JP2009179838A - Thin film manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

A roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus that forms a film while conveying a flexible film substrate, and capable of preventing gas from being mixed between a plurality of film forming chambers. provide.
In a roll-to-roll type thin film manufacturing apparatus for continuously forming a film on a flexible film substrate, film forming chambers, 3, 4, and 5 are arranged along a conveying direction of the flexible film substrate. A plurality of diffusion prevention chambers 6, 7 are provided between the film formation chambers 3, 4, 5 to block gas flow between the film formation chambers and gas outflow. Are provided with a plurality of gate valves 20, 21 that allow or block gas flow, and at least one of the gate valves 20, 21 moves according to the conveyance of the flexible film substrate 10. It is configured.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention is a thin film manufacturing apparatus for forming a photoelectric conversion unit of a thin film solar cell that generates electric power using sunlight by installing it on a roof of a house, a roof of a building, etc. The present invention relates to a roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus that transports a flexible film substrate and continuously forms a film on the flexible film substrate in the film forming chamber.

  Thin film solar cells are considered to become the mainstream of future solar cells because they are thin and lightweight, inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to increase in area. As a method for producing a thin film of such a thin film solar cell, there is a roll-to-roll thin film production apparatus, such as Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-68390), Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-195555), Patent document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-307128) and the like.

The roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus includes an unwinding chamber that stores unwinding rolls, a winding chamber that stores winding rolls, and a plurality of film forming chambers. A long flexible film substrate made of a polymer film, a metal thin film, or the like is continuously conveyed into a film formation chamber formed between the winding chamber and the flexible film substrate in the film formation chamber. A semiconductor thin film such as an amorphous silicon film is continuously formed thereon.
Therefore, the film formation chamber cannot be separated by the gate valve, and the gas discharged from the flexible film substrate and the source gas used in each film formation chamber are adjacent to the film formation chamber adjacent to each other. There is a problem of flowing in. In particular, a semiconductor thin film has a problem that the film quality deteriorates.

  As a method for preventing such gas contamination, a buffer chamber having an exhaust system connected between the film forming chambers is provided, and a flexible film is placed in a reaction tank constituted integrally and continuously by the buffer chamber. A roll-to-roll type thin film manufacturing apparatus configured to continuously convey and form a different conductivity type silicon layer in each reaction chamber while operating the exhaust system of the buffer chamber is disclosed in Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-86184). 59-34668).

Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-68390 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-195055 JP-A-9-307128 JP 59-34668 A

However, in the roll-to-roll type thin film manufacturing apparatus in the technique of Patent Document 4, each reaction is performed while lowering the pressure from the adjacent film forming chambers by operating the exhaust system of the buffer chamber between the film forming chambers. Since a different conductivity type silicon layer is formed in the chamber, most of the gas flowing into the buffer chamber is exhausted from the exhaust system of the buffer chamber, but the mean free path is low because the exhaust pressure of the buffer chamber is low. Was long and diffused into the adjacent film forming chambers, and gas mixing was not sufficiently prevented.
That is, in the roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus, since no gate valve is used, it is difficult to completely eliminate gas mixing between a plurality of film forming chambers.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is a roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus that performs film formation while conveying a flexible film substrate, and a plurality of film formation An object of the present invention is to provide a thin film manufacturing apparatus capable of preventing gas mixture between chambers.

  In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a flexible film forming chamber installed between an unwinding chamber that houses an unwinding roll and a winding chamber that houses the winding roll. In a roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus that transports a film substrate and continuously forms a film on the flexible film substrate in the film forming chamber, the film forming chamber includes the flexible film substrate. A plurality of diffusion preventing chambers are provided between the film forming chambers to prevent gas flow between the film forming chambers and outflow of gas, and the diffusion preventing chamber includes the gas. A plurality of gate valves that allow or block the flow of the liquid are installed, and at least one of the gate valves is configured to move according to the conveyance of the flexible film substrate.

