JPS63262466A - Production of electrophotographic sensitive body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an electrophotographic sensitive body by arranging plural plasma generation chambers and moving a cylindrical support in the axial direction so as to form a film having uniform characteristics and a uniform thickness on the support in a shortened time. CONSTITUTION:A prescribed gas is introduced into a plasma generation chamber 1 from the inlet 2 and microwaves are introduced from a microwave oscillator 3. A magnetic field causing electron cyclotron resonance is applied to the chamber 1 from magnets 4. Ions accelerated by the magnetic field are introduced into a film formation chamber 6 through the window 5 and reacted with a prescribed gas introduced from the the inlet 7 to form an amorphous silicon layer on the surface of a cylindrical support 8. At this time, plural such plasma generation chambers 1 are arranged. For example, the wall of the film formation chamber 5 confronting the upper part of the plasma generation chamber 1 is provided with other plasma generation chamber 1. The support 8 is rotated in the circumferential direction and moved back and forth in the axial direction by a rotating lift 9. Thus, plasma is jetted on an extended region of the support 8 and a sensitive body having a film formed on the entire surface of the support 8 with high accuracy in thickness is obtd.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor suitable for electrophotographic printers and copying machines.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor mainly made of amorphous silicon is as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-232466, in which a predetermined gas is introduced into a single plasma forming chamber installed in a vacuum container, and the gas is In this method, a microwave is applied to transform the plasma into plasma, an electric field or a magnetic field is applied to the plasma, the plasma is guided to a film formation chamber, and a layer mainly composed of amorphous silicon is deposited on a support placed in the film formation chamber.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above-mentioned conventional technology has the advantage of shortening the film-forming process because it does not generate flakes caused by amorphous silicon depositing on a surface other than the support and can be formed at a low temperature. This is not a method of completely covering the support with a plasma-like gas containing a silicon compound, but a method of spraying the plasma-like gas from one direction on the support, and no deposition occurs on the parts of the support that are not exposed to the plasma. However, it was necessary to take measures to expose the entire support to the plasma, and there was a problem of an increase in film formation time due to an increase in the number of steps. Furthermore, since the plasma is focused by an electric field or a magnetic field and guided onto the support, in order to deposit it on a large-area support such as a single-child photoreceptor, a plasma formation chamber or a plasma formation chamber and a film formation chamber are required. It is necessary to enlarge the inlet to match the support. In addition, when the convergence of the plasma is lowered and the plasma is dispersed and blown onto the support, at the tip of the plasma that has reached the support, the distance between the center and the outer periphery of the plasma may vary depending on the distance before reaching the support. Due to the difference in the direction of motion before the collision, the properties of the deposited film itself or the thickness of the deposited film differ.1 For example, there is a problem in that the film is thicker at the center and becomes thinner toward the outer periphery.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor that shortens film formation time and has uniform film characteristics and film thickness.

[Means for solving problems]

In a vacuum container that separates the plasma formation chamber and film formation chamber, silicon compounds and other gases or gases that do not contain silicon compounds are introduced into the plasma formation chamber, and microwaves are applied to the gases to generate plasma. A magnetic field, an electric field, or a combination thereof is applied to accelerate and move the plasma-like gas in a predetermined direction, and the plasma-like gas is guided into a film forming chamber, and further into the film forming chamber and into the plasma forming chamber. A gas for forming an electrophotographic photoreceptor is installed in a film forming chamber and rotated in a circumferential direction by introducing the same or different gas as that introduced so as to contain a silicon compound into at least one of both chambers and causing a reaction. A layer containing amorphous silicon as a main component is formed on a support. In this method, a plurality of plasma forming chambers are arranged on the outer wall of the film forming chamber in tandem in a cylindrical direction, a circumferential direction, or a composite direction thereof with respect to the above-mentioned support, and they can inject plasma onto the support. Make sure that at least some of the regions overlap.

