JP4597630B2 - Surface treatment method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming various oxide films and other surface treatments on the surface of a base material such as a glass substrate using a chemical reaction by plasma or the like.

  In recent years, as a means for performing a film forming process using a chemical reaction, an electrode for generating a plasma disposed opposite to a base material has a substantially cylindrical shape and is rotated at a high speed. (Patent Document 1).

  The apparatus described in this document rotates a rotating electrode adjacent to the rotating electrode while conveying a substrate, applies high-frequency power (or DC power) to the rotating electrode, and rotates the rotating electrode to rotate the rotating electrode. A plasma is generated by entraining a surface treatment gas between the substrate and the base material, and a thin film is formed on the surface of the base material by transporting the base material while generating the plasma. be able to.

  Although this apparatus is useful as a means for realizing surface treatment under atmospheric pressure or a pressure close thereto, it is very difficult to control the size of a minute gap between the substrate and the rotating electrode, and the substrate is transported. Even if the belt is warped or warped due to an increase in temperature, good processing may be hindered.

As means for eliminating such strict dimensional control, remote plasma CVD as shown in Patent Document 2 is conceivable. In this method, a solid dielectric is placed on at least one opposing surface of opposing electrodes, a surface treatment gas is supplied between the electrodes under a pressure near atmospheric pressure, and a pulsed electric field is applied. In this way, discharge plasma is generated, and this plasma is guided to and brought into contact with the surface of the base material disposed outside the discharge space, thereby attaching a film to the surface of the base material.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-104985 (pages 7-8, FIGS. 1-2) JP 2002-237480 A (pages 7-8, FIG. 3)

  In the remote plasma CVD as described above, in order to make the film thickness distribution on the substrate surface uniform, it is necessary to distribute the surface treatment gas evenly in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the substrate. Particularly in the film forming process, since the flow of the thin film source gas directly affects the film thickness distribution of the formed film, it is very important to make the gas supply uniform in the direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction.

  Here, in the conventional process under reduced pressure, since the mean free path of molecules is long, it is relatively easy to form a uniform sex film by sufficiently mixing gases even by providing gas ejection holes at appropriate intervals. Although it was easy, it is difficult to ensure the uniformity of the gas because the gas flow enters the viscous flow region under a pressure near atmospheric pressure.

  As a countermeasure, FIG. 6 of Patent Document 2 discloses that the pressure loss and the flow velocity are made uniform in the direction orthogonal to the substrate conveyance direction by arranging a swash plate at the gas inlet. Since the actual flow is in the viscous flow region as described above, it is easily affected by the operating conditions such as the pressure on the primary side of the gas inlet, the reaction pressure in the surface treatment section, and the type of gas used. It is difficult to always form a uniform gas flow. That is, it is very difficult to design an apparatus suitable for various operating conditions, and this difficulty becomes more prominent as the distance between the substrate and the active source such as plasma becomes larger.

  In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to realize a high-quality surface treatment by enabling uniform gas supply onto a substrate with a simple and low-cost configuration.

As means for solving the above problems, the present invention provides a surface treatment method including an operation of transporting a base material in a specific direction and a gas supply operation of supplying a surface treatment gas toward the surface of the base material. In the gas supply operation, a counter member is provided at a position away from the base material, and the counter member is arranged such that the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface is opposed to the counter member with a gap. Using a processing apparatus, the rotating body is rotated about an axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction of the base material, and the surface treatment gas is entrained on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body to be introduced into the gap. By allowing the surface treatment gas to flow, the surface treatment gas that has flowed backward from the gap to the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotating body is sent out to the surface of the base material.

  In this method, the rotating body is rotated about an axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the substrate transport direction in a state where the rotating body is opposed to the surface of the base material or a facing member separated from the base material surface with a gap. By using the entrainment of the surface treatment gas accompanying the rotation of the rotating body and the ejection of the entrained gas from the gap, the transport direction of the surface treatment gas with respect to the substrate surface Can be uniformly supplied in a direction orthogonal to the direction, and as a result, a good surface treatment can be realized.

  In this method, unlike the case of generating plasma in the gap between the substrate and the rotating electrode, strict dimensional control is not required, and the surface treatment gas can be supplied uniformly from the gap.

Here, the gas supply operation, when the gas passing through the gap is to directly supplied to the substrate surface, to gas that has passed through the gap that tend to vacuum expands, the by be Rukoto as gas flow back to the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor from the gap is delivered to the substrate surface, it is possible to supply the gas in a more stable pressure state.

  The “surface treatment gas” referred to in the present invention broadly includes a gas that flows to the surface of the substrate for the purpose of surface treatment, and includes gas or plasma for promoting a chemical reaction for surface treatment. The gas for forming, the gas introduced in order to maintain the flow in a processing apparatus, etc. are also included.

  In addition, “backflow upstream of the rotating body in the rotation direction” may be a flow that includes at least a vector component directed upstream in the rotation direction of the rotating body, and the gas flows in a direction inclined with respect to the vector. It is also intended to include.

  When activating the surface treatment gas, for example, an electric field for plasma generation is formed in a region from the rotating body to the surface of the substrate, and the surface treatment gas is formed at the electric field formation position. Should be supplied.

  When the surface treatment includes a process of forming a thin film on the surface of the base material, a thin film source gas serving as a raw material for the thin film is included in the surface treatment gas, and the thin film source gas is added to the surface of the base material or The substrate surface may be treated by a chemical reaction in the vicinity thereof, or plasma generated by supplying the surface treatment gas to the electric field or radical species excited by the plasma may be The thin film source gas is supplied to the surface of the base material and supplied to the plasma or radical species on the surface of the base material with a thin film raw material gas serving as a raw material for the thin film to cause a chemical reaction of the thin film source gas at or near the base material surface. A thin film may be formed on the substrate surface.

  In the latter case, there is an advantage that the maintenance cycle of the rotating body can be extended and the efficiency can be increased by avoiding unnecessary formation of a thin film on the surface of the rotating body. In this case, the surface treatment gas preferably includes at least one of an inert gas and an oxygen-containing gas, and examples of the inert gas include nitrogen, helium, argon, krypton, and xenon. Examples of the oxygen-containing gas include oxygen gas, air, water vapor, and nitrogen oxide.

