TW201819656A - A direct current magnetron arc coating device and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a direct current magnetron arc coating device and method thereof. An arc could be remained on a target and then produce arc-plasma on the target continuously by using the device, so that it is suitable for deposition of target with high melting point. Furthermore, high working air pressure in the method improves deposition efficiency and decreases size of macro-particles, therefor, the device and method in present invention could be used to prepare nano-level thin film.

Description

DC magnetron arc coating device and method thereof

The invention relates to a DC magnetron arc coating device, in particular to a device capable of continuously maintaining an arc plasma on a surface of a target, and thus is suitable for deposition of a high melting point target.

Plasma is a mixed air mass containing free electrons, charged ions and neutral particles, which is the fourth state except the tri-state of the material. In the normal state, the plasma is electrically neutral.

The source of the plasma covers many forms, including DC discharge, RF discharge, and microwave discharge, which obtain high potential kinetic energy by electron acceleration in an electric field, thereby colliding with gas molecules or atoms. And transfer energy, and contain a series of discharge phenomena, when the discharge form enters the glow discharge, the discharge area is the largest, the plasma uniformity is high, and the voltage and current values are easy to control, most of the processes are operated at this stage; Continuous energy transfer between different components in the slurry, and the generation of energy particles, so that the mixed gas mass of the plasma can induce special physical and chemical reactions, therefore, the plasma can be widely used in various fields, including various Film processing and circuit etching of materials.

Sputtering, also known as sputter deposition, refers to the surface of a solid material subjected to high-energy ion impact, which dissociates the substance due to kinetic energy transfer and then radiates it from the surface of the substance in the form of atoms. phenomenon. The sputtering process can be carried out in a lower temperature environment, and the alloy and the compound film are prepared by sputtering, and the composition thereof can be maintained, so that it is widely used in the semiconductor and circuit industries.

In recent years, the requirements for uniformity of the film process have become more and more stringent with the trend of miniaturization of components, and the demand for large-area components has been growing. Here, the coating technology of plasma combined with sputtering system is born. Among them, the deposition effect of the vacuum arc plasma source combined with the sputtering system is more prominent. The difference between the vacuum arc plasma source and the glow discharge produced by a typical plasma source is that the ion source of the glow discharge is from the dissociated gas, and the ion source of the vacuum arc plasma source is from the electrode itself. The coating is performed by vacuum arc plasma, which has the characteristics of high deposition efficiency and high target solution rate. However, the spot formed by the plasma on the surface of the target will generate local high temperature accompanied by local gasification. The phenomenon, thus producing metal particles having a diameter ranging from about 10 ^-6 to 10 ^-9 m, further reducing the uniformity and smoothness of the coating, is a technical bottleneck for the application of the vacuum arc plasma source to the sputtering film.

According to the problems faced by the above-mentioned prior art, the present invention provides a DC magnetron arc plating apparatus and method thereof, which can maintain the arc plasma on the surface of the target continuously, making it suitable for high melting point targets, and It also reduces particle generation and reduces particle size.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a DC magnetron arc coating device comprising a first arc maintaining element and disposed around a target for limiting the operating range of the arc spot, thereby preventing the arc spot from moving to the The area outside the surface of the target causes a local high temperature to be generated by the fixed-point discharge to partially burn the device, and the phenomenon of easy arc extinction can be avoided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a DC magnetron arc coating apparatus comprising a magnetic element that forms a high gradient magnetic field on a surface of the target, thereby increasing the moving rate of the arc plasma, reducing particle generation and reducing particle size. .

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for DC magnetron arc plating, which is carried out by using the above-mentioned device, because the arc plasma can be continuously maintained on the surface of the target, making it suitable for depositing a high melting point target on the base. On the material.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of DC magnetron arc plating by coating a film in a high pressure environment, thereby reducing the particle size.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention discloses a DC magnetron arc coating apparatus, which comprises a base, a first arc maintaining element, a supporting member, a second arc maintaining element and an arcing module; The first arc maintaining element is disposed on a side of the base and has a first passage; the support is disposed on one side of the first arc maintaining element; the second arc maintaining element is extended on the support One side of the member is disposed opposite to the first arc maintaining member, the second arc maintaining member has a second passage; the arc starting module is disposed on one side of the first arc maintaining member; wherein A target is on the first channel and parallel to a surface of the first arc maintaining element, and the arc striking module generates an arc on a surface of the target.

