JP3584593B2 - Carbide manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for producing a carbide, that is, a compound of carbon and a metal, and more particularly to a method for producing a simplified carbide.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Carbide generally refers to a compound of carbon and metal. By coating a movable film of a tool or a machine with a carbide film, the durability and abrasion resistance of the tool or the machine are remarkably improved. be able to.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional carbide manufacturing apparatus. An earth shield 20 is arranged on the outer periphery of a target 21 made of a mixture of graphite and a metal, and a substrate 22 is arranged facing the upper surface of the target 21. The DC power supply 27 is connected to the target 21 and the earth shield 20, and the earth shield 20 is connected to the ground 28 on the positive polarity side. The apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is housed in a vacuum vessel (not shown) and is filled with argon gas.
[0003]
In FIG. 3, when the DC power supply 27 is driven, the argon particles 24 near the edge 20 </ b> A of the earth shield 20 become positively ionized particles 25. The particles 25 are attracted to the target 21 having a negative potential and hit the upper surface of the target 21. Thereby, the sputtered particles 26 are repelled from the target 21. The sputter particles 26 move in the direction opposite to the direction of the particles 25, hit the lower surface of the substrate 22, become a film 29, and adhere to the substrate 22. The sputter particles 26 are particles in which carbon atoms and metal atoms contained in the target 21 are combined, that is, carbide particles. By changing the type of metal included in the target 21, films 29 of various carbides can be formed. Metals to be mixed with the target 21 include, for example, titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W). Then, films 29 of TiC, ZrC, HfC, VC, NbC, TaC, MoC, and WC are respectively formed on the substrate 22.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional manufacturing method as described above has a problem that it takes time to manufacture the target.
In other words, the target required time and effort to mix the graphite powder and the metal powder well and then press-mold while heating. There has been a demand to simplify the carbide manufacturing process as much as possible and to reduce the film forming cost of the carbide.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to simplify a manufacturing process of a carbide.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the method of the present invention, an electrode made of graphite and an electrode made of metal are placed in a vacuum vessel via a gap, and a pinch plasma is supplied in a state where a rare gas flows in the gap. And carbide is formed on the substrate by the pinch plasma. A pinch plasma is a plasma that has been thinly contracted due to a magnetic field formed by the flow of an electric current and has a high density and a high pressure. The inventors decompose the graphite material serving as one electrode and the metal material serving as the other electrode by the pinch plasma, and form carbon by recombining carbon atoms and metal atoms to form carbide on the substrate. Found to film. According to this method, it is possible to eliminate the need for once forming a target as in the conventional method. That is, it is only necessary to prepare a graphite electrode and a metal electrode, and only one production step of generating pinch plasma is required.
[0007]
In this method, the metal is selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten, so that a compound of the metal and carbon, that is, TiC, ZrC, A film of HfC, VC, NbC, TaC, MoC or WC is formed on the substrate.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
According to the method of the present invention, an electrode made of graphite and an electrode made of metal are arranged in a vacuum vessel via a gap, and a pinch plasma is generated in a state where a rare gas flows in the gap, and carbide is generated by the pinch plasma. This is a method of forming a film on a substrate.
[0009]
Hereinafter, the method of the present invention will be described based on examples. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of a pinch plasma generating apparatus, wherein (A) shows a state at the time of blowing gas, (B) shows a state at the time of generating cylindrical plasma, and (C) shows a state at the time of generating a pinch plasma. . The electrodes 1 and 2 in FIG. 1 form a pair and are housed in a vacuum vessel (not shown). The electrode 1 is of a gas blowing side, and a gas introduction system 9 is connected to an upper portion thereof, and guides a gas 30 to the valve 4 via a gas passage 1A. Further, a cylindrical gas passage 1B is arranged at the outlet (lower side) of the valve 4, and blows out the gas 30 downward. On the other hand, the electrode 2 receives the flow of the gas 30. The electrodes 1 and 2 are connected to a power supply 10 via a switch 11.
[0010]
First, in FIG. 1A, when the valve 4 is opened with the closing switch 11 opened, the gas 30 is blown into the vacuum gap between the electrode 1 and the electrode 2 so that the gas 30 is distributed in a cylindrical shape. Become. Next, in FIG. 1B, when the closing switch 11 is closed, the gas 30 becomes the cylindrical plasma 31 and the current I flows. This current I generates a magnetic flux Φ orbiting the plasma 31, so that the plasma 31 receives a radially inward force due to Lorentz force. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1C, a pinch plasma 3 which is contracted into a thin cylindrical shape is formed. From the pinch plasma 3, radiation light 3A is emitted.
[0011]
The pinch plasma 3 is obtained by shrinking the plasma at a high density, and generally has an order of magnitude higher pressure than an arc. Therefore, an electromagnetic wave having a short wavelength of 1 nm to 100 nm is radiated around the pinch plasma 3. The radiation 3A of the pinch plasma 3 is applied to, for example, semiconductor surface processing. In FIG. 1, if the closing switch 11 is closed in a state in which the gas 30 is not blown out, only an arc is generated, and the pinch plasma 3 contracted into a thin and cylindrical shape is never obtained.
[0012]
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a configuration of the carbide manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. A substrate 35 is arranged at a position facing the pinch plasma 3. The electrode 1 is made of graphite, the electrode 2 is made of metal, and the gas flowing through the gas passage 1B is argon gas. In FIG. 2, the surrounding configuration not shown is the same as that of FIG. The carbon atoms and the metal atoms are once released from the electrodes 1 and 2 by the pinch plasma 3 and recombined. Carbide is formed by this recombination, and is emitted together with the emitted light 3A to form the film 6 on the substrate 35.
[0013]
In FIG. 2, the metal of the electrode 2 is, for example, titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W). Then, films 6 of TiC, ZrC, HfC, VC, NbC, TaC, MoC, and WC are formed on the substrate 35, respectively.
[0014]
In FIG. 2, the gas flowing through the gas passage 1B is generally a rare gas, and does not have to react with other gases. Either side of the electrode 1 and the electrode 2 may be metal. That is, one of the electrodes 1 and 2 may be made of graphite and the other may be made of metal.
According to the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to eliminate the need for once forming a target as in the conventional technique. That is, it is sufficient to prepare the electrode 1 made of graphite and the electrode 2 made of metal, and only one manufacturing step of generating the pinch plasma 3 is required.
[0015]
【The invention's effect】
According to the method of the present invention, as described above, pinch plasma is generated in a state in which a rare gas flows in a gap between an electrode made of graphite and an electrode made of metal in a vacuum vessel, and carbide is formed on the substrate by the pinch plasma. Film. According to this method, it is not necessary to once produce a target as in the related art, and only a single manufacturing process of generating a pinch plasma is required. Since the manufacturing process of the carbide is simplified, the cost of coating the carbide is reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a pinch plasma generating apparatus, wherein FIG. 1A shows a state when gas is sprayed, FIG. 1B shows a state when cylindrical plasma is generated, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a configuration of a carbide manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional carbide manufacturing apparatus.
1, 2: electrode, 1A, 1B: gas passage, 3: pinch plasma, 3A: emitted light, 4: bulb, 6: membrane, 9: gas introduction system, 10: power supply, 11: input switch, 30: gas, 31: plasma, 35: substrate

Claims (2)

An electrode made of graphite and an electrode made of metal are arranged in a vacuum vessel with a gap therebetween, and a pinch plasma is generated in a state where a rare gas flows in the gap, and carbide is formed on the substrate by the pinch plasma. A method for producing a carbide, comprising: The method of claim 1 wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten.

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