This may be caused by rotation or movement of the support, or a combination thereof; specifically, a spiral arrangement with the cylindrical center of the support as the central axis is preferred;
The number of spirals may be one or more. Furthermore, in the above method, the support for the electrophotographic photoreceptor is reciprocated in a direction perpendicular or horizontal to its circumference!
! Add &m. In addition, in the above method, the magnetic field or electric field for moving the plasma gas, or their combination, is applied by a device installed around each plasma forming chamber, or by applying it at the exit of the inlet connecting the film forming chamber. The voltage is applied either by a device installed near or near the support, or by a device installed further inside the support cylinder, or by a combination thereof. In this case, it is necessary to consider the method of applying electric fields or magnetic fields of individual devices or their combined interactions, and the provision or arrangement of devices that prevent these fields from interfering with each other. There is a method of applying a combination of

Furthermore, if the specified gas to be introduced into the film forming chamber is a gas containing a silicon compound, in order to efficiently attach the gas to the support, a plasma gas is placed near the exit that leads the plasma-like gas from the plurality of plasma forming chambers to the film forming chamber. A gas inlet having the same arrangement as the formation chamber is provided.

For example, when the plasma formation chamber is arranged in a spiral, the gas inlet is installed so as to have at least the same spiral arrangement.

[Effect]

By providing a plurality of plasma forming chambers and arranging them so that a part or all of the area where plasma can be ejected onto the support body overlaps, non-uniformity of the formed film caused by the directionality of the plasma can be offset. In addition, by rotating or moving the support, an effect similar to that obtained by dividing the plasma formation chamber into multiple parts can be produced, and by simultaneously creating multiple plasma formation chambers, further film formation can be achieved. can be made uniform.

Furthermore, the film forming time can be shortened by simultaneously ejecting plasma from all directions in the film forming chamber by providing a plurality of plasma forming chambers, instead of ejecting plasma from one direction.

The electric field or magnetic field applied to the plasma, or their combination, can be applied to a device installed around the plasma formation chamber, a device installed near the plasma introduction port or near the support, a device installed inside the support, or a combination thereof. Applying the voltage further accelerates or converges the applied object,
To increase the speed at which plasma reaches a support and at the same time uniformly reach the plasma. Therefore, the film formation rate increases and the uniformity of the film also improves.

Further, by arranging the gas inlet and the plasma forming chamber in the same manner, the efficiency of gas utilization is increased and at the same time, the film formation rate is increased.

(Example〕 Example 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

Hydrogen gas and argon gas are introduced from the inlet 2 into the evacuated plasma formation chamber 1, and 2.4
5 GHz microwave is introduced from the microwave oscillator 3. In plasma formation chamber 1.

Magnet 4 causes electron cyclotron resonance 87
A magnetic field of 5 Gauss is applied. The ions accelerated by the magnetic field are guided to the film forming chamber 6 through a window 5 provided in the plasma forming chamber 1, and decompose the silane gas, diborane gas, and hydrogen gas released from the tip of the introduction lower, and form an aluminum cylindrical shape. It is guided to the surface of the support 8 to form a boron-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Further, a plasma forming chamber 1 having components 1 to 5 and 7 is provided on the upper part of the plasma forming chamber 1 and on the wall of the film forming chamber 6 facing thereto, and a support is provided by a rotary elevator 9.

As a result of the rotational movement of the support in the circumferential direction and the cylindrical direction, the area where the plasma from each plasma formation chamber 1 is injected onto the support 8 spreads over the entire surface of the support. A silicon hydride film with a thickness error of 10% or less is formed. In the above method, ethylene gas is mixed with the gas introduced from the introduction lower, and silicon carbide is completely coated on the support 8.
．． After forming a layer of 2 μm, the above-mentioned hydrogenated amorphous silicon is laminated to a thickness of 20 μm, and silicon carbide is further laminated to a thickness of 0.2 μm to obtain a good electrophotographic photoreceptor with a uniform film thickness.

Example 2 In Example 1, three plasma forming chambers 1 were also provided at positions shifted by 90° in the circumferential direction, and two plasma forming chambers 1 were
This was doubled to form an electrophotographic photoreceptor. At this time, the film-forming time was shortened to about half, and a good electrophotographic photoreceptor was obtained.

