KR102509946B1 - Arc ion deposition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an arc ion deposition device and, more specifically, to an arc ion deposition device capable of uniformly distributing a process gas within a vacuum chamber. The arc ion deposition device according to the present invention includes a vacuum chamber, a cylindrical target member, a trigger, a gas supply means, a gas injection means, a spot blocking unit, and a control unit. The vacuum chamber is provided with an exhaust port to generate the vacuum inside. The target member is arranged up and down in the center of the vacuum chamber and receives power to release a target material. The trigger generates an arc spot in the target member. The gas supply means includes a plurality of supply gas units for supplying respective process gases to generate plasma in the vacuum chamber and a gas mixing unit for mixing the respective process gases supplied from the supply gas units. Then, the process gas mixed in the gas mixing unit is supplied to the vacuum chamber. The gas injection means receives the process gas from the gas supply means and injects the process gas into the vacuum chamber. The spot blocking unit is mounted on the upper and lower portions of the target member, respectively, to limit the movement range of the arc spot. The control unit controls the power supplied to the target member. According to the present invention, the process gas is mixed in the gas supply means, and the mixed process gas is injected into the vacuum chamber through a second injection hole formed along the longitudinal direction of the gas injection means. Therefore, the process gas can be not only mixed uniformly within the vacuum chamber but also distributed uniformly. Accordingly, it is possible to easily control the deposition color and thickness.

Description

Arc ion deposition apparatus {Arc ion deposition apparatus}

The present invention relates to an arc ion deposition apparatus, and more particularly, to an arc ion deposition apparatus capable of uniformly distributing a process gas in a vacuum chamber.

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) is a method of forming a film by vaporizing or sublimating a material to be coated in a vacuum or a specific gas atmosphere so that it solidifies on the surface of an object in atomic or molecular units.

Physical vapor deposition includes vacuum deposition, sputtering, and ion plating, and vacuum deposition is widely used in manufacturing metal films except for special cases. In addition, vacuum deposition is a representative thermal evaporation source used in the evaporation process, and includes a resistance heating evaporation source, an electron beam evaporation source, and an induction heating evaporation source.

The arc ion deposition apparatus creates a vacuum inside the chamber, supplies a process gas to the inside of the vacuum chamber, and then generates an arc discharge to deposit the material emitted from the target on the surface of the deposited object. Since the metal atoms emitted from the target react with the process gas and are deposited on the surface of the deposited material, the color of the deposited material varies depending on the type of process gas supplied.

Registered Patent No. 10-2203825 (registration date: January 11, 2021) Registered Patent No. 10-1618209 (registered on April 28, 2016) Registered Patent No. 10-1440316 (registration date: September 04, 2014) Registered Utility Model No. 20-0366426 (Registered on October 22, 2004)

In the arc ion deposition apparatus, metal atoms emitted from a target member react with process gas to deposit on the surface of an object to be deposited in the form of nitride, carbide, or nitride carbide. Therefore, the color deposited on the surface of the deposited material varies according to the type of process gas supplied. A plurality of types of process gases are supplied into the vacuum chamber. Conventionally, each process gas was supplied to the inside of the vacuum chamber through a gas supply nozzle and then mixed inside the vacuum chamber.

In this case, the process gas was not uniformly mixed inside the vacuum chamber, and it was difficult to evenly distribute it. Therefore, it is difficult to adjust the deposition color as desired, and there is a problem that the deposition is not uniform.

The present invention is to solve the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide an arc ion deposition apparatus capable of uniformly distributing a uniformly mixed process gas inside a vacuum chamber.

An arc ion deposition apparatus according to the present invention includes a vacuum chamber, a cylindrical target member, a trigger, a gas supply means, a gas injection means, a spot blocking unit, and a control unit. The vacuum chamber has an exhaust port to vacuum the inside. The target member is disposed up and down in the center of the vacuum chamber to receive power and release the target material. The trigger creates an arc spot on the target member. The gas supply means includes a plurality of supply gas units for supplying respective process gases to generate plasma in the vacuum chamber, and a gas mixing unit for mixing each process gas supplied from the supply gas unit. Then, the process gas mixed in the gas mixing unit is supplied to the vacuum chamber. The gas dispensing unit receives the process gas from the gas supply unit and injects the process gas into the vacuum chamber. The spot blocking part is mounted on the upper and lower portions of the target member, respectively, to limit the moving range of the arc spot. The controller controls power supplied to the target member.

In addition, in the arc ion deposition apparatus, the gas injection means has a plurality of first injection holes formed along the longitudinal direction so that the process gas is supplied from the gas supply means at one end and injected into the vacuum chamber. A first discharge pipe arranged vertically in the vacuum chamber to be spaced apart from the target member at a predetermined interval in the radial direction, and a space spaced at a predetermined interval from the first discharge pipe to accommodate the process gas injected from the first injection hole are formed. A gas discharge unit provided with a second discharge pipe having a plurality of second injection holes formed along a longitudinal direction in a direction opposite to the first injection hole to accommodate the first discharge pipe and to discharge the received process gas into the vacuum chamber. It is desirable to provide

In addition, in the above arc ion deposition apparatus, it is preferable that the gas injection means is provided in plurality along the circumferential direction of the target member. In this case, the gas supply means supplies the process gas from an upper end to the first discharge pipe of one of the gas ejection means, and supplies the process gas to the first discharge pipe of the other adjacent gas ejection means from the lower end.

