JP2007182601A - Winding-type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus, and surface treatment method for film - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a winding-type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus which simultaneously conducts a plurality of surface treatments in the same apparatus, and is small and inexpensive because of having multiple functions. <P>SOLUTION: This apparatus directs at surface-treating a film 13 which moves along a can roll 12 that rotates in a vacuum vessel 10, and comprises: a pair of first masking shields 17 for separating a treatment zone from rolls 12a and 12b for unwinding and winding the film; second masking shields 18 for sectioning the inside of the treatment zone including at least two surface treatment means into a plurality of treatment chambers A, B and C; and masking plates 19 which are movably arranged in each of the treatment chambers A, B and C and cover a portion of the film except a position to be surface-treated of the film, which faces to one surface treatment means. Then, the apparatus can select the surface treatment means which faces to the film treatment position and is arranged in every treatment chamber of the chambers A, B and C, by moving the masking plates 19. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a roll-up type composite surface treatment apparatus capable of performing various surface treatments such as drying, pretreatment, and thin film formation on a film, and a method for performing film surface treatment using this apparatus.

  In recent years, a functional film having a thin film formed on the surface of a plastic film or the like as a base material has been actively developed. For example, in the packaging field, by forming a thin film made of at least one kind of metal oxide selected from SiOx, MgO, AlOx, etc. on the film surface, it is transparent and preserves food having gas barrier properties such as oxygen and water vapor. A gas barrier film having excellent properties is provided.

In the electronics field, antireflection films and the like that prevent reflection on the display surface and improve visibility are widely used as display applications. This film is a multilayer thin film having different refractive indexes in which a high refractive index layer such as TiO ₂ , ZrO, and Nb ₂ O ₅ , a middle refractive index layer such as Al ₂ O ₃ , and a low refractive index layer such as SiO ₂ are laminated. Is formed on a film.

  In addition, in liquid crystal displays, with the progress of pixel miniaturization, a flexible circuit board connected to the liquid crystal display requires a highly accurate pattern, and at the same time, there is a further demand for ensuring electrical reliability associated with a narrow pitch. . Therefore, recently, copper with high adhesive strength without using an adhesive can be obtained by providing a different metal layer such as nickel or chromium as a base on a polyimide film by sputtering or vapor deposition, and applying electrolytic copper plating on it. Polyimide flexible substrates are becoming important.

  When manufacturing these functional films, it is necessary to form a thin film in order to impart functionality to the film that is the base material. It is desirable to form a thin film while moving it. As an apparatus for that purpose, a winding-type vacuum film forming apparatus for continuously forming a thin film while moving a film between rolls in a vacuum environment is generally used.

  As the most basic winding-type vacuum film forming apparatus used conventionally, there is one having a structure described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-60931. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, a thin film forming section 3 having a thin film forming means (not shown) is installed in the vacuum chamber 1 together with a film 2 conveying means, and the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 is a vacuum pump or the like. It is exhausted to a high vacuum by an exhaust system 4 comprising: The film 2 continuously fed from the unwinding roll 5 is formed into a film by the thin film forming unit 2 on one film forming drum 7 while being wound by the winding roll 6.

  As for the above thin film forming means, there are a vacuum deposition method and a sputtering method as a physical film formation method, and a chemical vapor deposition method (CVD) or the like is used as a chemical film formation method. The vacuum deposition method is a method of forming a thin film on a substrate by heating and evaporating a film forming material by resistance heating or electron gun irradiation. A plasma-assisted vapor deposition method is also known in which plasma is formed between an evaporation source and a substrate for the purpose of adhesion and densification of a thin film during vapor deposition. The plasma is formed by applying a DC or AC voltage to a discharge electrode installed in a vacuum film forming apparatus or irradiating a microwave with a microwave using a waveguide. can do.

  In addition, the sputtering method uses a target obtained by forming a film forming material into a plate shape, generates plasma between the substrate and the target using the plasma generation method using the target as a discharge electrode, and uses a potential gradient. In this method, a target material is knocked out by irradiating and colliding ions with a target surface to form a thin film of the target material on a substrate. Furthermore, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a method in which an inorganic or organic material or a mixture thereof is vaporized and introduced as a raw material gas in the vicinity of a substrate, and a thin film is formed on the substrate by a chemical reaction using heating or plasma. It is a method of forming. When plasma is used, an apparatus configuration similar to sputtering can be used.

