KR20150047686A - An apparatus and method for both sides sputering vacuum deposition - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is characterized by comprising: an unwinding roll supplying a flexible substrate film; a first sputter cathode depositing indium tin oxide (ITO) on one surface of the flexible substrate film; a first cooling drum cooling the flexible substrate film whereon the ITO is deposited while guiding the flexible substrate film; a first direction-changing roll changing a direction of the flexible substrate film guided by the first cooling drum; a first heating means crystallizing a surface of the flexible substrate film whereon the ITO is deposited of which the direction is changed by the first direction-changing roll; a second direction-changing roll changing a direction of the flexible substrate film crystallized by the first heating means; at least one second sputter cathode depositing ITO on the other surface of the plastic film of which the direction is changed by the second direction-changing roll; a second cooling drum cooling the other surface of the plastic film whereon the ITO is deposited while guiding the plastic film; a second heating means crystallizing the other surface of the flexible substrate film guided by the second cooling drum; and a winding roll to wind the flexible substrate film with both surfaces whereon the ITO is deposited.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus and method,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for continuously depositing a flexible substrate by double-side sputtering, and more particularly, to a method of orienting a flexible substrate film in a vacuum while moving a flexible substrate film using a roll- To a double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus and method in which a switching roll is provided to continuously form a coating film on both sides of a flexible substrate film.

Conventionally, a device for depositing both sides of a flexible substrate film is used for wet and printing, and a vacuum deposition device is used for non-continuous deposition for both sides.

BACKGROUND ART [0002] Recent developments in touch panels have been developing techniques for implementing capacitive and cell-type touch. For this purpose, a transparent ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) electrode layer is required as a double layer.

In order to form a transparent electrode on a flexible substrate film, ITO is deposited on a flexible substrate film to a thickness of several hundred nanometers (nm) by a sputtering method. However, since the glass transition temperature of a plastic film such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is about 80 ° C. and the maximum use temperature is as low as about 160 ° C., the electrical and mechanical properties of the ITO thin film deposited over time, There is a problem that the mechanical characteristics are changed.

Therefore, there is a growing need for an apparatus for forming an ITO coating film by a continuous process without being in a non-vacuum state.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems as described above, and has the following objectives.

An object of the present invention is to provide a double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus and method capable of depositing an ITO coating film on both sides of a flexible substrate film in a non-vacuum state by a continuous process, thereby minimizing thermal deformation of the flexible substrate film have.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention is implemented by the following embodiments.

The double-sided sputtering vacuum vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an unwinding roll for supplying a flexible substrate film; A first sputter cathode for depositing ITO on one surface of the flexible substrate film; A first cooling drum for guiding and cooling the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited; A first direction switching roll for switching a direction of the flexible substrate film guided from the first cooling drum; A first heating means for crystallizing one surface of the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited, the surface of which has been redirected by the first direction switching roll; A second direction switching roll for switching the direction of the flexible substrate film crystallized by the first heating means; One or more second sputter cathodes for depositing ITO on the other surface of the flexible substrate film that has been redirected by the second direction switching rollers; A second cooling drum for guiding the flexible substrate film and cooling the other surface of the flexible substrate film on which ITO is deposited; Second heating means for crystallizing the other surface of the flexible substrate film guided by the second cooling drum; And a winding roll for winding the flexible substrate film on which ITO is deposited on both sides.

The double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus is included in a vacuum chamber and includes a vacuum partition in the vacuum chamber between the first direction switching roll and the second direction switching roll .

The double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the flexible substrate film can move through the vacuum barrier from the first direction switching roll to the second direction switching roll.

The double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the flexible substrate film is made of one of PI, PET, PP, PES and OPP.

The double-sided sputtering vacuum vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the first heating means or the second heating means uses an infrared heater.

The double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition method according to the present invention comprises the steps of (S10) supplying an unfeeded roll to a flexible substrate film; (S20) a first sputter cathode depositing ITO on one side of the flexible substrate film; Cooling the first cooling drum while guiding the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited (S30); (S40) of switching the direction of the flexible substrate film from which the first direction switching roll is guided from the first cooling drum; (S50) crystallizing a surface of the flexible substrate film where the first heating means is redirected by the first direction switching roll, on which the ITO is deposited; (S60) of switching the direction of the flexible substrate film on which the second direction switching roll has crystallized by the first heating means; Depositing ITO on the other surface of the flexible substrate film in which the second sputter cathode is redirected by the second direction switching roll (S70); Cooling the other surface of the flexible substrate film on which ITO is deposited while the second cooling drum guides the flexible substrate film (S80); The second heating means crystallizing the other surface of the flexible substrate film guided by the second cooling drum (S90); And winding the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited on both sides of the winding roll (S100); .

The present invention has the following effects with the above-described configuration.