In an embodiment of the invention, the DC magnetron arc coating device is further disposed in a cavity, and the cavity further comprises an air extraction module to maintain a vacuum environment of the cavity.

In an embodiment of the invention, it is also disclosed that the DC magnetron arc coating device further comprises a magnetic component disposed on the other side of the base.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the DC magnetron arc plating apparatus further includes a target support member disposed in the first passage and disposed on the target support member in parallel On the surface of the first arc sustaining element.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the DC magnetron arc plating apparatus further includes a substrate disposed on the side of the second arc maintaining element opposite to the channel, and the first arc Maintain the different sides of the component.

In addition, the coating method using the DC magnetron arc coating device described above comprises the steps of: disposing a substrate in a cavity and evacuating the cavity; forming an arc on a surface of the target, and transmitting through the target One of the first arc sustaining elements surrounding the material limits the arc spot operating range to continuously generate an arc plasma; and impinges a target through the arc plasma to form a plurality of particles and passes through one of the second arc sustaining elements Deposited on the substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, it is also disclosed in the step of disposing the substrate in the cavity and evacuating the cavity, using a mechanical rotary pump, a mechanical booster pump or a turbine. The molecular pump is vacuumed.

In an embodiment of the invention, the target is also a metal target having a melting point greater than 1400 degrees.

In one embodiment of the invention, it is also disclosed that the method is carried out in an environment where the working pressure is below 10 ^-2 torr.

In order to provide a better understanding and understanding of the features and the efficacies of the present invention, the preferred embodiment and the detailed description are as follows:

The present embodiment provides a DC magnetron arc coating device and a method thereof, which are improved based on a bottleneck of a conventional technique, including particles which are prone to generate large particles in a process, and which are prone to arc extinction in a process of a high melting point target. The phenomenon. Hereinafter, the apparatus and method of the present invention will be described.

First, please refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B, which are schematic cross-sectional views of a DC magnetron arc plating apparatus of the present invention and a partial enlarged view of a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the DC magnet plating apparatus 10 includes a susceptor 100, a first arc maintaining element 110 disposed on a side of the susceptor 100, and the second arc sustaining element has a third a channel 112, a support member 120 disposed on a side of the first arc maintaining member 110, and a second arc maintaining member 130 extending from one side of the support member 120 and maintained relative to the first arc The second arc maintaining component 130 has a second channel 132 and an arcing module 140 disposed on one side of the first arc maintaining component 110.

The DC magnetron arc coating device 10 further includes a magnetic component 150 disposed on the other side of the susceptor 100, and a target support member 162 disposed on the second channel 112 and a target. The channel 132 is disposed on the target support member 162. The arc-trigger module 140 further includes an arc plasma source 142, an arc starter 144, and a lead. In addition, the susceptor 100 can be further disposed on a sidewall of a cavity 170 to make the first arc maintaining component 110, the target 160, the target support 162, the second arc maintaining component 130, A portion of the arc runner 144 and the arc runner 146 are located in the cavity 170 and are further evacuated through an air extraction module 172 to maintain a vacuum environment.

Wherein, the materials of the first arc maintaining element and the second maintaining element are required to have high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, and the material of the invention is selected from stainless steel, but the material thereof is not limited thereto. The second sustaining component is configured to limit the range of movement of the electron between the first maintaining component and the second maintaining component, so that the electrons are not easily moved to other regions of the cavity, so that the arc-trimming module is easier to use. An arc is formed on the surface of the target.