In the present invention, the plurality of gate valves are configured to operate as follows.
(1) The plurality of gate valves include a moving gate valve and a fixed gate valve. During the transfer of the flexible film substrate, the fixed gate valve is opened and the moving gate valve is closed to move the moving gate valve. Is moved in conjunction with the flexible film substrate, the flexible film substrate is periodically stopped for a short time, during which the moving gate valve and the fixed gate valve are closed, and the moving gate valve is opened. After returning to the original position, the moving gate valve is closed repeatedly with the fixed gate valve closed.
(2) The plurality of gate valves are composed of a plurality of moving gate valves, and the moving gate valves located downstream with respect to the transport direction of the flexible film substrate are kept open to keep the flexible film substrate The moving gate valve upstream in the transport direction is closed and moved in conjunction with the flexible film substrate, and the downstream and upstream moving gate valves are closed and moved in conjunction with the flexible film substrate. Then, the upstream moving gate valve is opened and returned to the original position, closed again and moved in conjunction with the flexible film substrate, and the downstream moving gate valve is opened and moved to the original position. The operation is repeatedly performed.

Moreover, it is preferable that this invention is comprised as follows.
(1) A vacuum exhaust device for exhausting the gas in the diffusion prevention chamber between the gate valves is installed, and the vacuum exhaust device is periodically connected between the gate valves while all the gate valves are closed. It is configured to exhaust the gas existing in.
(2) The flexible film is polyimide.

Furthermore, the present invention is preferably configured as follows.
That is, the diffusion prevention chamber is provided between three or more film formation chambers and the film formation chamber, and a first conductive semiconductor layer is formed in the first film formation chamber of the film formation chambers, An intrinsic semiconductor layer is formed in the second film formation chamber, and a second conductive semiconductor layer is formed in the third film formation chamber.

And it is preferable that this invention is comprised as follows.
(1) The semiconductor layer is a semiconductor layer containing Si, and is amorphous Si or microcrystalline Si.
(2) A device in which the semiconductor layers are stacked is a solar cell.
(3) Each of the semiconductor layers is formed by a plasma CVD method.
(4) In the semiconductor layer containing Si, Si compound gas such as hydrogen and silane is used at least as a source gas.
(5) Of the conductive semiconductor layers, an impurity gas is added to the source gas in order to obtain n-type and p-type conductive semiconductor layers.

  As described above, in the thin film manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the flexible film substrate is placed in the film forming chamber installed between the unwinding chamber storing the unwinding roll and the winding chamber storing the winding roll. A roll-to-roll method in which a film is continuously formed on the flexible film substrate in the film forming chamber, the film forming chamber being along a direction in which the flexible film substrate is transferred A plurality of diffusion prevention chambers are provided between the film formation chambers to block the gas flow between the film formation chambers and the outflow of the gas. A plurality of gate valves for blocking are installed, and at least one of the gate valves is configured to move in accordance with the conveyance of the flexible film substrate. Gas flow and gas in prevention room To cut off the outflow, gas mixing between the deposition chamber, it is possible to prevent leakage. As a result, a roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus that prevents gas mixing and leakage can be realized. In addition, the gate valve is a mechanical valve, and when the gate valve is installed in the diffusion prevention chamber to block gas diffusion in the film formation chamber, a suitable function can be exhibited.

  In the present invention, as described above, the plurality of gate valves are constituted by moving gate valves and fixed gate valves, or are constituted by a plurality of moving gate valves, and the operation of the gate valves is controlled by the flexible film. By interlocking with the substrate, gas mixing and leakage in the diffusion prevention chamber between the film formation chambers can be reliably prevented.

  Further, in the roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus, the present invention is provided with a vacuum exhaust device that exhausts the gas in the diffusion prevention chamber between the gate valves, and the vacuum exhaust device periodically Since the gas existing between the gate valves is exhausted while the gate valve is closed, the gas in the diffusion prevention chamber between the two is completely extracted and leaked into the film forming chamber. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides the roll-to-roll type thin film manufacturing apparatus, wherein the film formation chamber is provided with three or more chambers and the diffusion prevention chambers are respectively installed between the film formation chambers. Since the first conductive semiconductor layer is formed in one film formation chamber, the intrinsic semiconductor layer is formed in the second film formation chamber, and the second conductive semiconductor layer is formed in the third film formation chamber. The impurity gas can be prevented from being mixed into each semiconductor layer, and deterioration of the semiconductor characteristics can be avoided.

The present invention is also applicable to the case where the semiconductor layer is a semiconductor layer containing Si, and particularly when the semiconductor layer is amorphous Si or microcrystalline Si, or when an element in which these semiconductor layers are stacked is a solar cell. Can do.
In addition, since the flexible film is made of a material having a high softening point such as polyimide, the film can be applied to a thin film solar cell.