The double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention has an effect of depositing an ITO coating film while minimizing thermal deformation of a flexible substrate film by forming an ITO coating film on both sides of a flexible substrate film by a continuous process without vacuum.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration of a double-sided flexible substrate deposition apparatus according to the present invention,
2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of depositing a double-sided flexible substrate according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The applicants will now describe in detail the construction of the present embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed descriptions of well-known functions and constructions that may be unnecessarily obscured by the gist of the present invention will be omitted.

The double-sided flexible substrate deposition apparatus includes an unidirectional roll 10, a first sputter cathode 11, a first cooling drum 12, a first direction switching roll 13, a first heating means 14, A second sputtering cathode 16, a second cooling drum 17, a second heating means 18, and a winding roll 19, as shown in FIG.

The unwinding roll 10 winds the flexible substrate film and serves to supply the flexible substrate film. At this time, the flexible substrate film may be composed of any one of PI, PET, PP, PES, and OPP, or a combination thereof.

In the present invention, the flexible substrate film is pretreated with plasma. The pretreatment process is a process of modifying the surface of the flexible substrate film through a plasma processor (not shown), which is a pretreatment process for improving adhesion and strength for depositing a thin film on the surface of a flexible substrate film.

The first sputter cathode 11 performs the function of depositing the ITO thin film on the flexible substrate film by a sputtering method.

The first sputter cathode 11 coats a thin film of an extremely thin aluminum oxide film. The refractive index is about 1.7, which is similar to the substrate, and Al ⁺ ions increase the mobility of oxygen holes acting as carriers of ITO, thereby improving the electrode characteristics. When the ITO film is formed, the temperature of the surface of the deposited film is maintained at 120 ° C., and a predetermined amount of Ar gas and oxygen heated to about 120 ° C. are injected to adjust the rate of reaction between the ITO and oxygen in the plasma .

The first cooling drum 12 serves to cool and guide the first cooling drum 12 when the ITO lamination is completed on one side of the flexible substrate film.

The first direction switching roll 13 serves to switch the direction of the flexible substrate film having the ITO stacked on one surface guided from the first cooling drum 12. [ That is, the advancing direction of the flexible substrate film is preferably changed by 90 ° so that the ITO laminated surface is located outside the rotation direction of the first direction switching rollers 13 and the surface on which the ITO is not laminated is positioned on the inner surface .

The first heating means 14 is located on one side of the ITO-laminated flexible substrate film whose direction has been changed by the first direction switching roll 13 and the durability and crystallinity of ITO and TCO (IZO, AZO, GZO, IGZO) (IR heater) to increase heat resistance and heat resistance.

The second direction switching roll 15 serves to switch the direction of the flexible substrate film heat-treated on one side by the first heating means 14. In other words, on the outer side of the rotation direction of the second direction switching roll 15, a surface on which ITO is laminated and heat-treated is positioned, a surface on which ITO is not laminated is positioned on the inner surface, 90 °.

The second sputter cathode 16 performs the function of depositing the ITO thin film on the flexible substrate film by the sputtering method. That is, the ITO thin film is deposited by sputtering on the other side where ITO is not deposited.

The second cooling drum 17 functions to guide the next step while cooling the ITO lamination on the other surface of the flexible substrate film.

The second heating means 18 receives the ITO-deposited flexible substrate film guided by the second cooling drum 17 to form the ITO and TCO (IZO, AZO, GZO, IGZO) coating films on the non-heat- And to heat treatment using an IR heater to increase durability and crystallinity.

The winding roll 19 performs a function of winding a flexible substrate film having both sides coated with ITO.

The vacuum chamber 20 is installed inside the equipment, and an atmosphere for forming an ITO film is formed. Then, the ITO film is deposited on the surface of the flexible substrate film using a sputtering method and discharged through a vacuum pump (not shown) .

The vacuum partition 21 is located between the first direction switching roll 13 and the second direction switching roll 15 and is disposed between the first cooling drum 12 and the second cooling drum 17 in the vacuum chamber 20. [ It plays a role of spatial separation. This prevents ITO from being coated on the other surface in the process of depositing ITO on one side of the flexible substrate film.

Preferably, the vacuum bulkhead 21 can be configured to allow the flexible substrate film to pass between the first direction switching roll 13 and the second direction switching roll 15.

Thus, the continuous double-sided sputtering vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention can change the direction so that the ITO film can be formed on both surfaces of the flexible substrate film by using the first and second direction switching rolls 13 and 15.

In addition, by constituting the cooling drums in two, the ITO deposition on one side is completed when the deposition is completed, so that the batch deposition of the continuous process can be performed.

After the ITO deposition is completed on the flexible substrate film and the coating on each side is completed, the crystallization treatment can be performed through the heating means to increase the durability and crystallinity.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of depositing a double-sided flexible substrate according to another embodiment of the present invention.