In addition, there is a slight spacing between the edge of the target and the first arc maintaining element, and a potential floating connection is formed to limit the operating range of the arc arc spot. If the spacing is too large, when the operating current is low, When the arc and the arc spot move to the edge of the target, it is easy to enter the space to cause arc extinction. In addition, when the arc spot moves to a region other than the surface of the target, a fixed point is generated and a high temperature is generated to cause local burning of the device; Here, in the present invention, the distance between the edge of the target and the first arc maintaining element is less than 1.5 millimeters (mm), and preferably, the pitch is less than or equal to 1 mm, so as to maintain the stability of the arc.

In addition, the arc-trigger module is well known to those skilled in the art, and thus will not be described again. The present invention selects DC discharge as the arc plasma source, but the arc plasma source is not limited thereto.

In addition, the magnetic element forms a parallel magnetic field on the surface of the target to increase the moving speed of the arc; in addition, the stronger the magnetic field on the surface of the target, the faster the arc moves, and the reduction of particle generation and the reduction of particle size, but the target If the magnetic field strength of the material edge is too strong, the arc arc spot is easily entered into the gap between the edge of the target and the first arc maintaining element to cause arc extinction; in order to provide a proper magnetic field strength to the dissociation area of the target surface, the present invention is Providing a high gradient magnetic field on the surface of the target means providing a relatively high magnetic field strength to the dissociation zone of the target, while providing a relatively low magnetic field strength at the edge of the target, preferably, dissociation of the surface of the target The parallel magnetic field of the zone is greater than 200 Gauss, and the parallel magnetic field at the edge of the target is less than 60 Gauss, but the magnetic field strength is not limited.

By reducing the particle generation and reducing the particle size through the above strategy, in addition to reducing the surface particle size deposited by the DC magnetron arc coating device, the DC magnetron arc coating device can be further applied to the nanometer film preparation.

As described above, the coating process performed by the DC magnetron arc coating apparatus of the present invention is described as follows:

Please refer to FIG. 2, FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B together, which is a schematic flow chart of the DC magnetron arc plating method of the present invention, a magnetic field diagram of the present invention, and a partial enlarged view of the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the method of DC magnetron arc coating of the present invention comprises the steps of:

Step S10: disposing a substrate in a cavity and evacuating the cavity;

Step S12: forming an arc on a surface of the target, and limiting the arc spot operating range through one of the first arc maintaining elements disposed around the target to continuously generate an arc plasma;

Step S14: impacting a target through the arc plasma to form a plurality of fine particles, and depositing on the substrate through a meandering passage of the second arc maintaining member.

Wherein, as shown in steps S10 and 3B, the coating method needs to be performed in a vacuum environment, and the pumping module 172 performs pumping. The pumping module of the present invention uses a diffusion pump and a machine. Rotary pump, supercharged pump or turbo molecular pump, but not limited to this; in addition, the higher the pressure in the cavity 170, the higher the collision frequency of ions and electrons in the plasma, the deposited film surface particles The smaller the size, according to which the present invention is applied at a high pressure, preferably, the working pressure is less than 10 ^-2 torr, but not limited thereto.

Further, as shown in steps S12, S14, and 3B, the arcing bar 146 of the arc striking module 140 forms an arc on the surface of the target 160, and further continues on the surface of the target 160. The arc plasma 148 is produced and the arc plasma 148 is bouncing in a normal direction relative to the surface of the target 160.

In the above, when the current reaches the threshold, the arc plasma 148 will generate a concentrated discharge region of the target 160, called a spot, accompanied by a local high temperature, at which time the hot electrons are emitted and collided from the arc spot. The gas molecules are dissociated, and the gas ions generated by the dissociation are attracted to hit the target 160, thereby generating more hot electrons, and the cycle is continued to maintain the discharge state and the dissociation reaction of the target 160 continues to occur. The ions formed by the dissociation reaction of 160 are further sprayed through the second channel 132 of the second arc maintaining element 130 onto a substrate 180; further, the gradient magnetic field 152 generated by the magnetic element 150 can be The hot electrons are maintained on the surface of the target 160 to prevent it from being removed from the arc plasma 148, and the moving speed of the arc can be increased to effectively reduce the generation of particles.