  In the present invention, each of the semiconductor layers is formed by a plasma CVD method, and a Si compound gas such as hydrogen and silane is used as a source gas at least for the semiconductor layer containing Si, or the conductive semiconductor layer Among them, since the impurity gas is added to the source gas in order to obtain the n-type and p-type conductive semiconductor layers, an excellent quality conductive semiconductor layer can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, the thin film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the roll-to-roll type thin film manufacturing apparatus according to this embodiment includes an unwinding chamber 1 in which an unwinding roll 11 wound with a flexible film substrate (hereinafter referred to as a film substrate) 10 is accommodated. A take-up chamber 2 in which a take-up roll 12 for taking up the film substrate 10 is accommodated, and a plurality of units arranged along the transport direction of the film substrate 10 between the unwind chamber 1 and the take-up chamber 2 (In this embodiment, there are three) film forming chambers 3, 4, and 5 and diffusion preventing chambers 6 and 7 formed between adjacent film forming chambers 3, 4, and 5, respectively. ing. Therefore, the unwinding chamber 1 and the winding chamber 2 are arranged at a distance necessary for installing the film forming chambers 3, 4, 5 and the diffusion preventing chambers 6, 7.

In each of the film forming chambers 3, 4 and 5, in order to form a thin film on the film substrate 10 by the plasma CVD method, a parallel plate cathode electrode 14 and an anode electrode 13 are arranged to face each other with a space therebetween. ing. The anode electrode 13 has a heating mechanism for heating the film substrate 10. A high frequency power source 18 is connected to the cathode electrode 14 via a capacitor, and the flow rate of the source gas is adjusted by a mass flow controller (not shown). Then, a pressure controller is used in which the pressure in the vacuum chamber of the plasma CVD chamber (each film formation chamber 3, 4, 5) is provided between the vacuum pump and the vacuum chamber. The pressure is set to an arbitrary pressure, and the plasma is generated between the cathode electrode 14 and the anode electrode 13.
On the other hand, the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 are provided to block the gas flow between the film formation chambers 3, 4, and 5 and the outflow of the gas. Two gate valves for blocking are arranged. The two gate valves are a moving gate valve 20 and a fixed gate valve 21, and these moving gate valve 20 and fixed gate valve 21 are arranged at intervals in the transport direction of the film substrate 10, and are adjacent to each other. It is accommodated between chambers 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 are connected to vacuum pumps (vacuum exhaust devices) 17 for exhausting between the fixed gate valve 21 and the movable gate valve 20, respectively.
Such a fixed gate valve 21 and the movable gate valve 20 are configured in the following two forms.

[First Embodiment]
Each of the fixed gate valve 21 and the movable gate valve 20 is a plate valve provided along the transport direction of the film substrate 10. 2A to 2D show the operations of the fixed gate valve 21 and the movable gate valve 20. 2A to 2D, the arrow A indicates the moving direction of the moving gate valve 20, the arrow B indicates the transport direction of the film substrate 10, and the arrow C indicates the gas exhaust direction. Yes.
Of the moving gate valve 20 and the fixed gate valve 21, the former moving gate valve 20 is disposed on the unwinding roll 11 side of the unwinding chamber 1, and the latter fixed gate valve 21 is on the winding roll 12 side of the winding chamber 2. Is arranged. The movable gate valve 20 and the fixed gate valve 21 include valve bodies 20a and 21a, valve bodies 20b and 21b, and film passages 20c and 21c. The valve body is fitted into the valve bodies 20a and 21a so as to be reciprocally movable. The valve bodies 20b and 21b open and close the film passages 20c and 21c by reciprocating the valve bodies 20a and 21a.
The fixed gate valve 21 is fixed between the vacuum pump 17 and the side walls of the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7. The movable gate valve 20 is sandwiched between the two bellows 8a and 8b and moves in conjunction with the film substrate 10.