  In any of the above-described thin film forming means, it has been confirmed that the use of plasma during film formation has an effect on the adhesion and densification of the thin film. Therefore, the means for forming a thin film using plasma is to improve gas barrier properties for gas barrier films, improve optical properties for antireflection films, and improve adhesion to copper layers for copper polyimide flexible substrates. It has been put to practical use as an effective method.

  However, in the winding type vacuum film forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, it is easy to form a single layer thin film. However, when laminating a plurality of thin films, a plurality of thin film formations are performed along the running direction of the film. It is necessary to arrange the means or to make the film reciprocate so that a plurality of thin film forming means can be passed depending on the number of times required for lamination.

  As a wind-up type vacuum film forming apparatus used for forming such a thin film, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-178436 discloses a plurality of film forming drums 7a capable of temperature control inside a vacuum chamber 1, as shown in FIG. , 7b is described. According to this film forming apparatus, the film 2 fed from the unwinding roll 5 and taken up by the take-up roll 6 passes through the plurality of film forming drums 7a and 7b. Thin films of different materials can be sequentially formed on the film 2 at a low temperature by the plurality of cathode assemblies 8 provided to face the circumferential surface.

JP 2002-60931 A JP 2003-178436 A

  In the case of the conventional winding type vacuum surface treatment apparatus described above, it has been difficult to perform a plurality of surface treatments simultaneously with one apparatus. For example, if various surface treatment means are arranged so as to be continuously in contact with the peripheral portions of the film formation drum in the apparatus and a plurality of processes are to be carried out at different film processing positions, the apparatus is not only enlarged. There are problems that the film is wrinkled and the quality is deteriorated. Therefore, in order to perform a plurality of surface treatments on the film, it is necessary to use different processing apparatuses. However, in the method using different processing apparatuses, the processing man-hours and costs are increased, and at the same time, the film is exposed to the air while being transferred between the apparatuses. There was a problem that it was easy.

  In view of such a conventional situation, the present invention can perform a plurality of surface treatments simultaneously with the same apparatus, and defects such as pinholes and reduced adhesion occur in the formed thin film. It is an object of the present invention to provide a roll-up type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus that is free from wrinkles or film and that is small in size and low in cost due to its multi-functionality.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the take-up type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus provided by the present invention includes a pair of film take-up and unwinding units in a substantially cylindrical vacuum vessel provided with a vacuum pump for evacuating the entire vacuum vessel. A roll and a rotatable can roll having an axial center substantially coincident with the vacuum vessel, and the film that is unwound or wound between the film take-up and take-off rolls and moves along the can roll by surface treatment means A surface treatment apparatus for performing surface treatment,
A plurality of surface treatment means fixed to the vacuum vessel peripheral wall facing the can roll, and a treatment zone in which the surface treatment means is arranged and fixed to the vacuum vessel bottom plate so as to substantially shield the space between the vacuum vessel peripheral wall and the can roll. Are fixed to the vacuum vessel bottom plate so as to substantially shield the space between the vacuum vessel peripheral wall and the can roll, and at least two surface treatments in the treatment zone A plurality of second shielding plates partitioned into a plurality of processing chambers including means, and a mask that covers each processing chamber so as to be movable in front of the can roll and covers other than the film surface processing position facing one surface processing means With a board,
By moving the mask plate to change the film processing position in each processing chamber, the surface processing means facing the film processing position can be selected for each processing chamber.

  In the take-up type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, each processing chamber is shielded in an almost airtight state by the plurality of second shielding plates, and each processing chamber is installed on the peripheral wall of the vacuum vessel. A vacuum pump can be used, and surface treatments of different pressures and gas types can be performed in each processing chamber. The surface treatment means is preferably any one of a film drying heater means, a film pretreatment plasma generating means, and a thin film forming sputtering means.