2, a double-sided flexible substrate deposition method will be described as follows. The two-sided flexible substrate deposition method includes a step S10 of supplying a flexible substrate film, a step S20 of depositing ITO, a step S30 of cooling, a step S40 of switching the orientation of the flexible substrate film, A step S90 of turning the other surface, a step S90 of turning the other surface S90, and a step S90 of winding the flexible substrate film S100).

In the step S10 of supplying the flexible substrate film, the flexible substrate film wound by the unwinding roll 10 is supplied to the apparatus.

In the step of depositing ITO (S200), ITO is deposited on one surface of the flexible substrate film by the first sputter cathode (11).

The cooling step S30 cools the flexible substrate film while the first cooling drum 12 guides the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited.

The step S40 of switching the direction of the flexible substrate film preferably turns the direction of the flexible substrate film guided from the first cooling drum 12 by 90 占 preferably the first direction switching roll 13. The direction is changed so that the surface coated with the ITO is located outside the rotational direction of the first square-shaped turning rolls 13.

In the step of crystallizing the one surface (S50), the first heating means 14 performs the crystallization treatment by heating one surface of the flexible substrate film whose orientation is switched by the first direction switching roll 13, on which ITO is deposited. This crystallization process increases the durability and crystallinity of the coating film.

In the step S60 of switching the direction of the flexible substrate film, the second direction switching roll 15 switches the direction of the flexible substrate film subjected to the crystallization treatment by the first heating means 14. [ That is, one surface of the flexible substrate film on which ITO is deposited and subjected to the crystallization treatment is located outside the rotation direction of the second direction switching roll 15.

The step of depositing ITO (S70) deposits ITO on the other surface of the flexible substrate film where the second sputter cathode 16 has been redirected by the second direction switching roll 15.

In the step S80 of cooling the other surface, the second cooling drum 17 guides the flexible substrate film and cools the other surface of the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited.

The step (S90) of crystallizing the other surface crystallizes the other surface of the flexible substrate film guided by the second cooling drum (17) by the second heating means (18). This crystallization process increases the durability and crystallinity of the ITO and TCO coating films deposited.

In the step S100 of winding the flexible substrate film, the winding roll 19 winds the flexible substrate film on which the ITO deposition is completed on both sides.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Will be clear to those who have knowledge of.

1: Flexible substrate film 10: Unwinding roll
11: first sputter cathode 12: first cooling drum
13: first direction switching roll 14: first heating means
15: second direction switching roll 16: second sputter cathode
17: second cooling drum 18: second heating means
19: Winding roll 20: Vacuum chamber
21: Vacuum bulkhead

Claims (3)

An unwinding roll for feeding a flexible substrate film;
A first sputter cathode for depositing ITO on one surface of the flexible substrate film;
A first cooling drum for guiding and cooling the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited;
A first direction switching roll for switching a direction of the flexible substrate film guided from the first cooling drum;
A first heating means for crystallizing one surface of the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited, the surface of which has been redirected by the first direction switching roll;
A second direction switching roll for switching the direction of the flexible substrate film crystallized by the first heating means;
One or more second sputter cathodes for depositing ITO on the other surface of the flexible substrate film that has been redirected by the second direction switching rollers;
A second cooling drum for guiding the flexible substrate film and cooling the other surface of the flexible substrate film on which ITO is deposited;
Second heating means for crystallizing the other surface of the flexible substrate film guided by the second cooling drum; And
A winding roll for winding the flexible substrate film on which ITO is deposited on both sides;
And a vacuum barrier between the first direction switching roll and the second direction switching roll.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the flexible substrate film is capable of moving through the vacuum barrier from the first direction switching roll to the second direction switching roll.
(S10) feeding the flexible substrate film to the unwinding roll;
(S20) a first sputter cathode depositing ITO on one side of the flexible substrate film;
Cooling the first cooling drum while guiding the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited (S30);
(S40) of switching the direction of the flexible substrate film from which the first direction switching roll is guided from the first cooling drum;
(S50) crystallizing a surface of the flexible substrate film where the first heating means is redirected by the first direction switching roll, on which the ITO is deposited;
(S60) of switching the direction of the flexible substrate film on which the second direction switching roll has crystallized by the first heating means;
Depositing ITO on the other surface of the flexible substrate film in which the second sputter cathode is redirected by the second direction switching roll (S70);
Cooling the other surface of the flexible substrate film on which ITO is deposited while the second cooling drum guides the flexible substrate film (S80);
The second heating means crystallizing the other surface of the flexible substrate film guided by the second cooling drum (S90); And
Winding the flexible substrate film on which the ITO is deposited on both sides of the winding roll (S100);
Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 1, < / RTI >

Images