 Friction coefficient 0.79μ Appropriate coating thickness 8-12μm Nitritanium (
TiN) Hardness 1,900~2.400V
) IN melting point 2.950℃ density
5.43g/c+a3 thermal expansion coefficient (2
00~400℃) 8.3X10-'/'C Electrical resistance (20℃) 22Ω Elastic modulus 2.56 X 10'kg/
nm" Friction coefficient 0.49μ Appropriate coating thickness 4-8μm Aluminum oxide (Al2O,) Hardness 2,200-2.600V
HN melting point 2.040℃ density
3.988/cm3 Thermal expansion coefficient (200
~400℃) 7.7X 10-'/”C electrical resistance (
20℃) 1014Ω elastic modulus
3.90 x 10'kg/mm" friction coefficient
0.15 μm Appropriate coating thickness 1 to 3 μm The entire intaglio 1 is made of the above-mentioned aluminum oxide (Al
It may be made of an inorganic oxide or nitride such as silicon oxide (2O3) or silicon oxide (5t (h 2)), or a composite ceramic with mullite, zirconcopyrite, forsterite, steatite, copillite, etc.

The printing roll 3 has a surface formed with a relief plate 31 having elasticity. The material for the relief plate 31 may be, for example, rubber such as butyl rubber, synthetic resin such as nylon resin, or photosensitive rubber/photosensitive resin. The printing roll 3 contacts the intaglio plate 1 with a predetermined pressure to transfer the ink in the recesses 11 of the intaglio plate 1 to the letterpress plate 31 of the printing roll 3, and further brings the printing roll 3 and the printing material 4 into contact with a predetermined pressure. The ink on the relief plate 31 of the printing roll 3 is transferred to the surface of the printing material 4. A thin film containing no metal ions or metal powder is formed using the thin film printing apparatus configured as described above.

<Example> As an intaglio, the support is an iron plate, the surface of which is plated with copper by electrolytic plating, and the surface is plated with a depth of 5 to 50 mm.
A pattern with a pitch of 0.1 to 0.5 mm is applied, and then a 4 μm ± 0.5 μm thick nickel coating is applied by electroless plating, followed by a titanium nitride (TiN) coating using an arc discharge ion plating method. 3～
The one coated with 4 μm was used.

The doctor blade used was a stainless steel plate with a thickness of 0.1 mm whose cutting edge was polished and then coated with titanium nitride (TiN) to a thickness of about 3 μm in the same manner as the intaglio plate described above.

Under these conditions, a polyimide solution (resin content 7.5%, viscosity 80c, p, s, / east 5P-710) was applied to a thickness of 1
A glass plate was coated with 100n.

When the roughness on the intaglio plate was observed after 1,000 consecutive printings, almost no roughness (vertical streaks) due to the doctor blade was observed. Almost no vertical streaks were observed on the surface of the intaglio.

<Effect of the invention> This invention has the following excellent effects.

Since the surface of the intaglio and at least the cutting edge of the doctor blade are made of ceramic, metal ions will not be eluted and metal powder will not be mixed in.

Furthermore, since the durability of the intaglio plate and the doctor blade has been improved, scratches are less likely to occur on the intaglio plate surface and the cutting edge of the doctor blade, and therefore the formed thin film has an excellent surface smoothness.

Additionally, intaglios and doctor blades are chemically stable, increasing the range of ink choices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the intaglio plate of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing one embodiment of the doctor blade of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Intaglio, 2... Doctor, 3... Printing roll, 4... Printing material, 11... Recessed part, 21... Doctor blade, 31... Letterpress. Patent applicant Nissha Printing Co., Ltd. 21 Doctor blade Figure 1

Claims (10)

[Claims] (1) Ink is supplied to the intaglio plate (1), which has many concave portions (11) formed on the surface and whose surface is ceramic, and a doctor blade (21) whose cutting edge surface is made of ceramic is used to fill the concave portions (1) of the intaglio plate (1). 11) is filled with ink, and then an elastic relief plate (3) is formed on the surface of the printing roll (3).
1) and the intaglio (1) are brought into pressure contact with each other to form a printing roll (3).
The ink in the recesses (11) of the intaglio plate (1) is transferred to the surface of the letterpress plate (31), and then the printing roll (3) and the printing material (4) are brought into pressure contact to transfer the ink to the surface of the printing material (4). A thin film forming method characterized by transferring ink on the surface of a relief plate (31) of a printing roll (3). (2) An intaglio (1) having a large number of recesses (11), a doctor (2) that fills the recesses (11) with the ink supplied to the intaglio (1), and an elastic letterpress (31). The ink in the recesses (11) formed on the surface of the intaglio (1) is transferred to the surface of the relief plate (31) by pressure contact with the intaglio (1), and then the ink is transferred to the surface of the relief plate (31) by pressure contact with the printing medium (4). In a thin film forming device consisting of a printing roll (3) that is transferred to the surface of a printing body (4), the cutting edge of the doctor blade (21) forming a part of the intaglio (1) and the doctor (2) is made of ceramic. A thin film forming device featuring: (3) The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the intaglio (1) is flat. (4) The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the intaglio (1) is cylindrical. (5) The thin film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the ceramic is formed by coating. (6) The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ceramic is an inorganic nitride. (7) The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ceramic is an inorganic carbide. (8) The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ceramic is an inorganic oxide or a composite oxide. (9) The thin film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the thickness of the ceramic is 0.1 μm to 10 μm. (10) Claim 2, wherein the ceramic is formed by a relatively low temperature method such as reactive sputtering method, reactive ion plating method, or plasma CVD method.
The thin film forming apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 9.