  The present invention also uses the above-described winding-type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, and moves one film along a can roll in one direction while facing one film treatment position in each treatment chamber. The surface treatment of the film is performed by means, and after completion of the surface treatment, the film processing position in each processing chamber is changed by moving the mask plate, and then the film is moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction along the can roll. The film surface treatment method is characterized in that the surface treatment of the film is carried out by one surface treatment means facing the changed film treatment position in each treatment chamber while moving the film.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform a plurality of surface treatments simultaneously with the same apparatus by providing multifunctional apparatuses, and it is possible to provide a relatively compact and low-cost roll-up type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus. . In addition, since a plurality of surface treatments can be completed in the same apparatus, it is not necessary to replace a film in the middle of processing with another apparatus, so that not only the processing steps can be shortened and the processing cost can be kept low, but also the atmosphere. It is not exposed to the inside, and there is no deterioration in quality such as the occurrence of pinholes and defects such as a decrease in adhesion in the thin film.

  Furthermore, if each of the partitioned processing chambers is shielded in an almost airtight state and a processing chamber vacuum pump is installed in each processing chamber, each processing chamber can be differentially evacuated. It is possible to perform more various surface treatments by selecting the treatment conditions of pressure and gas type.

  The winding type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus of the present invention and a film processing method using the same will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, for example, the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention has a pair of film winding and winding inside a substantially cylindrical vacuum vessel 10 equipped with a vacuum pump (not shown) for the entire apparatus. Out rolls 11a and 11b, and a vacuum roll 10 and a can roll 12 for transporting a film which are rotatably provided with their axial centers substantially coincident with each other. For example, the film 13 is wound on the rotating can roll 12 while being unwound from one film winding / unwinding roll 11a and wound on the other film winding / unwinding roll 11b in accordance with the rotation of the can roll 12. Surface treatment is performed while moving along. Moreover, it is preferable that the can roll 12 is provided with a heating / cooling means such as a heater, hot water, or a refrigerant so that the surface temperature can be controlled.

  The vacuum vessel 10 is substantially cylindrical and includes a vacuum vessel peripheral wall 10a, a vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b, and a vacuum vessel top plate (not shown). A plurality of surface treatment means are fixedly attached to the vacuum vessel peripheral wall 10 a of the vacuum vessel 10 so as to face the can roll 12. Examples of the surface treatment means include a heater means 14a for drying a film, plasma generation means 15b and 15c for film pretreatment, and sputtering means 16a, 16b and 16c for forming a thin film.

  In order to separate the treatment zone in which the plurality of surface treatment means are disposed from the pair of film winding / unwinding rolls 11a and 11b, the pair of first shielding plates 17 are fixed to the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b, and the vacuum vessel peripheral wall 10a. And the can roll 12 are shielded in an almost airtight state. Further, two second shielding plates that are fixed to the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b and shield between the vacuum vessel peripheral wall 10a and the can roll 12 in a substantially airtight state in the treatment zone in which a plurality of surface treatment means are arranged. 18 is arranged. The pair of first shielding plates 17 and two second shielding plates 18 divide the processing zone into three processing chambers A, B, and C. Each of the processing chambers A, B, and C includes two surface processing means, for example, the processing chamber A includes a sputtering means 16a and a heater means 14a.

  In each of the processing chambers A, B, and C, a mask plate 19 that covers a portion other than the film surface processing position that faces the surface processing means is disposed in front of each can roll 12. These mask plates 19 are connected to a drive plate 19b facing the bottom side of the can roll 12, as shown in FIG. 5 which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 3, for example. The can roll 12 is held so as to be movable along the can roll 12 by being connected to a shaft portion 19a coaxial with the rotating shaft 12a of the can roll 12 and driving the shaft portion 19a with a driving power device. Further, the mask plate 19 can be moved while maintaining a vacuum state, between the rotating shaft 12a of the can roll 12 and the shaft portion 19a of the mask plate 19, and the shaft portion 19a of the mask plate 19 and the bottom plate 10b of the vacuum vessel 10. Each of the gaps is hermetically sealed with a seal member. In addition, 10c of FIG. 5 is a vacuum vessel top plate.

  In the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, the film treatment position can be changed for each treatment chamber by moving the mask plate covering other than the film treatment position, and the surface treatment means facing the film treatment position can be selected. For example, in the processing chamber A in the state of FIG. 3, the position facing the sputtering means 16 a of the can roll 12 is covered with the mask plate 19, but the position facing the heater means 14 a is not covered with the mask plate 19. Therefore, only the drying process of the film 13 by the heater means 14a can be performed at the film processing position not covered with the mask plate 19. Similarly, in the processing chamber B in the state of FIG. 3, the position of the can roll 12 facing the sputtering means 16 b is covered with the mask plate 19, but the position facing the plasma generating means 15 b is covered with the mask plate 19. Therefore, only the plasma surface treatment of the film 10 by the plasma generating means 15b is performed at the film processing position.