  Further, the present invention is an apparatus for realizing the above method, comprising: a base material transport means for transporting the base material in a specific direction; and a gas supply means for supplying a surface treatment gas toward the surface of the base material. In the surface treatment apparatus, the gas supply means has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface, and a rotating body arranged so that a central axis thereof faces a direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the base material, and the rotating body A rotation driving means for rotating around the central axis; and a counter member provided at a position facing the outer circumferential surface of the rotating body with a gap, and on the outer circumferential surface as the rotating body rotates. The counter member is arranged so that the entrained surface treatment gas is guided to the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body and the counter member, and the surface treatment gas is sent out from the gap to the surface of the substrate. It is what has been.

Furthermore, in the apparatus according to the present invention, the gas supply means includes the rotating body and the opposing member so that the gas flowing backward from the gap to the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotating body is sent to the surface of the base material. Is .

  Further, an electric field forming means for forming an electric field for generating plasma is disposed in a region from the rotating body to the surface of the base material, and the surface processing plasma passes through the electric field through the electric field. With what is comprised so that it may be produced | generated, supply of the gas for surface treatment and its activation can be performed efficiently simultaneously in parallel.

  The shape of the facing member is not particularly limited, but if the facing member has a guide surface for guiding the surface treatment gas from the gap to the surface of the base material, the facing member is guided to the gap. The surface treatment gas can be guided to the substrate surface in a more stable state.

  In this case, the guide surface may be directly opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, or the opposing member is formed in a plate shape and the end surface thereof is opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and one side surface of the opposing member is guided. You may make it be a surface. In the latter case, the entire side surface of the opposing member can be used as a guide surface, and as a result, the opposing member can be downsized.

  Furthermore, when the end surface of the facing member is opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, the end surface is a curved surface along the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, so that the gap can be managed more easily. Become.

  Further, in addition to the facing member, a downstream facing member that faces the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body with a gap at a position downstream of the facing member in the rotation direction of the rotating body is provided. And at least one gas supply section for supplying a gas different from the surface treatment gas is provided in a region sandwiched between the counter member and the gas supplied from the gas supply section. The downstream facing member is arranged so as to be guided to the substrate surface along the downstream facing member from the gap between the rotating body and the downstream facing member. For example, it becomes possible to supply the surface treatment gas and a different gas to the substrate surface using a common rotating body. Accordingly, it is possible to realize the substrate surface treatment by two systems of gas supply with a simple configuration.

  Specifically, an electric field forming means for forming an electric field for generating plasma is disposed in a region from the gap between the rotating body and the opposing member to the surface of the base material, and this electric field is used for the surface treatment. The gas is supplied so that a plasma for surface treatment is generated, and a thin film source gas that causes a chemical reaction by the plasma for surface treatment to form a thin film on the substrate surface is supplied from the gas supply unit. In such a structure, both the thin film raw material gas and the plasma treatment of the surface treatment gas can be simultaneously supplied to the surface of the substrate by the rotation of the rotating body. A thin film can be efficiently formed on the surface.

  Here, it is more preferable that the gap between the rotating body and the facing member is smaller than the gap between the rotating body and the downstream facing member. Thereby, the sealing property in the clearance gap between the said rotary body and an opposing member can be improved, and mixing with the gas supplied from the said surface treatment gas and the said gas supply part can be suppressed more effectively.

  In the device of the present invention, a rectifying member is provided at a position facing the guide surface, and the rectifying member is arranged so that the surface treatment gas flows between the rectifying member and the guide surface. More preferred. According to this configuration, the gas from the gap can be more efficiently guided to the substrate surface.

  Furthermore, a plasma generating electrode is disposed opposite to the guide surface and the surface of the rectifying member facing the guide surface, and the surface treatment gas is interposed between the electrodes in a state where a voltage is applied between the electrodes. By allowing the surface treatment gas to cause a chemical reaction by passing through, the gas can be more reliably passed through the plasma region and activated at the same time as the supply of the highly efficient gas.

  Here, it is preferable that the separation distance between the guide surface of the opposing member and the rectifying member is larger than the separation distance between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body and the guide surface. Thereby, the ejected gas can be smoothly guided to the substrate surface while ensuring the ejection effect of the surface treatment gas from the gap.

  In addition, a cover member that covers the rotating body and the counter member is provided, and a surface treatment gas introduction port for introducing a surface treatment gas into the cover member and the rotation in the cover member are provided in the cover member. If the surface treatment gas discharge port for discharging the surface treatment gas from the gap between the body and the opposing member toward the surface of the base material is provided, the inside of the cover member is limited. By supplying the surface treatment gas into the space and entraining it in the rotating body, the necessary surface treatment gas can be more efficiently and intensively guided to the substrate surface.

  In the surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, the facing member is disposed between the surface of the base material and the rotating body so as to face the surface of the base material, and the facing member and the surface It has a gas discharge port that penetrates the counter member at a position upstream of the rotating body in the rotational direction from the position where the clearance with the rotating body is minimized, and flows backward from the clearance to the upstream side of the rotating body in the rotational direction. It is also preferable that the gas is arranged so as to be sent to the substrate surface through the gas discharge port.

  According to this configuration, the gas flowing backward from the gap formed between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body and the opposing member is supplied to a stable position on the base material through the gas discharge port provided in the opposing member. It will be.

  Further, if the gas discharge port has a slit shape extending in a direction parallel to the rotation axis direction of the rotating body, the gas is supplied uniformly in the direction, that is, the direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. It becomes possible to do.

  Further, the opposing member has a concave surface that curves along the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and a substantially uniform minute gap is provided between the concave surface and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body in the circumferential direction. If it is arranged at the position to be formed, the amount of gas supplied to the surface of the base material from the gas discharge port by flowing back from the gap by effectively increasing the gas flow resistance in the gap Can be further increased, whereby the processing efficiency can be further increased.

  In addition, a covering member that covers the rotating body is provided. The covering member is provided with a surface treatment gas introduction port for introducing a surface treatment gas into the covering member, and a wall constituting the covering member is provided. If a part is interposed between the rotating body and the base material to constitute the opposing member, the surface treatment gas is supplied to the limited space in the covering member to the rotating body. By entraining, the necessary surface treatment gas can be efficiently and intensively guided to the surface of the base material, and the part of the wall of the covering member can also be used as the facing member to simplify the apparatus. Can be planned.