When film formation is performed while transporting the film substrate 10 by the roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus in the present embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 2A, the fixed gate valve 21 of the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 is used. Opens and moves in conjunction with the film substrate 10 being conveyed with the moving gate valve 20 closed. Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the conveyance of the film substrate 10 is stopped, the moving gate valve 20 is also closed, and the fixed gate valve 21 is closed. Then, with the moving gate valve 20 and the fixed gate valve 21 closed, the gas between the gate valves 20 and 21 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 17.
Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the movable gate valve 20 is opened and returned to the original position. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2D, the movable gate valve 20 and the fixed gate valve 21 are closed, and the gas between the gate valves 20 and 21 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 17.
A film is continuously formed on the film substrate 10 by periodically repeating the operations shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (d). For example, on the film substrate 10, the first conductive semiconductor layer is formed in the first film formation chamber 3 among the film formation chambers 3, 4, and 5, and the intrinsic semiconductor layer is formed in the second film formation chamber 4. In the third film forming chamber 5, a second conductive semiconductor layer is formed.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, the gate valve is composed of two moving gate valves 22, 23, and these two moving gate valves 22, 23 move back and forth along the transport direction of the film substrate 10. ing. Of the moving gate valves 22 and 23, the former moving gate valve 22 is disposed on the unwinding roll 11 side of the unwinding chamber 1 (upstream with respect to the transport direction of the film substrate 10), and the latter moving gate valve 23 is It is arranged on the winding roll 12 side of the winding chamber 2 (downstream with respect to the transport direction of the film substrate 10). Similarly to the movement gate valve 20 of the first embodiment, the movement gate valves 22 and 23 include valve main bodies 22a and 23a, valve bodies 22b and 23b, and film passages 22c and 23c, and the valve main bodies 22a and 23a. The valve bodies 22b and 23b fitted in the reciprocating motion reciprocate the valve main bodies 22a and 23a, so that the valve bodies 22b and 23b open and close the film passages 22c and 23c.
Further, in order to move the moving gate valve 23, a bellows 8c is provided between the moving gate valve 23 and the side walls of the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 in addition to the bellows 8a and 8b of the first embodiment. Yes. Moreover, a vacuum pump (evacuation device) 17 is supported by a bellows 17a so that it can move. 3 (a) to 3 (d) show the operation of the movable gate valves 22 and 23. FIG. 3A to 3D, the arrow A indicates the moving direction of the moving gate valves 22 and 23, the arrow B indicates the transport direction of the film substrate 10, and the arrow C indicates the gas exhaust direction. Show.
Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals.

When film formation is performed while the film substrate 10 is being transported by the roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. It opens and returns to the unwinding roll 11 side, and moves in conjunction with the film substrate 10 being conveyed with the moving gate valve 22 on the unwinding roll 11 side closed. Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the moving gate valve 22 moves together with the film substrate 10 while being closed, and the moving gate valve 23 moves together with the film substrate 10 while being closed. Then, the gas between the moving gate valves 22 and 23 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 17 while the moving gate valves 22 and 23 are closed.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the moving gate valve 22 is opened and returned to the original position. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the moving gate valve 22 is closed again and moved to the right (in the direction of arrow A) together with the film substrate 10, and the moving gate valve 23 is also closed to the right ( Move in the direction of arrow A). Then, the gas between the two movable gate valves 22 and 23 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 17.
A film is continuously formed on the film substrate 10 by periodically repeating the operations shown in FIGS. 3A to 3D. On the film substrate 10, various semiconductor layers are formed in the film forming chambers 3, 4, and 5, as in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention, the film formation adjacent to the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 for blocking the gas flow between the film formation chambers 3, 4 and 5 and the outflow of the gas is provided. A plurality of gate valves 20 to 23 are provided between the chambers 3, 4 and 5, and the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 are provided with a plurality of gate valves 20 to 23 for blocking gas diffusion in the film formation chambers 3, 4 and 5. Since the movable gate valves 20 and 22 are configured to move in accordance with the conveyance of the film substrate 10, the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 are blocked from gas flow and gas outflow by opening and closing the plurality of gate valves 20 to 23. Further, gas mixing and leakage between the film forming chambers 6, 7, and 8 can be prevented. As a result, a roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus that prevents gas mixing and leakage can be realized. As a result, the impurity gas can be prevented from being mixed into each semiconductor layer, and the deterioration of the semiconductor characteristics can be avoided.

Next, an example in which the moving gate valve 20 and the fixed gate valve 21 are provided as in the first embodiment will be described.
The movable gate valve 20 in the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 was movable over a distance of 15 cm or more. The conveyance speed of the film substrate 10 was 0.5 mm / s. The film substrate 10 and the moving gate valve 20 corresponding to FIG. 2B are stopped, the fixed gate valve 21 is also closed, and the time between the two moving gate valves 20 and the fixed gate valve 21 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 17. Was 10 seconds.
Further, the time for opening the movable gate valve 20 corresponding to FIG. 2C and returning it to the original position was set to 5 seconds. The moving gate valve 20 corresponding to FIG. 2D was closed again, and the time for exhausting the space between the moving gate valve 20 and the fixed gate valve 21 by the vacuum pump 17 was set to 10 seconds.