  In the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, another method for moving the mask plate covering other than the film processing position will be described with reference to FIGS. In this apparatus, in each of the processing chambers A, B, and C, a mask plate 19 for covering other than the film surface processing position facing the surface processing means is disposed in front of the can roll 12 as in FIG. Has been. These mask plates 19 are plate-shaped along portions of each processing chamber of the can roll 12, and a mask opening 24 corresponding to the film surface processing position is formed in part, and YY in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line, a belt-like gear portion 23 is provided at each of both end portions of the mask plate 19. On the other hand, the gear gear portion 21 is engaged with and driven by the belt-like gear portion 23 of the mask plate 19, and is disposed in the vicinity of at least the pair of first shielding plates 17 and the two second shielding plates 18. Each gear gear portion 21 is fixed to a rotatable gear drive shaft 22 supported by the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b, and is arranged at two positions on both ends of the gear drive shaft 22 according to the width of the mask plate 19. Has been. The gear drive shaft 22 is supported by the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b so that it can be driven while maintaining a vacuum state.

  6 to 7, the mask plates 19 of the processing chambers A, B, and C are supported by a plurality of gear gear portions 21 that mesh with the belt-like gear portions 23. In general, the surface treatment apparatus is always installed with the central axis of the can roll 12 in the horizontal direction at least in the case of FIGS. The mask plate 19 may be independent for each of the processing chambers A, B, and C, or may have a continuous shape throughout the processing chambers. However, if the mask plate 19 is a continuous mask plate, the mask plate 19 can be easily supported. Further, the rotation of the mask plate 19 is transmitted to the belt-like gear portion 23 by the rotation driving of the gear gear portion 21, and can move along the can roll 12. Accordingly, the position of the mask opening 24 can be changed by moving the mask plate 19, and the film processing position can be changed to the position of the cask opening 24 for each processing chamber. In this case, it is necessary to provide a gap through which the mask plate 19 passes between the first shielding plate 17 and the second shielding plate 18 and the can roll 12. The gear drive shaft 22 is pulled out of the vacuum vessel 10 and connected to the driving power device as shown in FIG. However, when the mask plate 19 has one continuous shape as described above, or is connected by the drive plate 19b as shown in FIG. 5, for example, one gear drive shaft 22 is connected to the drive power device. It may be.

  By using the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention described above, each treatment in the treatment zone can be carried out continuously in one direction in the vacuum vessel if the treatment is possible under the same gas type and the same pressure. By moving the mask plate in the chamber and using one of the plurality of surface treatment means, different treatments can be simultaneously performed in the plurality of treatment chambers, or the same treatment can be simultaneously performed in the plurality of treatment chambers. .

  For example, in the state shown in FIG. 3, the heater 14a in the processing chamber A, the plasma generating means 15b in the processing chamber B, and the plasma generating means in the processing chamber C are located at the film processing positions in the processing chambers. 15c are opposed to each other. Therefore, the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 or its processing zone is set to the same gas type and the same pressure, and the film 13 unwound from one film winding / unwinding roll 11a is wound around the other film winding / unwinding roll 11b. In the processing chamber A, the film 13 moving along the can roll 12 is dried by the heater means 14a, and in the processing chambers B and C, the plasma generating means 15b and 15c pre-treat the film surface with plasma. be able to. At that time, the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 can be evacuated by, for example, an overall vacuum pump connected to the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b, and further supplied with a plasma processing gas to be kept at a predetermined pressure.