As described above, the present invention provides the outer peripheral surface of a rotating body having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface at a position away from the substrate surface or the base material as means for supplying the surface treatment gas to the base material surface. The rotating body is rotated around an axis in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction of the base material with a gap facing the facing member, and the surface treatment gas is caught in the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. Since the gas for surface treatment is sent out from the gap to the surface of the base material by guiding it to the gap, a uniform gas supply onto the base material with a simple and low-cost configuration This makes it possible to realize a high-quality surface treatment. Further, the gas can be supplied in a more stable pressure state by allowing the gas flowing backward from the gap to the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotating body to be sent out to the surface of the base material.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Although the present invention is suitable for forming an oxide film made of titania, silica, zircon, tin oxide, etc., the present invention can be applied to all other materials that can be formed by general CVD. . What is necessary is just to select suitably the kind of carrier gas and oxidizing agent in the said film-forming according to the kind of thin film raw material gas used as the raw material of a thin film. Further, the present invention can be applied to the case of performing other plasma processing such as etching in addition to film formation.

  Also, among the embodiments described below, for the one that operates the gas supply so that the gas that has flowed back to the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotating body from the gap between the rotating body and the opposing member is sent to the substrate surface, The size of the gap formed between the rotating body and the opposing member is set to be small enough to cause a backflow of gas as described later. Although the specific dimension can be set suitably, generally it is 5 mm or less, More preferably, it is good to set it as 2 mm or less. Thus, by determining the size of the gap within an appropriate range, a gas blocking effect is produced, and when the pressure in the gap increases, a part or all of the gas guided to the gap is rotated by the rotating body. It becomes possible to make it flow backward to the direction upstream.

  The gas that has flowed backward from the gap between the rotating body and the opposing member to the upstream side in the rotational direction of the rotating body may be sent directly to the surface of the substrate, or may flow through the gas discharge port. You may make it send out to the base-material surface, after a direction is adjusted.

  1 and 2 show an example of a surface treatment apparatus using a combination of a rotating body 24, a counter plate (opposite member) 20, and a downstream counter plate (downstream counter member) 20 '. This apparatus includes a chamber 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and an exhaust port 4 is provided on a side portion of the chamber 2. A base material transport belt 8 extending in a specific direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1) is installed at the bottom of the chamber 2, and a base material 12 is placed on a base material transport base 10 fixed to the base material transport belt 8. In this state, the base material 12 is transported in the longitudinal direction of the base material transport belt 8 (in the direction from left to right in the drawing) while maintaining a horizontal posture. A covering member 14 that surrounds a part of the space in the chamber 2 is provided above the substrate transport belt 8.

  In addition, the said base material 12 will not be specifically limited if surface treatment is possible, Glass and a plastic film are illustrated. When glass is used as the substrate, the thickness of the glass is preferably 0.3 to 15 mm from the viewpoint of strength.

  As shown in FIG. 2, at least one surface treatment gas supply port 16 is provided at the top of the covering member 14, and the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 and the thin film material gas discharge port 18 'are formed at the bottom. It is arranged side by side along the material conveyance direction. In the cover member 14, the counter plate 20 and the downstream counter plate 20 ′, a rectifying plate (rectifying member) 22, and a rotating body 24 are stored.

  The rotating body 24 is formed in a columnar shape having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface, and is arranged so that its central axis faces a horizontal direction (in the depth direction in FIG. 2B) that is substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction of the base material. ing. Specifically, a rotating center shaft 26 that passes through the rotating body 24 is fixed along the central axis of the rotating body 24, and both ends of the rotating center shaft 26 stand on the bottom wall of the covering member 14. It is rotatably supported through a pair of bearing stands 28.

  Outside the covering member 14, a motor 30 which is a rotation driving means is installed. Magnet couplings 32 that are linked to each other by magnetic force are fixed to the output shaft of the motor 30 and one end portion of the rotation center shaft 26, and these magnet couplings 32 are arranged inside and outside the side wall of the covering member 14. ing. Therefore, by the operation of the motor 30, the rotating body 24 is driven to rotate about the central axis of the rotation center shaft 26, that is, about the axis in the direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate transport direction. Further, the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 is formed on the upstream side of the rotating body 24 in the rotation direction (the right side in FIGS. 2A and 2B) with respect to the thin film material gas discharge port 18 ′.

  The counter plate 20, the downstream counter plate 20 ', and the rectifying plate 22 are all flat and rise in a substantially vertical direction from the bottom wall of the cover member 14 in a mutually parallel posture.

  Specifically, the counter plate 20 rises upward from the downstream edge (the left edge in FIGS. 2A and 2B) of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 in the rotational direction of the rotating body, and its upper end surface 20a. Is opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 with a gap 23 therebetween. Further, the upper end surface 20 a is a curved surface that follows the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24, and the gap between the upper end surface 20 a and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 is made uniform.

  The downstream facing plate 20 ′ rises upward from the downstream edge (the left edge in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b)) of the thin film material gas outlet 18 ′ in the rotating body rotation direction, and one side surface (FIG. 2). (A) The right side surface in (b) is opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 with a gap 23 'from the side. Further, at least one gas supply port 6 for supplying a thin film source gas described later from the side to the region is provided in a region sandwiched between the downstream facing plate 20 ′ and the facing plate 20. ing.

  Here, the size of the gap 23 between the upper end surface 20a of the opposing plate 20 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 is smaller than the separation size between the side surface of the opposing plate 20 and the side surface of the rectifying plate 22, It is preferable that the size is set smaller than the size of the gap 23 ′ between the downstream facing plate 20 ′ and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24. The specific gap dimension can be set as appropriate. In general, if the gap 23 'is set to about 0.5 to 1.0 mm and the gap 23 is set to about 0.1 mm, a certain degree of gas blocking effect can be achieved in the gap 23. It is possible to obtain

  The current plate 22 rises upward from the upstream edge of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 in the rotational direction of the rotating body (the right edge in FIGS. 2A and 2B), and is between the counter plate 20. A gas guide passage for surface treatment in a substantially vertical direction is formed. That is, the surface on the rectifying plate 22 side of the side surface of the counter plate 20 functions as a guide surface. Further, a sufficient gap (a gap sufficiently larger than the gaps 23 and 23 ') is secured between the upper end surface of the current plate 22 and the rotating body 24 so that the surface treatment gas can smoothly flow. .