Example 3 In Example 1, the plasma formation chamber 1 was arranged in two spirals around the outer periphery of the cylindrical film formation chamber, and six plasma formation chambers were arranged on one spiral. Film formation was performed using As a result, uniform electrophotographic properties with a film thickness error of within 5% were obtained, and good images were obtained using a commercially available copying machine.

Example 4 As shown in FIG. 2, a plasma formation chamber 1. Gas inlet 2, 7. Microwave oscillator 3. Magnet 4° Window 5. Film formation chamber6. Support 8. An electrophotographic photosensitive system in which components 1 to 5 and 7 are arranged at intervals of 90° on the circumference of the film forming chamber 6 using the same method as in Example 1, which is composed of a support rotary elevator 9. In the method for manufacturing the body, a magnet 1 is placed near the support body.
0, and the plasma accelerated by the diverging magnetic field is converged on the support side to manufacture the photoreceptor. In this case, the directionality of the glare focused by the magnet 10 becomes the same at the center and the edges of the plasma, improving the uniformity of the formed film, and forming an electrophotographic photoreceptor with a film thickness error of less than 10%. Been formed.

Example 5 In Example 4, the shape of the lower gas introduction chamber to the film forming chamber was extended to near the support as shown in FIG. In the method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor, the electrophotographic photoreceptor is provided with a side that does not face either the plasma forming chamber 1 or the support 8.
An electrophotographic photoreceptor is manufactured as in Example 1. in this case,
Since the film-forming gas is evenly distributed over the entire area of the support 8, the uniformity of the formed film is further improved than in Example 4.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, although the plasma injected onto the surface of the support has directionality, the formed film can be prevented from being affected by it, and there is an effect of making the film uniform.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a method of manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Plasma formation chamber, 2, 7... Inlet, 3...
-Microwave oscillator, 4, 10... Magnet, 5... Window, 6... Film forming chamber, 8... Support, 9... Support rotary elevator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a vacuum container provided with a plasma formation chamber and a film formation chamber separated, a predetermined gas is introduced into the plasma formation chamber, the gas is turned into plasma by microwaves, and the plasma Applying a magnetic field or an electric field, or a combination thereof, that can accelerate and move the plasma in a predetermined direction, and guide the plasma into the film forming chamber,
Further, a predetermined gas is introduced into the film forming chamber to cause a reaction, and a cylindrical support installed in the film forming chamber is rotated in the circumferential direction to form a film mainly composed of amorphous silicon, and the plasma forming chamber is In the method in which at least one of the predetermined gases introduced into the film forming chamber contains a silicon compound, a plurality of plasma forming chambers are provided, a device capable of moving the support body in a cylindrical direction is installed, or A method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor, characterized in that a composite is performed. 2. A patent claim characterized in that a plurality of plasma forming chambers are arranged in tandem with respect to the cylindrical direction or circumferential direction of a cylindrical support for forming an electrophotographic photoreceptor, or the combined direction thereof. A method for producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to item 1. 3. Claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of plasma forming chambers are arranged in one or more spirals with the center axis of the cylinder of the cylindrical support for an electrophotographic photoreceptor. A method for manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor as described in . 4. The magnetic field or electric field or their combination for accelerating the plasma-formed gas in the plasma-forming chamber and guiding it to the vicinity of the support for forming an electrophotographic photoreceptor can be applied from the periphery of the plasma-forming chamber and the plasma-forming gas of the electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor is applied from the outlet of the inlet for introducing into the film forming chamber, from the vicinity of the support, from within the support, or from a combination thereof. Production method. 5. Adding a device to prevent interference between the electric field or magnetic field applied to each plasma formed in multiple plasma chambers or their combination, or changing the arrangement of the plasma forming chambers, the electric field, or 2. The method of manufacturing an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein the device for applying the magnetic field is arranged at a position where individual applications of the magnetic field do not interfere with each other. 6. A method for introducing a gas containing a silicon compound into a film forming chamber in a vacuum container, characterized in that a plurality of inlets are provided and the arrangement thereof is the same as that of a plurality of plasma forming chambers. 2. The method for producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor according to item 1.