  After the above surface treatment is completed for one roll of film roll, each mask plate 19 is moved clockwise to the state shown in FIG. The movement of the mask plate 19 changes the film processing position in each processing chamber, so that the film processing positions in the processing chambers A, B, and C face the sputtering means 16a, 16b, and 16c, respectively. Accordingly, while the surface-treated film 13 is moved in the reverse direction, that is, while moving from the film winding / unwinding roll 11b toward the film winding / unwinding roll 11a, the sputtering means 16a in the processing chambers A, B, and C, A thin film can be formed on the film 13 by 16b and 16c. At that time, the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 can be evacuated by a vacuum pump for the whole, and further, argon gas for sputtering or the like can be supplied to keep it at a predetermined pressure.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the same or different surface treatment can be applied to a film at a plurality of locations at the same time by using one surface treatment apparatus provided with a plurality of different surface treatment means. Therefore, complex processing of complex processes is possible, and even when the same kind of thin film is formed, even if one cathode target is consumed, a film can be formed using another target. , A long-time treatment or a thickening treatment can be performed.

  Further, another surface treatment apparatus of the present invention partitions each treatment chamber A, B, and C by two second shielding plates 18 and shields them in an almost airtight state, for example, as shown in FIGS. In addition, processing chamber vacuum pumps 20a, 20b, and 20c are respectively installed in the processing chambers A, B, and C of the vacuum vessel peripheral wall 10a. Further, in order to evacuate portions other than the processing chambers A, B, and C in the vacuum vessel 10, an overall vacuum pump (not shown) is installed on the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b. 8 to 9 are the same as those in FIGS. 3 to 4 unless otherwise specified, and the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. Moreover, although the method of FIGS. 3-5 is illustrated also about the movement of a mask board, the method by FIGS. 6-7 can also be used.

  8 to 9, the processing chamber vacuum pumps 20a, 20b, and 20c are provided for each of the processing chambers A, B, and C partitioned by the second shielding plate 18 in an almost airtight state. Therefore, differential evacuation is performed by the vacuum pumps 20a, 20b, and 20c for the processing chambers, and different pressures and different gas types are selected in the processing chambers A, B, and C to perform more complicated surface treatment. Is possible. Further, for example, by using an overall vacuum pump installed on the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10 b, a process other than the processing chambers A, B, and C in the vacuum vessel 10, that is, a process partitioned by the pair of first shielding plates 17. At the same time as evacuation except for the zone, different gas species in the processing chambers A, B, and C can be prevented from being mixed.

  For example, in the state of FIG. 8, while the film 13 moving from one film winding / unwinding roll 11 a to the other film winding / unwinding roll 11 b moves along the can roll 12, the processing chamber A has a vacuum atmosphere. In the processing chambers B and C, the film surface can be pretreated with plasma by the plasma generating means 15b and 15c in a plasma processing gas atmosphere. In the state shown in FIG. 9 in which the mask plates 19 of the processing chambers A, B, and C are moved after the above processing, for example, an atmosphere such as argon is maintained at a constant pressure for each of the processing chambers A, B, and C. Then, the thin film can be formed by the sputtering means 16a, 16b, and 16c in the processing chambers A, B, and C while moving the film 13 in the direction opposite to that in FIG.

  In this way, according to the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention provided with a plurality of different surface treatment means and a plurality of treatment chamber vacuum pumps shown in FIGS. In addition, not only can different surface treatments be applied, but the surface treatment can be performed for each treatment chamber under different gas types or under different pressures. It is possible to process by overlapping the processes.

[Example 1]
3-4, in each processing chamber A, B, C facing the can roll 12 provided with heating / cooling means therein, the processing chamber A has a sputtering means 16a and a heater. Sputtering means 16b and plasma generating means 15b were attached to processing chamber B, and sputtering means 16c and plasma generating means 15c were attached to processing chamber C, respectively. The sputtering means 16a and 16b were both equipped with a Cu sputtering target, and the sputtering means 16c was equipped with a Cr sputtering target.

First, in the state of FIG. 3, a vacuum for the whole is installed in which a polyimide film having a length of 1000 m and a thickness of 25 μm is attached to one winding / unwinding roll 11 a of the vacuum vessel 10, and the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 is installed on the vacuum vessel bottom plate 10 b. After evacuating with a pump (not shown), O ₂ gas was introduced to maintain the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 at 6.7 Pa (50 mTorr). Next, the film 13 unwound at a speed of 10 m / min from the one winding / unwinding roll 11a in accordance with the rotation of the can roll 12 is wound on the other winding / unwinding roll 11b. Surface treatment was performed on each of the processing chambers A, B, and C on the film 13 that moved along. The surface temperature of the can roll 12 was controlled at 50 ° C.