  Further, in this apparatus, a discharge electrode 34 and a ground electrode 36 for forming an electric field for plasma generation at a position between the rotating body 24 and the base material 12 (a position in the middle of the surface treatment gas guide passage). Is provided. Among these, the ground electrode 36 is fixed to the side surface of the facing plate 20 in the vicinity of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18, and the discharge electrode 34 is fixed to a position facing the ground electrode 36 on the side surface of the rectifying plate 22. Has been. Then, while the ground electrode 36 is grounded, a high frequency voltage (or DC voltage) is applied to the discharge electrode 34, so that an electric field for generating plasma is formed between the electrodes 34 and 36. It has become.

  Next, an example of a method for forming an oxide film on the surface of the substrate 12 using this apparatus will be described.

  In this method, the following operations are performed in parallel.

  1) Substrate transport operation: The base material 12 is placed on the base material transport table 10 and preheated by a heater (not shown), and then the gas discharge port 18 for surface treatment of the covering member 14 along the longitudinal direction of the transport belt 8. And it conveys to the position below the thin film raw material gas discharge port 18 '.

  2) Thin film source gas supply operation: A gas (for example, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in the case of forming a silicon oxide film) and a carrier gas such as argon are supplied to the counter plate 20 through the gas supply port 6. And the downstream counter plate 20 '.

3) Surface treatment gas supply operation: The surface treatment gas is supplied into the covering member 14 through the surface treatment gas supply port 16. In this embodiment, the surface treatment gas includes at least one of a carrier gas made of an inert gas such as argon and an oxidant made of an oxygen-containing gas such as O ₂ , N ₂ O, NO ₂ , air, and water vapor. . Further, in the cover member 14, the rotation of the rotating body 24 by the operation of the motor 30 is made in the direction of the arrows in FIGS. The peripheral speed component of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 in the gap 23 is rotated at high speed in a direction in which the peripheral speed component is away from the surface of the base material 12 on the base material transport table 10.

  Due to the rotation of the rotating body 24, the surface treatment gas is drawn into the outer peripheral surface and guided to the gap 23, but since the size of the gap 23 is small, a lot of the surface treatment gas is rotated by the rotation of the rotating body 24. Backward in the direction upstream, along the side surface (guide surface) of the counter plate 20, that is, through the guide passage between the counter plate 20 and the rectifying plate 22, the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 moves to the surface of the substrate 12. It is discharged towards.

  At this time, if an electric field having a predetermined strength is formed between the discharge electrode 34 and the ground electrode 36, the surface treatment gas passes between the electrodes 34 and 36, and plasma is generated. Plasma or at least radical species in which the surface treatment gas is activated by the plasma is supplied to the surface of the substrate 12.

  Further, in the region downstream of the counter plate 20 in the rotation direction of the rotator 24, the thin film source gas supplied from the gas supply port 6 is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the rotator 24 in the same manner as described above, and the rotator. The thin film source gas, which is guided to the gap 23 'between the outer peripheral surface 24 and the downstream facing plate 20', and flows backward from the gap 23 ', flows along the side surface of the downstream facing plate 20'. To the surface of the substrate 12. The thin film source gas is mixed with the plasma or radical species to cause a chemical reaction, whereby a thin film is formed on the surface of the substrate 12. The gas not used for the reaction is discharged from the gas discharge port 4 to the outside of the chamber 2.

  In this method, for example, compared with the conventional method in which plasma is generated in a minute gap between the rotating electrode and the base material 12, strict control of the gap size is not required, and the surface treatment gas is entrained by the rotation of the rotating body 24. A uniform surface in the width direction (direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction) with respect to the substrate 12 by utilizing the backflow of the surface treatment gas from the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the counter plate 20. By supplying the processing gas, high-quality surface treatment can be realized.

  In particular, in the illustrated apparatus, it is possible to supply the surface treatment gas and the thin film raw material gas to the surface of the base material 12 simultaneously in parallel using a common rotating body 24, which is small and simple. It is possible to form a good thin film with a simple structure.

  In the present invention, the gas supply of two systems is not necessarily performed simultaneously using the common rotating body 24, and only one single opposing plate 20 is installed as shown in FIG. You may make it perform. In order to form a thin film in this apparatus, for example, the gas supply port 6 may be provided in the chamber 2 to supply the thin film source gas into the chamber 2.

  In the present invention, the specific arrangement and posture of the facing member are not limited. 4 and 5 show the counter plate 20 arranged so as to be inclined. In the illustrated example, the upper surface (guide surface) of the counter plate 20 is disposed at the bottom of the covering member 14 so as to be gently inclined toward the surface treatment gas discharge port 18. The rectifying plate 22 is also inclined so as to be substantially parallel to the counter plate 20 and is disposed so as to face the end portion of the counter plate 20 from above in the vicinity of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18. A gas guide passage for surface treatment is formed between the counter plate 20 and the counter plate 20. Also in this case, if the thin film source gas is supplied from the gas supply port 6 shown in FIG. 4, the gas causes a chemical reaction by mixing with the plasma or radical species supplied from the surface treatment gas guide passage. A thin film is formed on the surface of 12. The dimension (separation distance) of the gap 23 between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the surface of the counter plate 20 is preferably as small as possible, and the gap dimension of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 is smaller than the dimension, It is preferable to increase the distance between the bottom wall of the covering member 14 and the surface of the substrate 12.

  The thin film can be formed even if the surface treatment gas supplied into the covering member 14 includes a thin film raw material gas, and the thin film raw material gas is also converted into plasma and supplied to the surface of the substrate 12. In that case, for example, only the carrier gas may be supplied from the gas supply port 6 into the chamber 2. However, in that case, a certain amount of thin film is also formed on the surface of the rotating body 24, whereas the surface treatment gas supplied into the covering member 14 does not include the thin film raw material gas as in the above method. If it is separately supplied to the surface of the base material 12, the efficiency can be improved and the maintenance cycle of the rotating body 24 can be extended by avoiding the formation of a thin film on the surface of the rotating body 24. Benefits are gained.