In addition, in the arc ion deposition apparatus, the second discharge pipe preferably directs the second injection hole in a direction opposite to the exhaust port so that the process gas is discharged in the opposite direction of the exhaust port.

According to the present invention, the process gas is mixed in the gas supply means, and the mixed process gas is injected into the vacuum chamber through the second injection hole formed along the longitudinal direction of the gas injection means. Thus, process gases can be uniformly mixed and evenly distributed in the vacuum chamber. Accordingly, it is possible to easily adjust the color and thickness of the deposited substrate.

1 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment of an arc ion deposition apparatus according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum chamber of the embodiment of Figure 1 viewed from above;
3 is a conceptual diagram of a gas supply means and a gas injection means in the embodiment of FIG. 1;
Figure 4 is a partially enlarged view of the gas injection means of the embodiment of Figure 1;

An embodiment of an arc ion deposition apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 .

The arc ion deposition apparatus according to the present invention includes a vacuum chamber 10, a cylindrical target member 15, a trigger 20, a gas supply means 25, a gas spray means 30, and a spot blocking unit ( 35) and a control unit (not shown).

In the vacuum chamber 10, the pressure in the internal space is maintained in a vacuum state by a vacuum pump. When an exhaust port 11 is formed in the vacuum chamber 10 and the vacuum pump operates, the air inside the vacuum chamber 10 is discharged through the exhaust port 11 by the vacuum pump and maintained as a vacuum. The vacuum pressure inside the vacuum chamber 10 is approximately 1.0 to 5.0 × 10 ^-5 Torr.

The target member 15 serves as a source of a film deposited on the surface of an object to be deposited. It is mainly formed of a titanium group element such as titanium (Ti) or zirconium (Zr), and is mounted in the center of the vacuum chamber 10 from top to bottom. Power is applied to the target member 15 from the upper and lower ends, and when power is supplied and arc spots are generated, surface particles are vaporized or ionized. So evaporated metal ions, etc. move by electric field, diffusion, etc. At this time, when a process gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber 10, the evaporated metal ions and the process gas may be combined and deposited on the deposited object.

The trigger 20 generates an arc in the target member 15 . When an arc is generated, the arc reciprocates up and down along the surface of the target member 15 .

The gas supply unit 25 serves to supply a process gas for generating plasma in the vacuum chamber 10 . To this end, the gas supply unit 25 includes a plurality of supply gas units 26 and a gas mixing unit 28 . A plurality of supply gas means 26 are prepared for each gas to be injected, and each gas is supplied. The supplied gas includes argon (Ar), nitrogen (N2), acetylene (C2H2), oxygen (O2), and the like, and may be selectively injected according to the color of the coating.

The gas mixing unit 28 mixes each process gas supplied from the supply gas unit 26 . When each gas is directly supplied from the supply gas unit 26 to the inside of the vacuum chamber 10, the coating performance deteriorates because the supply gas is not uniformly mixed in the vacuum chamber 10. Thus, the gas mixing unit 28 mixes the process gases supplied from each supply gas unit 26 and supplies them to the vacuum chamber 10 .

The gas injection means 30 receives the process gas from the gas supply means 25 and injects it into the vacuum chamber 10 . To this end, the gas injection unit 30 includes a first discharge pipe 31 and a second discharge pipe 33 to further mix and inject the process gas.

The first discharge pipe 31 can be supplied with process gas from the gas supply means 25 at its end, and is spaced apart from the target member 15 at a predetermined interval in the radial direction inside the vacuum chamber 10 and is vertically disposed. At this time, the first discharge pipe 31 is formed with a plurality of first injection holes 31a along the longitudinal direction to inject the process gas in the direction of the vacuum chamber 10 . The second discharge pipe 33 is spaced apart from the first discharge pipe 31 at a predetermined interval and surrounds the first discharge pipe 31 so as to accommodate the receiving portion 34 . Thus, the process gas injected from the first injection hole 31a may be accommodated in the receiving portion 34 inside the second discharge pipe 33 . And the second discharge pipe 33 is a plurality of spaced apart at regular intervals along the longitudinal direction so that the processing gas injected from the first discharge hole 31a and accommodated in the receiving portion 34 can be injected into the vacuum chamber 10. A second discharge hole 33a is formed. At this time, in the gas injection means 30, the direction of the first injection hole 31a and the second injection hole 33a are formed in opposite directions so that the process gas supplied from the gas supply means 25 can be further mixed therein. That is, when the first injection hole 31a and the second injection hole 33a are formed in the same direction, the process gas injected from the first injection hole 31a can be directly discharged to the second injection hole 33a. In this case, it is difficult to mix process gases. So, the second injection hole 33a is formed in the opposite direction of the first injection hole 31a so that the mixture can be mixed once again inside the second discharge pipe 33. So, when the process gas is injected from the first injection hole 31a, it is accommodated in the receiving part 34 inside the first discharge pipe 33 and mixed once more, and then the second injection hole 31a is formed in the opposite direction. It is discharged to the injection hole (33a). Meanwhile, a plurality of second injection holes 33a are formed in the second discharge pipe 33 along the longitudinal direction. Therefore, since the second injection holes 33a are formed vertically at regular intervals inside the vacuum chamber 10 to inject the process gas, the process gas can be uniformly distributed in the vacuum chamber 10 .