  That is, in the processing chamber A, the film 13 was heated and dried by supplying electric power to the heater means 14a and maintaining the temperature at 150 ° C. In the processing chambers B and C, the surface of the film 13 is activated or roughened by generating a plasma discharge by supplying 3 kW power from a high frequency power source to the plasma electrodes of the plasma generating means 15b and 15c. Pretreatment was performed. These surface treatments were continuously carried out for about 100 minutes to finish the treatment of one roll of polyimide film.

  After that, by moving each mask plate 19 without breaking the vacuum state of the vacuum vessel 10, the film processing positions in the processing chambers A, B, and C were changed to the state shown in FIG. In the state of FIG. 4, the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 was evacuated with an overall vacuum pump, and then argon gas was introduced to maintain the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 at a pressure of 2.7 Pa (20 mTorr). The surface temperature of the can roll 12 was controlled at -10 ° C. In this state, while transporting the treated polyimide film wound around the winding / unwinding roll 11b to the winding / unwinding roll 12a at a speed of 5 m / min in accordance with the rotation of the can roll 12, A thin film was formed in each of the processing chambers A, B, and C on the film 13 that moved along the can roll 12.

  That is, power was supplied to the sputtering means 16 a, 16 b, and 16 c in the processing chambers A, B, and C, and the target material was knocked out from the sputtering target to form a thin film of the target material on the film 13. Specifically, by a film forming process for about 200 minutes, a Cr thin film having a thickness of about 20 nm is formed in the processing chamber C by the sputtering unit 16c, and a total thickness of about 200 nm is formed in the processing chambers B and A by the sputtering units 16b and 16a. Cu thin films were stacked in this order.

  The polyimide film having been subjected to the above surface treatment is taken out from the vacuum vessel 10 and further formed on a laminated thin film of Cr and Cu by forming a Cu layer with a thickness of 8 μm by wet plating, did. In the obtained copper polyimide flexible substrate, since the film was not exposed to the air during the surface treatment, the occurrence of pinholes was small, and the adhesion of the metal layer to the polyimide film was also good.

[Example 2]
8-9, the processing chamber vacuum pump 20a is provided for each of the processing chambers A, B, and C facing the can roll 12 having heating and cooling means inside. The processing chamber A is provided with a sputtering means 16a and a heater means 14a, the processing chamber B provided with a processing chamber vacuum pump 20b is provided with a sputtering means 16b and a plasma generating means 15b, and a processing chamber provided with a processing chamber vacuum pump 20c. Sputtering means 16c and plasma generating means 15c were attached to chamber C, respectively. The sputtering means 16a and 16b were both equipped with a Cu sputtering target, and the sputtering means 16c was equipped with a Cr sputtering target.

First, in the state of FIG. 8, a vacuum pump for the whole (not shown) mounted on a vacuum vessel bottom plate 10b with a polyimide film having a length of 1000 m and a thickness of 25 μm attached to one winding / unwinding roll 11a in the vacuum vessel 10. ), The portions other than the processing chambers A, B, and C in the vacuum vessel 10 are evacuated, and the processing chambers in the vacuum vessel 10 are further evacuated using the vacuum pumps 20a, 20b, and 20c for the processing chambers. A, B and C were evacuated. Thereafter, the processing chamber A using the heater means 14a was kept evacuated, and O ₂ gas was introduced into the other processing chambers B and C to keep the inside at 6.7 Pa (50 mTorr). Along with the rotation of the can roll 12, the film 13 unwound from the winding / unwinding roll 11a at a speed of 10 m / min is moved along the rotating can roll 12 while being wound around the other winding / unwinding roll 11b. The film 13 to be processed was subjected to surface treatment in each of the processing chambers A, B, and C. The surface temperature of the can roll 13 was controlled at 30 ° C.

  That is, in the processing chamber A, the film 13 was heated and dried by supplying electric power to the heater means 14a and maintaining the temperature at 150 ° C. In the processing chamber B, 2 kW electric power is supplied from the high frequency power source to the plasma electrode of the plasma generating means 15b, and in the processing chamber C, 3 kW electric power is supplied from the high frequency power source to the plasma electrode of the plasma generating means 15c. By generating, a pretreatment for activating or roughening the surface of the film 13 was performed. These surface treatments were continuously carried out for about 100 minutes to surface-treat one roll of polyimide film.