The above method for DC magnetron arc plating can eliminate the problem that the prior art is easy to extinguish the arc, and thus can be further applied to the deposition of the high melting point target. The present invention selects a metal target having a melting point of more than 1400 degrees, preferably, It is selected from tungsten (W) or tantalum (Ta).

In summary, the DC magnetron arc coating apparatus and method thereof provided by the present invention provide a first arc maintaining element around the material, thereby limiting the operating range of the arc spot and solving the conventional arc extinction. The phenomenon can be applied to the deposition of a high melting point target; in addition, the DC magnetron arc coating apparatus and method thereof of the present invention also utilize the gap between the first arc maintaining element and the target, the operating current, and the surface of the target. The gradient magnetic fields cooperate to reduce the frequency of particle generation in the process, and reduce the diameter of the metal particles, thereby reducing the surface roughness of the film; further, the DC magnetron arc coating device and method of the present invention are at a high pressure Coating, which can increase the collision frequency of electrons and ions, thus reducing the surface particle size; comprehensively, the present invention not only breaks through the bottleneck of the prior art, but also improves the process efficiency and the quality of the finished product, and is a new technology for market application. .

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and the variations, modifications, and modifications of the shapes, structures, features, and spirits described in the claims of the present invention. All should be included in the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

10‧‧‧DC magnetron arc coating device

100‧‧‧Base

110‧‧‧First arc sustaining element

112‧‧‧First Passage

120‧‧‧Support

130‧‧‧Second arc sustaining element

132‧‧‧second channel

140‧‧‧ arcing module

142‧‧‧Arc plasma source

144‧‧‧ arc starter

146‧‧‧ arcing rod

148‧‧‧Arc plasma

150‧‧‧Magnetic components

152‧‧‧ magnetic field

160‧‧‧ Target

162‧‧‧ target support

170‧‧‧ cavity

172‧‧‧Exhaust module

180‧‧‧Substrate

1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a DC magnetron arc plating apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 1B is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 1A of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a DC magnetron arc plating film of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 3A is a schematic view of a magnetic field of the present invention; and FIG. 3B is a partially enlarged view of a third embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (9)

A DC magnetron arc coating device, comprising: a base; a first arc maintaining element disposed on a side of the base, the first arc maintaining element having a first passage; a support member Provided on one side of the first arc maintaining element; a second arc maintaining element extending from one side of the support member and disposed relative to the first arc maintaining element, the second arc maintaining element having a first a second channel; and an arc striking module disposed on one side of the first arc maintaining element; wherein a target is further disposed on the first channel and parallel to a surface of the first arc maintaining element, The arc striking module generates an arc on the surface of the target. The DC magnetron arc coating device of claim 1, wherein the DC magnetron arc coating device is further disposed in a cavity, and the cavity further comprises a pumping module to maintain the cavity. Vacuum environment. The DC magnetron arc coating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a magnetic element disposed on the other side of the base. The DC magnetron arc coating device of claim 1, further comprising a target support disposed in the first passage and disposed on the target support and parallel to the target The surface of the first arc sustaining element. The DC magnetron arc coating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a substrate disposed on a side of the second arc maintaining member with respect to the channel, and the first arc maintaining element Different sides. A method for DC magnetron arc coating comprises the steps of: disposing a substrate in a cavity and evacuating the cavity; forming an arc on a surface of the target and passing through one of the targets a first arc maintaining element limiting an arc spot operating range to continuously generate an arc plasma; and impinging the target through the arc plasma to form a plurality of particles and depositing the base through a passage of the second arc maintaining element material. The method of DC magnetron arc plating according to claim 6, wherein in the step of disposing the substrate in the cavity and evacuating the cavity, a diffusion pump and a machine are used. A rotary pump, a supercharged pump or a turbo molecular pump is vacuumed. The method of DC magnetron arc plating according to claim 6, wherein the target is a metal target having a melting point greater than 1400 degrees. The method of claim 4, wherein in the step of setting the substrate in the cavity and evacuating the cavity, the working pressure is lower than 10-2 Torr. In the environment of torr.