At this time, a plurality of gas injection means 30 are formed. In the case of this embodiment, two gas injection means 30 are formed at intervals of 180 degrees. Therefore, in order to more uniformly mix the process gas supplied into the vacuum chamber 10, in the case of the first gas injection means 30, the process gas is supplied from the gas supply means 25 to the upper end of the first discharge pipe 31. And, in the case of the second gas injection means 30, the process gas is supplied to the lower end of the first discharge pipe 31.

Meanwhile, the inside of the vacuum chamber 10 is maintained in a vacuum by a vacuum pump. Thus, internal air is continuously discharged through the exhaust port 11 . At this time, since the process gas can be easily discharged to the outside by the vacuum pump when it is injected in the direction of the exhaust port 11, the process gas discharged from the gas injection means 30 is directed toward the target member 15 in the opposite direction of the exhaust port 11. A second injection hole 33a is formed so as to face. So, in the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the second injection hole 33a is formed so that the process gas can be injected at an angle of 45 degrees toward the target member 15 in the opposite direction to the exhaust port 11.

The spot blocking part 35 is mounted on the top and bottom of the target member 14, respectively, to limit the moving range of the arc spot. The spot blocker 35 includes a permanent magnet to form a magnetic field so that the arc spot does not progress further along the target member 14 .

The control unit controls the power supplied to the target member 15. Power is supplied to the target member 15 at different voltages so as to have a potential difference at the top and bottom. Here, the control unit controls the voltage to be high alternately at the top and bottom at regular time intervals. Therefore, the direction of the arc spot may be changed such that the direction of the arc spot moves downward at regular time intervals and then moves upward.

In the case of this embodiment, the process gas is mixed in the gas supply means 25 and supplied to the vacuum chamber 10, while the process gas is mixed once more in the gas injection means 30 before being injected inside the vacuum chamber 10. can be mixed evenly. In addition, since a plurality of second injection holes 33a are formed in the second discharge pipe 33 of the gas injection means 30 at regular intervals along the longitudinal direction, the process gas is uniformly distributed inside the vacuum chamber 10. In addition, the loss of process gas can be reduced because it is injected in the opposite direction of the exhaust port 11 of the vacuum chamber 10.

10: vacuum chamber 11: exhaust port
15: cylindrical target member 20: trigger
25: gas supply means 26: supply gas unit
28: gas mixing unit 30: gas injection means
31: first discharge pipe 31a: first injection hole
33: second discharge pipe 33a: second injection hole
34: receiving part of the first discharge pipe 35: spot blocking part

Claims (4)

A vacuum chamber having an exhaust port to vacuum the inside;
Cylindrical target members disposed vertically in the center of the vacuum chamber to receive power and emit target materials;
A trigger for generating an arc spot on the target member;
A plurality of supply gas units for respectively supplying each process gas to generate plasma in the vacuum chamber, and a gas mixing unit for mixing each process gas supplied from the supply gas unit, the gas mixing unit A gas supply means for supplying the process gas mixed in the vacuum chamber to the vacuum chamber;
At one end, a plurality of first injection holes are formed along the longitudinal direction so that the process gas is supplied from the gas supply means and injected into the vacuum chamber, and is spaced apart from the target member at a predetermined interval in the radial direction, vertically in the vacuum chamber. The first discharge pipe is accommodated so that a space spaced at a predetermined interval from the first discharge pipe is formed to accommodate the disposed first discharge pipe and the process gas injected from the first injection hole, and the received process gas is discharged into the vacuum chamber. A gas ejection unit having a gas discharge unit having a second discharge pipe formed with a plurality of second injection holes along the longitudinal direction in a direction opposite to the first injection hole so as to discharge gas into the air;
Spot blockers mounted on the upper and lower portions of the target member to limit the moving range of the arc spot;
And a control unit for controlling the power supplied to the target member,
Arc ion deposition apparatus, characterized in that the second discharge hole of the second discharge pipe is directed in a direction opposite to the exhaust port so that the process gas is discharged in the opposite direction of the exhaust port. According to claim 1,
The gas injection means is provided in plurality along the circumferential direction of the target member,
Arc ion deposition characterized in that the gas supply means supplies the process gas from an upper end to a first discharge pipe of one of the gas ejection means and from a lower end to the first discharge pipe of the other adjacent gas ejection means. Device. delete delete

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