  Next, by moving the mask plate 19 without breaking the vacuum state of the vacuum vessel 10, the film processing positions in the processing chambers A, B, and C were changed to the state shown in FIG. 9, after the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 is evacuated again in the same manner as described above, argon gas is introduced into the processing chambers A, B, and C in the vacuum vessel 10, and the processing chambers A and B are The pressure was maintained at 2.7 Pa (20 mTorr), and in the processing chamber C, the pressure was maintained at 2.0 Pa (15 mTorr). The surface temperature of the can roll 12 was controlled at -10 ° C. Along the can roll 12, the processed film 13 wound on the winding / unwinding roll 11 b in accordance with the rotation of the can roll 12 is conveyed to the winding / unwinding roll 11 a at a speed of 5 m / min. The film 13 moving in this manner was subjected to film formation in each of the processing chambers A, B, and C.

  That is, power was supplied to each of the sputtering means 16 a, 16 b and 16 c, and the target material was knocked out from the sputtering target to form a thin film of the target material on the film 13. Specifically, by processing for about 200 minutes, first, in the processing chamber C, a thin film of Cr having a thickness of about 20 nm is formed by the sputtering means 16c, and in the next processing chambers B and A, the total thickness is about 200 nm by the sputtering means 16b and 16a. Cu thin films were laminated in this order.

  After the surface treatment, the polyimide film was taken out from the vacuum vessel 10 and then the Cu layer was further formed to a thickness of 8 μm by wet plating on the laminated thin film of Cr and Cu in the same manner as in Example 1 above. By forming, it was set as the copper polyimide flexible substrate. In the obtained copper polyimide flexible substrate, since the film was not exposed to the air during the surface treatment, the number of pinholes generated was small.

[Comparative example]
3 to 4 having the same structure as the first embodiment as a processing example in a conventional general winding type vacuum surface processing apparatus that cannot perform a plurality of surface treatments unless the vacuum state is broken in the middle. The surface treatment was carried out as follows.

That is, first, in the state of FIG. 3, as surface treatment means in the vacuum chamber 10, the heater 14a is provided in the processing chamber A, the plasma generating means 15b is provided in the processing chamber B, and the plasma generating means 15c is provided in the processing chamber C. Were attached respectively. In this comparative example, the sputtering means 16a, 16b and 16c shown in FIG. 3 are not attached. A polyimide film having a length of 1000 m and a thickness of 25 μm is attached to one winding / unwinding roll 11 a, and the inside of the vacuum container 10 is evacuated, and then O ₂ gas is introduced to make the inside of the vacuum container 10 6.7 Pa ( 50 mTorr). The surface temperature of the can roll 13 was controlled at 30 ° C.

  Next, while the polyimide film unwound from the winding / unwinding roll 11a in accordance with the rotation of the can roll 12 is moved along the can roll 12 at a speed of 10 m / min, a heater means is used in the processing chamber A. 14a is maintained at a temperature of 150 ° C., and the film 13 is dried. In the processing chambers B and C, 3 kW power is supplied from the high frequency power source to each plasma electrode of the plasma generating means 15b and 15c to generate plasma discharge. Thus, a pretreatment for activating or roughening the surface of the film 13 was performed. These surface treatments were continuously carried out for about 100 minutes to complete the treatment of one roll of polyimide film.

  Thereafter, the vacuum vessel 10 was vacuum leaked to return to atmospheric pressure, and the dried and plasma treated polyimide film was taken out. The taken-out polyimide film was moved to the apparatus of the state of FIG. 4, and was inserted in the winding / unwinding roll 11b. Further, as surface treatment means in the vacuum vessel 10, the treatment chambers A and B include sputtering means 16a and 16b having a Cu sputtering target, and the treatment chamber C has a sputtering means 16c having a Cr sputtering target. Each was attached. In this comparative example, the heater means 14a and the plasma generating means 15b and 15c shown in FIG. 4 are not attached.