  Further, when generating plasma in the covering member 14, the electric field forming position can be set as appropriate. For example, the discharge electrode 34 is provided at a position directly above the rectifying plate 22 as shown in FIG. In this manner, the rotating body 24 is grounded after being incorporated in the counter plate 20 so that an electric field is formed between the discharge electrode 34 and the rotating body 24 and plasma is generated at the electric field forming position. Also good. Also in this case, the plasma is supplied to the surface of the substrate 12 through the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 together with the surface treatment gas, whereby the treatment of the substrate surface is realized.

  Specifically, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the surface treatment gas excited by the discharge between the discharge electrode 34 and the rotating body 24 is entrained to or near the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the counter plate 20. Thereafter, the gas flows back and is supplied to the surface of the substrate 12. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 7, the surface treatment gas entrained to the gap 23 or the vicinity thereof is excited by the plasma formed in the gap 23 and then flows backward. Then, it will be supplied to the surface of the substrate 12.

  In the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the rotating body 24 and the opposing plate 20 facing the rotating body 24 are accommodated in the covering member 14, and a part of the wall of the covering member 14 is used as the opposing member. It can also be configured, which further simplifies the structure of the device.

  In FIG. 8, the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 is configured as an opposing member. In the figure, the covering member 14 accommodates the entire rotating body 24, and the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 is interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the surface of the substrate 12. The rotating body 24 is provided at a position where the outer peripheral surface thereof faces the inner surface (upper surface) of the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 with a minute gap 23 therebetween.

  The bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 is formed with a surface treatment gas discharge port 18 penetrating the bottom wall 15 in the vertical direction. The surface treatment gas discharge port 18 has a slit shape extending in a direction parallel to the rotation shaft 26 of the rotating body 24, and the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 is minimized. It is located upstream of the position in the rotational direction of the rotating body 24 (right side in the example). Further, a discharge electrode 34 and a ground electrode 36 which are plasma generating means are attached to the lower surface of the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 so as to sandwich the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 from the front and rear.

  In this apparatus, the surface treatment gas supplied into the covering member 14 is drawn into the outer peripheral surface by the rotation of the rotating body 24 and guided to the gap 23, and most of the gas is rotated in the rotating direction of the rotating body 24. Although the gas flows back to the upstream side, and the slit-like surface treatment gas discharge port 18 exists on the upstream side, the gas flowing backward from the gap 23 flows from the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 to the surface of the substrate 12. On the other hand, the rotating body 24 is supplied in a stable state in a curtain shape extending in a direction parallel to the rotation shaft 26 of the rotating body 24 (that is, a direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction). This supply gas generates plasma by passing through an electric field of a predetermined strength formed between the discharge electrode 34 and the ground electrode 36, and the surface treatment gas is generated by the plasma or at least the plasma. The activated radical species are supplied to the surface of the substrate 12 to form the thin film 42.

  As the plasma generating means, as in the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, the rotating body 24 may be grounded and the discharge electrode 34 may be disposed so as to face the outer peripheral surface thereof. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 9, the discharge electrode 34 is fixed on the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 at a position further upstream of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 in the rotation direction of the rotating body 24. An inclined surface 34 a that faces the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 is formed at 34. In this apparatus, the surface treatment gas entrained on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating rotator 24 passes through the plasma 40 formed between the discharge electrode 34 and the rotator 24 and then flows back before the gap 23. It is sent out from the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 toward the surface of the substrate 12.

  According to the apparatus shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the flow rate and region of the gas supplied from the bottom wall 15 can be appropriately controlled by setting the shape of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18, thereby stabilizing the surface treatment. Can be realized. Suitable examples of the size, position, etc. of the gap 23 and the surface treatment gas outlet 18 are presented as Examples 4 and 5 described later.

  Even when the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 is used as the opposing member as described above, the entire rotating body 24 is not necessarily accommodated in the covering member 14, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. A part of the rotating body 24 may protrude from the opening 38 provided in the bottom wall 15 to the outside of the covering member 14 (projected toward the base material 12 in the drawing). In this case, as shown in the drawing, a minute gap 23 is formed between the peripheral portion of the opening 38 in the bottom wall 15 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24, and on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotating body 24. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure where the gas discharge port 18 for surface treatment of the said bottom wall 15 is located.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which the discharge electrode 34 and the ground electrode 36 are incorporated in the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 so as to sandwich the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 from the front and rear, and FIG. The discharge electrode 34 is opposed to the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 at a position further upstream than the gap 23 in the rotating direction of the rotating body 24, and plasma 40 is formed between the discharge electrode 34 and the grounded rotating body 24. An example is shown.

  In the present invention, when the gas flows backward from the gap 23 and is supplied to the substrate 12, the gas flow resistance in the gap 23 is preferably high, and the higher the flow resistance is, the more the ratio of the gas flowing backward can be increased. Is possible. In the apparatus shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the rotating body is located on the upper surface of the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 as the opposing member at a position downstream of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 in the rotating direction of the rotating body 24. A concave surface 15a that is curved along the outer peripheral surface of 24 is formed, and a substantially uniform gap 23 is formed between the concave surface 15a and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 in the circumferential direction. In such a configuration, the gas flow resistance in the gap 23 can be remarkably increased, and the amount of gas flowing back before the gap 23 can be effectively increased.

  Even in such an apparatus, various modes exist as the plasma generation means. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 12, the discharge electrode 34 is fixed on the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 at a position further upstream of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 in the rotation direction of the rotating body 24, and the discharge electrode 34. In addition, an inclined surface 34 a facing the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 is formed, and plasma 40 is formed between the inclined surface 34 a and the rotating body 24. On the other hand, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 13, a mesh-like discharge electrode 34 capable of gas permeation is provided so as to cover the outlet of the surface treatment gas discharge port 18, and the discharge electrode 34, the rotating body 24, In the meantime, plasma 40 is formed in the surface treatment gas outlet 18.

  In the apparatus shown in FIG. 12, a part of the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14 may be configured as a discharge electrode as it is. A suitable example of each dimension in the apparatus shown in FIG. 12 is presented as Example 6 described later.

  In the present invention, the surface treatment gas can be supplied satisfactorily by making the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 face the surface of the substrate 12 in place of the facing plate 20 and the bottom wall 15 of the covering member 14. Is possible. Examples thereof are shown in FIGS. In FIG. 14, the basic configuration in the chamber 2 is exactly the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and the description thereof is omitted here.

