JPS6357768A - Continuous ion plating device for high-speed moving film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently form a vapor deposited film continuously on a long-sized heat-resistant film while moving the film at a high speed by utilizing an ion plating device for which pressure gradient type plasma discharge is utilized, thereby utilizing the long-sized heat resistance. CONSTITUTION:The long-sized heat resistant film consisting of metals, ceramics, polyester, etc., is let off from a delivery roll 5 and is taken up on a take-up roll 6 via a guide roll 7 in a bell-jar 2 in which a reduced pressure atmosphere consisting of gas such as Ar, He or H2 and reactive gas of O2, N2, org. monomer, etc., is maintained under about 1X10<-5>-10<-1>Torr. The vapor of a material to be deposited by evaporation is generated from a hearth 3 in the bell-jar 2 and plasma flow 9 from a pressure gradient type plasma gun 4 is projected thereto to ionize the vapor, by which the vapor deposited film having a uniform thickness is continuously formed on the surface of the film moving at a high speed of 6-30m/min.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous ion plating apparatus for fast moving films. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ion plating apparatus using pressure gradient type discharge plasma.

Films made of plastic, metal, etc. with a thin film (deposited film) of metal, inorganic material, carbon, or organic polymer formed on the surface are used as conductive films, insulating films, display elements, optical films, electronic devices, and decorations. They are expected to be applied to a variety of fields, such as, and many are already in practical use.

Methods and equipment for forming such thin films include:
A method is known in which evaporation particles from an evaporation source placed in a vacuum evaporation apparatus are ionized by glow discharge.

This is a technique called ion plating.

It is also known that there are two types of ion plating: a cathode type and a high frequency excitation type. Although these on-plating methods are excellent thin film forming techniques, there are still many problems with the technology and equipment for forming thin films on wide and long film surfaces. The situation remains unresolved.

FJ- When forming a thin film on the surface of a wide and long film, it is necessary to form a thin film with a uniform product 71 and excellent tightness in both the width direction and the length direction. The film is moved continuously tl! while efficiently
It will be necessary to construct an il.

However, in the case of a hollow cathode, dirt and 1u scratches on the cathode and other devices are unavoidable, and it lacks thermal stability.
There is a problem in that heat generation in the closing film cannot be avoided. For this reason, it has been difficult to uniformly and efficiently obtain a thin film of excellent quality on the surface of a continuously moving film.

In the case of high frequency excitation type ion plating, it is possible to stably produce thin films of excellent quality. Although it is extremely effective for producing long films, it has not been sufficient in terms of productivity to efficiently produce thin films.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new type of apparatus that does not have such problems and can continuously and efficiently form a deposited thin film on the surface of a long film.

More specifically, Rura provides an ion plating device for continuously forming a thin film on a film surface that moves at high speed.

To explain the apparatus of the present invention, this apparatus is characterized in that it uses a pressure gradient type plasma discharge and also uses a winding device to move the film at high speed to continuously form a thin film. It is said that

Pressure gradient type plasma discharge is performed by interposing an intermediate electrode between the negative pole and the positive electrode, and the negative (~ region; The discharge is carried out while maintaining the temperature at approximately (1984)).

This ion plating device emits a plasma stream horizontally from a plasma source installed horizontally to the hearth, bends it at right angles directly above the hearth (anode), and projects it onto the hearth. This method converges the plasma flow, ionizes the evaporated material, and performs dry coating on the surface of the object to be treated.

This apparatus and method has advantages such as a clean plasma gun, a high reaction rate, stable plasma, and a homogeneous thin film.

However, ion plating using pressure gradient discharge has not yet been fully investigated as a practical technology or device, and there are currently no devices or equipment suitable for dry coating on moving objects or film-like objects. Nothing is known about the selection of operating conditions of the device.

The present invention has specifically realized these things for the first time.

Next, an outline of the apparatus of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

The figure shows an example of the apparatus of the present invention.

(1) in the figure is a vacuum chamber, which is kept airtight by a bell jar (2).The vacuum chamber is evacuated by a vacuum pop.The bell jar (2) has a vacuum exhaust port and reactant gas, An inlet is provided inside the bell jar (2). Also, inside the bell jar (2) are a hearth (3) for raw material evaporation material for thin film formation, a pressure gradient type plasma gun (4), and a film delivery roll (
5) A transparent conductive film winding roll (6) is provided.

Furthermore, a guide roll (7) and a cooling means (8) are provided as appropriate and if necessary. Although the figure shows a cross section of a box-shaped bell jar, the shape of the bell jar is not limited to this.

The roll portion is driven to rotate, and if cooling means is provided, water cooling, air cooling, etc. are used.

Further, in consideration of the type of evaporation source material, production efficiency, etc., forced FJI heating means such as resistance heating, electron beam JJD heating, and high frequency heating can be appropriately used in the hearth portion.

The roll portion, or the roll portion and the cooling means, or the hearth portion may be moved in and out of the bell jar from the lateral direction by opening and closing the bell jar side wall.

Of course, the invention is not limited to such devices.

For example, the roll portion does not necessarily have to be provided inside the bell jar. It is also possible to form a slit in the side wall of the bell jar to take the film in and out, and to use a film moving means in a pre-processing section such as a plasma bombardment processing section or a post-processing section connected to the thin film forming section.

Further, means for applying a negative voltage to the upper surface of the film opposite to the surface on which the thin film is formed may be provided.

Regarding the continuous ion plating apparatus for high-speed moving films as shown in the figure, operating conditions can be appropriately selected depending on the intended use of the thin film deposited film.

For example, for fast moving films, any heat resistant film can be used, such as polyester, polysanphon, polyamide, polyimide, or metal, ceramic, or composite films thereof. Regarding the moving speed of this film, for example, 6 m/min to 30 m/min.
Can be in a wide range of minutes.

There are no particular limitations on the thin film forming substance either.

It can be appropriately selected from metals, inorganic materials, and organic materials.

The reaction pressure can be in a wide range of about 1×10 2 to 10” Torr, and gases such as argon, helium, and hydrogen, and reactive gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, and organic monomers can be used.

The voltage of the discharge is, for example, 50 to 150V, and the current is appropriately selected depending on the evaporated substance.

100-1 with multiple functions added by the device of the present invention
For example, a film with a width of about 500 m can be processed at a speed of 6 m/min to 3
It becomes possible to manufacture continuously at a high speed of 0 m/min. Such excellent effects were completely unexpected from conventionally known techniques.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure schematically shows an example of the device of the invention. The numbers in the figure indicate the following. (1) Vacuum chamber, (6) Take-up roll, (2)
Belja, (7) Guide roll, (3> Hearth,
(8) Cooling means, (4) Plasma gun, (9)
Plasma flow, (5) delivery roll.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Vacuum chamber; exhaust system; gas introduction system; evaporation source for thin film forming material; forced evaporation means for evaporation source provided as necessary; pressure gradient type plasma gun; film delivery roll and film winding and a guide roll and film cooling means provided as necessary, the plasma flow ejected from the pressure gradient plasma gun converges on the evaporation source to evaporate and ionize the evaporation source material, and the ionized particles A continuous ion plating apparatus for a high-speed moving film, which forms a thin film on the surface of a high-speed moving film fed out from the feed roll and wound up on a take-up roll. (2) The continuous ion plating apparatus according to claim (1), wherein the film moves at a high speed of 6 m/min to 30 m/min.