  After evacuating the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 in this state, Ar gas was introduced to maintain the inside of the vacuum vessel 10 at a pressure of 2.7 Pa (20 mTorr). The surface temperature of the can roll 12 was controlled at -10 ° C. In accordance with the rotation of the can roll 12, the processed film 13 is conveyed from the winding / unwinding roll 11b to the winding / unwinding roll 11a at a speed of 5 m / min in each processing chamber A, B, C. A thin film was formed on the film 13 moving along the roll 12. Specifically, a thin film of Cr having a thickness of about 20 nm was formed in the processing chamber C by processing for about 200 minutes, and a thin film of Cu having a total thickness of about 200 nm was formed in the processing chambers B and A in this order. .

  The polyimide film having been subjected to the above surface treatment was formed into a copper polyimide flexible substrate by further forming a Cu layer with a thickness of 8 μm on the laminated thin film of Cr and Cu by a wet plating method, as in Example 1. . Since the obtained copper polyimide flexible substrate exposes the film once processed to the air in the middle, the occurrence of pinholes is larger than in the case of Example 1, and the polyimide film has a metal layer. The adhesion was slightly inferior.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the most basic structure of the conventional winding type vacuum film-forming apparatus. It is general | schematic sectional drawing which shows the other structure of the conventional winding type vacuum film-forming apparatus. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows one specific example of the winding type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus by this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state which moved the mask board of the apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 3. It is general | schematic sectional drawing of the apparatus which shows another moving method of a mask board. FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view taken along line YY in FIG. 6. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the other specific example of the winding type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus by this invention. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where a mask plate of the apparatus of FIG. 8 is moved.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum chamber 3 Thin film formation part 7, 7a, 7b Film-forming drum 8 Cathode assembly 10 Vacuum container 10a Vacuum container surrounding wall 10b Vacuum container bottom plate 10c Vacuum container top plate 11a, 11b Winding unwinding roll 12 Can roll 12a Rotating shaft 13 Film 14a Heating means 15a, 15b, 15c Plasma generating means 16a, 16b Sputtering means 17 First shielding plate 18 Second shielding plate 19 Mask plate 19a Shaft portion 19b Driving plate 20a, 20b, 20c Vacuum pump for processing chamber 21 Gear gear portion 22 Gear drive shaft 23 Band-shaped gear portion 24 Mask opening

Claims (4)

In a substantially cylindrical vacuum vessel equipped with a vacuum pump that evacuates the entire vacuum vessel, a pair of film winding and unwinding rolls, and a rotatable can roll having a shaft center substantially coincided with the vacuum vessel, A surface treatment apparatus that performs surface treatment by a surface treatment means on a film that is unwound or wound between film winding and unwinding rolls and moves along a can roll,
A plurality of surface treatment means fixed to the vacuum vessel peripheral wall facing the can roll, and a treatment zone in which the surface treatment means is arranged and fixed to the vacuum vessel bottom plate so as to substantially shield the space between the vacuum vessel peripheral wall and the can roll. Are fixed to the vacuum vessel bottom plate so as to substantially shield the space between the vacuum vessel peripheral wall and the can roll, and at least two surface treatments in the treatment zone A plurality of second shielding plates partitioned into a plurality of processing chambers including means, and a mask that covers each processing chamber so as to be movable in front of the can roll and covers other than the film surface processing position facing one surface processing means With a board,
A roll-up type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus capable of selecting a surface treatment means facing the film processing position for each processing chamber by moving the mask plate to change the film processing position in each processing chamber.   Each processing chamber is shielded in an almost airtight state by the plurality of second shielding plates, and each processing chamber has a processing chamber vacuum pump installed on the peripheral wall of the vacuum vessel, and each processing chamber has a different pressure. The wind-up type composite vacuum surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface treatment can be performed with a gas or a gas species.   The winding type according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the surface treatment means is any one of a heater means for film drying, a plasma generation means for film pretreatment, and a sputtering means for thin film formation. Compound vacuum surface treatment equipment. One surface treatment that faces the film processing position in each processing chamber while moving the film in one direction along the can roll using the roll-up type composite vacuum surface processing apparatus according to claim 1. The surface treatment of the film is performed by means, and after completion of the surface treatment, the film processing position in each processing chamber is changed by moving the mask plate, and then the film is moved in the direction opposite to the moving direction along the can roll. A surface treatment method for a film, characterized in that the surface treatment of the film is performed by one surface treatment means facing the changed film treatment position in each treatment chamber while being moved to each other.

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