Vapor deposition apparatus having pretreatment device that uses plasma

Abstract

A roller-type continuous vapor deposition film-forming apparatus for a substrate that is to be conveyed at high speed, comprising a plasma pretreatment device and a film-forming apparatus provided in series, wherein a substrate conveying compartment 12A, a pretreatment compartment 12B and film formation compartment 12C are formed inside a chamber 3; and a substrate S is wound from an unwinding roller 13 onto a plasma pretreatment roller 20 and film formation roller 25, which are provided in series, via guide rollers 14a-14d, and is taken up by a take-up roller 15. In the pretreatment device, plasma P is supplied toward the substrate S inside a gap, wherein a plasma-forming gas to be supplied from plasma supply nozzles 22a, 22b is surrounded by the pretreatment roller, the plasma supply nozzles and a magnet 21, as magnetic forming means, and the plasma is electrically set to a positive electrical potential, power is supplied between the electrodes positioned on the substrate surface side, the plasma P is generated and an active pretreatment surface is formed on the surface of the substrate S. An inorganic oxide can be formed at high speed by the film formation device by physical vapor deposition or the like on a pretreatment surface of a substrate that has been subjected to the pretreatment.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to a multiple roller-type continuous vapor deposition film-forming apparatus (hereunder referred to as “film-forming apparatus”), provided with both a pretreatment roller for plasma pretreatment and a film-forming roller in series, that conveys a long substrate such as a film or sheet at high speed while continuously forming a thin-film on the substrate surface, and particularly it relates to a film-forming apparatus that stably and continuously forms a homogeneous thin-film with excellent adhesiveness on the surface of a long substrate under reduced pressure.BACKGROUND ART[0002]In the prior art there exist methods such as vacuum vapor deposition, sputtering, wet coating by gel-sol methods and the like, and thermal CVD, as means for continuously forming metal and metal oxide thin-films in chambers on conveyed substrates for long films or sheets of plastics or the like, and film-forming apparatuses are known that form films by sputte...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a roll-type continuous vapor deposition film-forming apparatus with a plasma pretreatment device to improve the adhesiveness of the vapor deposited thin-film and substrate, reduce detachment of the vapor deposited thin-film, and facilitate continuous treatment. The plasma pretreatment device uses plasma-supply means and magnetic field-forming means to concentrate the supplied plasma gas near the substrate surface and control the plasma density as desired. The apparatus also allows for faster substrate conveyance and higher film formation speed, leading to improved productivity with low plasma output. The plasma pretreatment activates the substrate surface, reducing membrane stress and damage to the substrate. The invention also results in vapor deposition films with better adhesiveness and barrier performance.

Problems solved by technology

In this type of known film-forming apparatus, the thin-film forming speed is not slow with vacuum vapor deposition, but the precision of the thin-film homogeneity is poor, and therefore the yield is notably poor.

Also, in sputtering, the precision of thin-film homogeneity is satisfactory but the thin-film forming rate is very low and productivity is poor.

In thermal CVD processes, a source gas is oxidized and decomposed by the heat energy of the substrate to form a thin-film, and they require the substrate to be at high temperature, such that when the substrate is a plastic film, decomposition and oxidation of the plastic film can occur, making it impossible to form a homogeneous thin-film on the plastic film substrate.

Furthermore, in known film-forming apparatuses, the thin-films formed on substrates cannot exhibit a sufficient barrier property, and adhesiveness between the thin-film and substrate is insufficient.

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