As the film substrate 10, a polyimide film having a width of 10 cm and a thickness of 50 μm and an Ag electrode formed by sputtering to 200 nm was used. The cathode electrode 14 and the anode electrode 13 were made of stainless steel, each 100 mm square, and the distance between the electrodes was 10 mm.
The film substrate 10 was disposed so as to pass through a position 0.5 mm or less from the anode electrode 13. In the deposition chambers 3, 4, and 5, an n layer, an i layer, and a p layer of microcrystalline Si were stacked. The film forming conditions for each layer were as follows.

1) n layer: substrate temperature was set to 200 ° C., silane, hydrogen gas and phosphine 2 sccm, 200 sccm, 0.02 sccm were introduced as source gases, and the pressure was controlled to 1 torr. The high frequency power source was 13.56 MHz, and 15 W of power was supplied to the electrodes.
2) i layer: substrate temperature was 200 ° C., silane and hydrogen gas 13 sccm and 700 sccm were introduced as source gases, and the pressure was controlled to 4 torr. The high frequency power source was 27 MHz, and 50 W of power was supplied to the electrodes.
3) p layer: The substrate temperature was set to 150 ° C., and silane, hydrogen gas and diborane were introduced as source gases at 1.5 sccm, 120 sccm and 0,015 sccm, and the pressure was controlled to 1 torr. The high frequency power source was 13.56 MHz and 10 W of power was supplied to the electrodes.

On the photoelectric conversion unit produced as described above, ITO was formed to a thickness of 70 nm by a sputtering method, and a comb-like Ti / Ag film was formed as a current collecting electrode to produce a 1 cm square cell.
The n layer, i layer, and p layer of Si formed under the above conditions are 30 nm, 500 nm, and 30 nm, respectively. The P and B impurity concentrations of each layer were analyzed by SIMS. As a result, the P concentration in the n layer was 2 × 10 ²⁰ cm ⁻³ , and the B concentration in the p layer was 6 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ .
On the other hand, the B concentration in the n layer and the i layer was 1 × 10 ¹⁶ cm ^-3 and below the detection limit, and the P concentration in the i layer and the p layer was 1 × 10 ¹⁶ cm ^-3 and below the detection limit. .
Moreover, the light conversion efficiency was about 4%, and it was confirmed that it was operating as a solar cell.

An example in which two moving gate valves 22 and 23 are provided as in the second embodiment will be described.
The movable gate valves 22 and 23 of the diffusion prevention chambers 6 and 7 were movable over a distance of 15 cm and 5 cm or more. The conveyance speed of the film substrate 10 was 0.5 mm / s. The moving gate valve 23 corresponding to FIG. 3B was also closed and moved in conjunction with the film substrate 10, and the time for exhausting between the moving gate valves 22 and 23 by the vacuum pump 17 was 10 seconds. Corresponding to FIG. 3C, the time for opening the movable gate valve 22 and returning it to the original position was set to 5 seconds. Corresponding to FIG. 3D, the moving gate valve 22 was closed while being moved again, and the time for exhausting the space between the moving gate valves 22 and 23 by the vacuum pump 17 was set to 10 seconds.

The film substrate 10 and the film forming chamber are the same as those in Example 1. In the film forming chambers 3, 4, and 5, the n-layer, i-layer, and p-layer of microcrystalline Si were stacked. The film forming conditions for each layer were the same as in Example 1.
On the photoelectric conversion unit produced as described above, ITO was formed to a thickness of 70 nm by a sputtering method, and a comb-like Ti / Ag film was further formed as a current collecting electrode to produce a 1 cm square cell.
The n layer, i layer, and p layer of Si formed under the above conditions are 30 nm, 500 nm, and 30 nm, respectively. The P and B impurity concentrations of each layer were analyzed by SIMS. As a result, the P concentration in the n layer was 3 × 10 ²⁰ cm ⁻³ and the B concentration in the p layer was 4 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ .
On the other hand, the P concentration in the n layer and the i layer was 1 × 10 ¹⁶ cm ⁻³ and below the detection limit, and the P concentration in the i layer and the p layer was 1 × 10 ¹⁶ cm ⁻³ and below the detection limit. .
Moreover, the light conversion efficiency was about 4%, and it was confirmed that it was operating as a solar cell.