  As shown in FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (b), the rotating body 24 is formed in a columnar shape having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). Here, the lower part is left and the upper part is covered with the covering member 14. Specifically, a surface treatment gas discharge port 18 having a shape corresponding to the shape of the rotator 24 is provided on the bottom wall of the cover member 14, and the lower portion of the rotator 24 extends from the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 to the cover member 14. The rotating body 24 is disposed so as to protrude downward, and the base material 12 and the lower surface of the rotating body 24 face each other with a minute gap 23 when the base material 12 is transported.

  Also in this apparatus, the central axis of the rotating body 24 is oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction of the base material 12, and the rotating center shaft 26 passing through the rotating body 24 along the central axis is fixed to the rotating body 24. Further, both ends of the rotation center shaft 26 are rotatably supported via a pair of bearing stands 28 erected on the bottom wall of the covering member 14. A motor 30 that is a rotation driving means is installed outside the covering member 14, and a magnet coupling 32 that is interlocked by a magnetic force is fixed to one end of the output shaft of the motor 30 and the rotation center shaft 26. These magnet couplings 32 are arranged inside and outside the side wall of the covering member 14, and the operation of the motor 30 causes the rotating body 24 to rotate around the center axis of the rotation center shaft 26 (in the substrate transport direction). And about the axis in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis).

  In this apparatus, a discharge electrode 34 is provided on the lower surface of the bottom wall of the covering member 14 (that is, the surface where the covering member 14 faces the surface of the substrate 12). The discharge electrode 34 is on the side opposite to the direction of the peripheral speed (rightward in the drawing) of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 in the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the substrate 12 with respect to the rotating body 24 (see FIG. It is provided on the left side. A high-frequency voltage (or DC voltage) is applied to the discharge electrode 34, while the substrate 12 is transported in a grounded state, thereby generating plasma between the discharge electrode 34 and the substrate 12. An electric field is formed.

  Also in this apparatus, the separation dimension between the guide surface of the counter plate 20 and the side surface of the rectifying plate 22 is larger than the dimension (separation distance) of the gap 23 between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the top surface of the counter plate 20. It is set.

  Next, an example in which an oxide film is formed on the surface of the substrate 12 using this apparatus will be described.

  Among the operations performed by this method, “1) Substrate transport operation” is exactly the same as the above method. In addition, the “2) thin film source gas supply operation” simply supplies the thin film source gas into the chamber 2.

In the “3) surface treatment gas supply operation”, similarly to the above, the carrier gas such as argon and the oxidation of O ₂ , N ₂ O, NO ₂ , air, etc. are entered into the covering member 14 through the surface treatment gas supply port 16. The surface treatment gas containing the agent is supplied. In the cover member 14, the rotating body 24 is moved in the direction of the arrows in FIGS. The peripheral speed component of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 in the gap 23 is rotated at a high speed in a direction in which the peripheral speed component is away from the surface of the base material 12 on the base material transport table 10.

  Due to the rotation of the rotating body 24, the surface treatment gas is entrained on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and escapes from the cover member 14 through the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 to the surface of the substrate 12 and is guided to the gap 23. However, since the size of the gap 23 is small, a large amount of the surface treatment gas flows backward to the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotating body 24, and is in a space sandwiched between the surface of the base material 12 and the bottom wall of the covering member 14. Led.

  At this time, if an electric field having a predetermined strength is formed between the surface of the substrate 12 and the discharge electrode 34, the surface treatment gas is supplied to the electric field forming region, thereby generating plasma 40. The thin film source gas in the chamber 2 causes a chemical reaction on the substrate 12 by the plasma 40, whereby a thin film is formed on the surface of the substrate 12.

  Even in this method, for example, as compared with the conventional method of generating plasma in a minute gap between the rotating electrode and the base material 12, strict control of the gap size is not required, and the gas for surface treatment by rotation of the rotating body 24 is not required. And the back surface of the gas for surface treatment from the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the base material 12, and the width of the base material 12 (the direction orthogonal to the base material transport direction) is uniform. Thus, it is possible to supply a surface treatment gas and to realize a high quality surface treatment.

  In addition, a thin film can be formed by including a thin film raw material gas in the surface treatment gas supplied into the covering member 14 and also supplying the thin film raw material gas to the surface of the base material 12 by supplying it into plasma. In that case, it is sufficient to supply only the carrier gas, for example, into the chamber 2 from the gas supply port 6, as in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

  The present invention is not limited to the plasma CVD described above. For example, it is possible to apply thermal CVD in which the base material 12 is heated to a high temperature in advance and a chemical reaction is caused to the gas using the thermal energy. It is. Even in such a case, an appropriate surface treatment gas may be supplied to the surface of the substrate 12 in the same manner as described above.

  In addition, in any of the apparatuses shown in FIGS. 1 to 15, the gas that flows backward from the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the counter plate 20 or the base material 12 is supplied to the surface of the base material 12. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the rotating body 24 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the gas that has passed through the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the counter plate 20 remains as it is. May be supplied to the surface of the substrate 12 in the direction of.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 17, a pair of rotating bodies 24 are opposed to each other with a minute gap 23 in the covering member 14 and rotated in opposite directions, and the gas that has passed through the gap 23 remains as it is. It may be supplied to the surface. In this case, both rotating bodies 24 also serve as opposing members.

  Also in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the rotating body 24 is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow direction in the figure, and the gas passing through the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the substrate 12 is the base. It may be supplied to the surface of the material 12.

  However, if the gas flowing backward from the gap 23 is supplied as described above, there is an advantage that the surface treatment gas can be supplied uniformly to the surface of the substrate 12 in a more stable pressure state. It is done.

Titania (titanium oxide film) was formed using the apparatus shown in FIGS. A glass substrate having a thickness of 4 mm is used for the base material 12, Ti (i-OC ₃ H ₇ ) ₄ is used for the thin film material gas, and a mixed gas of helium and oxygen is supplied into the covering member 14 for surface treatment. A gas obtained by diluting the thin film material gas with helium gas was introduced into the chamber 2 from the gas supply port 6. A high frequency voltage of 13.56 MHz was applied to the discharge electrode 34 to generate plasma, and an active gas of helium / oxygen was supplied onto the substrate 12.

Under this condition, when the rotating body 24 is rotated at 1500 rpm, the gas is uniformly supplied to the surface of the base material 12 with accuracy within ± 1% in the width direction (direction orthogonal to the base material transport direction). We were able to. The same effect could be obtained when Ti (t-OC ₄ H ₉ ) ₄ was used in place of Ti (i-OC ₃ H ₇ ) ₄ as the thin film source gas. On the other hand, when the rotating body 24 was not rotated, the film formation could not be confirmed using any thin film source gas.

  In the apparatus shown in FIG. 16, silica (silicon oxide film) was formed by thermal CVD. A glass substrate having a thickness of 0.7 mm is used as the base material 12, which is conveyed in a state heated to 300 ° C., and further heated to 600 ° C. immediately before the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 for surface treatment. Gas was blown. As the surface treatment gas, a mixture of helium as a carrier gas and 1.5% of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as a thin film raw material gas was used.

  Under this condition, when the rotating body 24 is rotated at 1500 rpm, the gas is uniformly supplied to the surface of the base material 12 with accuracy within ± 3% in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the base material transport direction). On the other hand, if the gas is discharged from the surface treatment gas discharge port 18 only by the surface treatment gas supply pressure into the covering member 14 without rotating the rotating body 24, ± Only a uniformity of about 50% could be obtained.

  In the apparatus shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, silicon oxide is oxidized using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as a thin film source gas and helium as a carrier gas while appropriately changing the size of the gap 23 between the rotating body 24 and the counter plate 20. A film was formed. Here, the distance between the base material and the discharge electrode 34 was 5 mm, the diameter of the rotating body 24 was 100 mm, and the rotation speed was 1500 rpm.

  FIG. 18A shows the relationship between the dimension of the gap 23 and the thickness of the thin film formed in one minute after the start of film formation. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the film forming speed is remarkably improved by setting the gap 23 between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the counter plate 20 to 5 mm or less. It was confirmed that extremely high speed film formation can be realized by setting the thickness to preferably 1 mm or less.

  Further, in Example 3, the result of the film formation experiment performed by fixing the size of the gap difference to 1 mm and changing the rotational speed of the rotating body 24 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, when the rotating body 24 is not rotated (0 rpm), the film forming speed does not increase, and the gas escapes into the wide space on both outer sides of the rotating body 24, so While the film thickness is unevenly distributed, the film forming speed and the uniformity of the film thickness are improved as the rotational speed of the rotating body 24 is increased. When the rotational speed is increased to 1500 rpm, the substrate width direction (perpendicular to the substrate transport direction) In the direction of the film thickness) can be increased to a level of ± 1% or less.

  A preferred example of main dimensions in the apparatus shown in FIG. 8 is presented below.

1) Minimum dimension of the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the cover member bottom wall 15: 1 mm
2) Distance from the position where the gap is minimized to the surface treatment gas outlet 18: 11 mm
3) Slit width of surface treatment gas outlet 18: less than 1 to 5 mm 4) Thickness of bottom wall 15 (depth of surface treatment gas outlet 18): 5 mm
5) Distance between the bottom surface of the bottom wall 15 and the base material 12: 5 mm
6) Cross-sectional shape of discharge electrode 34 and ground electrode 36: rectangular shape (length 3 mm x width 5 mm)

  A preferred example of main dimensions in the apparatus shown in FIG. 9 is presented below.

1) Minimum dimension of the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the cover member bottom wall 15: 1 mm
2) Distance from the position where the gap is minimized to the surface treatment gas outlet 18: 11 mm
3) Slit width of surface treatment gas outlet 18: less than 1 to 5 mm 4) Thickness of bottom wall 15 (depth of surface treatment gas outlet 18): 5 mm
5) Distance between the bottom surface of the bottom wall 15 and the base material 12: 5 mm
6) Inclination angle of the inclined surface 34a of the discharge electrode 34: 30 °
7) Minimum horizontal distance between the inclined surface 34a of the discharge electrode 34 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24: 2 mm

  A preferred example of the main dimensions in the apparatus shown in FIG. 12 is presented below.

1) 1 mm gap between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24 and the concave surface 15a
2) Thickness of bottom wall 15: 6-10mm
3) Distance between the lower surface of the bottom wall 15 and the base material 12: 5 mm
4) Inclination angle of the inclined surface 34a of the discharge electrode 34: 30 °
7) Horizontal distance between the inclined surface 34a of the discharge electrode 34 and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 24: 1 to 5 mm

It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example of the surface treatment apparatus which supplies the gas for surface treatment by the combination of a rotary body, an opposing board, and a downstream opposing board. (A) is a cross-sectional plan view showing the main part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, (b) is a cross-sectional front view showing the main part, and (c) shows the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body and the counter plate in the apparatus. It is sectional drawing. It is a sectional front view showing the important section of the surface treatment apparatus which supplies the surface treatment gas by the combination of the rotating body and the counter plate arranged in a substantially vertical state. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example of the surface treatment apparatus which supplies the gas for surface treatment by the combination of a rotating body and the opposing board arrange | positioned in the inclined state. (A) is a cross-sectional top view which shows the principal part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4, (b) is a cross-sectional front view which shows the principal part. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example which made the discharge electrode in the said surface treatment apparatus face the outer peripheral surface of a rotary body. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example which made the discharge electrode in the said surface treatment apparatus face the outer peripheral surface of a rotary body. A surface treatment apparatus in which the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body faces the inner surface of the bottom wall of the covering member and slit-like surface treatment gas discharge ports are provided in the vicinity thereof, on both sides of the surface treatment gas discharge ports. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example in which the discharge electrode and the ground electrode were provided. A surface treatment apparatus in which the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body is opposed to the inner surface of the bottom wall of the covering member and a slit-like surface treatment gas discharge port is provided in the vicinity thereof. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example which an electrode opposes. A surface treatment apparatus in which an outer peripheral surface of a rotating body is opposed to a peripheral edge of an opening in a bottom wall of a covering member and slit-like surface treatment gas discharge ports are provided in the vicinity thereof, and both sides of the surface treatment gas discharge port It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example in which the discharge electrode and the ground electrode were provided. The outer peripheral surface of the rotating body is opposed to the peripheral edge of the opening in the bottom wall of the covering member, and is provided with a slit-like surface treatment gas discharge port in the vicinity thereof. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example which a discharge electrode opposes. A cross section showing an example in which a concave surface that is curved along the outer peripheral surface of a rotating body is formed on the bottom wall of a covering member, and a discharge electrode and a ground electrode are provided on both sides of the surface treatment gas discharge port It is a front view. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional front view showing an example in which a discharge electrode is opposed to an outer peripheral surface of a grounded rotating body, which is a surface treatment apparatus in which a concave surface curved along the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body is formed on the bottom wall of the covering member. It is a section front view showing an example of a surface treatment device which supplies a surface treatment gas with a rotating body facing a surface of a substrate. (A) is a cross-sectional top view which shows the principal part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 14, (b) is a cross-sectional front view which shows the principal part. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the example which reversely rotates a rotary body in the apparatus shown in FIG. 4, and performs a surface treatment. It is a cross-sectional front view showing a surface treatment apparatus in which a pair of rotating bodies are opposed to each other to supply a surface treatment gas. (A) is a graph showing the relationship between the gap dimension between the rotating body and the substrate and the film forming speed in the apparatus shown in FIG. 14, and (b) shows the relationship between the rotational speed of the rotating body and the film thickness distribution in the apparatus. It is a graph to show.