As described above, in the roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, by using a movable gate valve, it is possible to form a film while suppressing gas mixture from an adjacent film forming chamber, and there is no impurity contamination. An n layer, an i layer, and a p layer were obtained.
In the method using the moving gate valve and the fixed gate valve, it was necessary to temporarily stop the film substrate for a short time, but in the method using two moving gate valves, the film substrate is continuously stopped without stopping. It became possible to transport to.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

It is the schematic which shows the thin-film manufacturing apparatus of the roll-to-roll system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A)-(d) is the schematic which shows operation | movement of the fixed gate valve | bulb and movement gate valve which concern on 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A)-(d) is the schematic which shows operation | movement of the two movement gate valves based on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Unwinding chamber 2 Rewinding chamber 3, 4, 5 Deposition chamber 6, 7 Diffusion prevention chamber 10 Film substrate 11 Unwinding roll 12 Winding roll 13 Anode electrode 14 Cathode electrode 17 Vacuum pump (vacuum exhaust apparatus)
20 moving gate valve 20a valve body 20b valve body 20c film passage 21 fixed gate valve 21a valve body 21b valve body 21c film passage 22, 23 moving gate valve 22a, 23a valve body 22b, 23b valve body 22c, 23c film passage

Claims (11)

A flexible film substrate is transported into the film forming chamber installed between the unwinding chamber containing the unwinding roll and the winding chamber containing the winding roll, and the flexible film substrate is filled with the flexibility. In a roll-to-roll thin film manufacturing apparatus that continuously forms a film on a film substrate,
A plurality of the film formation chambers are provided along the conveying direction of the flexible film substrate, and a diffusion prevention chamber that blocks gas flow between the film formation chambers and gas outflow between the film formation chambers. The diffusion prevention chamber is provided with a plurality of gate valves that allow or block the flow of the gas, and at least one of the gate valves moves according to the conveyance of the flexible film substrate. It is comprised so that it may do. The thin film manufacturing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.   The plurality of gate valves include a moving gate valve and a fixed gate valve. During the transfer of the flexible film substrate, the fixed gate valve is opened and the moving gate valve is closed to allow the moving gate valve to be opened. The flexible film substrate is moved in conjunction with the flexible film substrate, and the flexible film substrate is periodically stopped for a short time, during which the moving gate valve and the fixed gate valve are closed, and the moving gate valve is opened to return to the original position. 2. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to repeatedly perform an operation of closing the movable gate valve in a state in which the fixed gate valve is closed after being returned to step 1.   The plurality of gate valves are composed of a plurality of moving gate valves, and the moving gate valve located downstream with respect to the conveyance direction of the flexible film substrate is kept open in the conveyance direction of the flexible film substrate. On the other hand, the moving gate valve located upstream is closed and moved in conjunction with the flexible film substrate, the downstream and upstream moving gate valves are closed and moved in conjunction with the flexible film substrate, Opening the moving gate valve on the upstream side, returning it to the original position, closing it again, moving in conjunction with the flexible film substrate, opening the moving gate valve on the downstream side and moving to the original position The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thin film manufacturing apparatus is configured to be repeatedly performed.   A vacuum exhaust device for exhausting the gas in the diffusion prevention chamber between the gate valves is installed, and the vacuum exhaust device is disposed between the gate valves while all the gate valves are periodically closed. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to exhaust gas.   2. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexible film is polyimide.   The diffusion prevention chambers are respectively installed between three or more film formation chambers and the film formation chambers, and a first conductive semiconductor layer is formed in the first film formation chamber of the film formation chambers. 2. The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an intrinsic semiconductor layer is formed in the film formation chamber, and a second conductive semiconductor layer is formed in the third film formation chamber.   The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the semiconductor layer is a semiconductor layer containing Si and is amorphous Si or microcrystalline Si.   The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the element in which the semiconductor layers are stacked is a solar cell.   The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each of the semiconductor layers is formed by a plasma CVD method.   The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a Si compound gas such as hydrogen and silane is used at least as a source gas for the semiconductor layer containing Si.   The thin film manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an impurity gas is added to a source gas in order to obtain an n-type and a p-type conductive semiconductor layer among the conductive semiconductor layers.

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