Explanation of symbols

6 Gas supply port 8 Base material transport belt (base material transport means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Base material carrier 12 Base material 14 Cover member 15 Bottom wall of cover member 15a Concave surface 16 Surface treatment gas supply port 18 Surface treatment gas discharge port 20 Counterplate (opposing member)
20a Upper end surface of opposing plate 20 'downstream opposing plate (downstream opposing member)
22 Rectifier plate (rectifier member)
23, 23 'clearance 24 Rotating body 30 Motor (rotation drive means)
34 Discharge electrode 36 Ground electrode 40 Plasma

Claims (22)

In a surface treatment method including an operation of transporting a substrate in a specific direction and a gas supply operation of supplying a surface treatment gas toward the surface of the substrate, the gas supply operation is at a position away from the substrate. A surface treatment device is provided in which a counter member is provided so that the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface is opposed to the counter member with a gap therebetween. By rotating about the axis in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction and entraining the surface treatment gas around the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body and guiding it to the gap, the upstream direction of rotation of the rotating body from the gap. surface treatment method, wherein the surface treatment gas flowing back to the side where it is desirable to make issued Ri sent to the substrate surface. The surface treatment method according to claim 1 , wherein an electric field for plasma generation is formed in a region from the rotating body to the surface of the base material, and the surface treatment gas is supplied to the electric field formation position. The surface treatment method characterized. 3. The surface treatment method according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the surface treatment includes a treatment of forming a thin film on the surface of the base material, and a thin film source gas serving as a raw material for the thin film is included in the surface treatment gas. A surface treatment method characterized by treating the surface of the base material by chemically reacting the thin film source gas at or near the base material surface. 3. The surface treatment method according to claim 2 , wherein the surface treatment includes a treatment of forming a thin film on the surface of the substrate, and plasma generated by supplying the surface treatment gas to the electric field or the plasma treatment is performed. Supplying the radical species excited by plasma to the surface of the substrate and supplying the thin film source gas serving as the raw material of the thin film to the plasma or radical species of the substrate surface, the thin film source gas is supplied to the substrate surface Alternatively, a surface treatment method comprising forming a thin film on the surface of the substrate by chemical reaction in the vicinity thereof. 5. The surface treatment method according to claim 4 , wherein the surface treatment gas contains at least one of an inert gas and an oxygen-containing gas. In a surface treatment apparatus comprising a substrate conveyance means for conveying a substrate in a specific direction and a gas supply means for supplying a surface treatment gas toward the surface of the substrate, the gas supply means has a cylindrical outer periphery A rotating body having a surface, the central axis of which is arranged so as to face a direction substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction of the base material, a rotation driving means for rotating the rotating body around the central axis, and the rotating body A counter member provided at a position facing the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body with a gap therebetween, and the surface treatment gas entrained in the outer peripheral surface with the rotation of the rotating body and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body The opposing member is arranged so that the gas for surface treatment is guided to a gap with the opposing member and the surface treatment gas is sent out from the gap to the surface of the base material . Gas that flows backward upstream in the direction of rotation Surface treatment apparatus, wherein the rotary member and the opposing member as delivered to the substrate surface is one that was placed. 7. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein electric field forming means for forming an electric field for generating plasma is arranged in a region from the rotating body to the surface of the base material, and the electric field forming gas is generated by the surface treatment gas. A surface treatment apparatus configured to generate plasma for surface treatment by passing through. 8. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the facing member has a guide surface for guiding the surface treatment gas from the gap to the surface of the base material. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein a guide surface of the facing member is opposed to an outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. 9. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the facing member has a plate shape, an end surface thereof faces an outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and one side surface of the facing member forms the guide surface. A featured surface treatment apparatus. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein an end surface of the facing member is a curved surface having a shape along an outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. 12. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein, in addition to the facing member, a downstream facing that faces the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body with a gap at a position downstream of the facing member in the rotation direction of the rotating body. And at least one gas supply unit for supplying a gas different from the surface treatment gas in a region sandwiched between the downstream facing member and the facing member. The downstream side so that the gas supplied from the part is caught in the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body and guided to the substrate surface along the downstream facing member from the gap between the rotating body and the downstream facing member A surface treatment apparatus in which an opposing member is disposed. 13. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein an electric field forming means for forming an electric field for generating plasma is disposed in a region from the gap between the rotating body and the facing member to the surface of the base material. A surface treatment plasma is generated by passing the surface treatment gas through an electric field, and a chemical reaction is caused by the surface treatment plasma from the gas supply unit to form a thin film on the substrate surface. A surface treatment apparatus configured to be supplied with a thin film source gas. 14. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein a gap between the rotating body and the facing member is smaller than a gap between the rotating body and the downstream facing member. 15. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein a rectifying member is provided at a position facing the guide surface, and the surface treatment gas flows between the rectifying member and the guide surface. A surface treatment apparatus in which the flow straightening member is disposed. 16. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein a plasma generating electrode is disposed opposite to the guide surface and a surface of the rectifying member facing the guide surface, and a voltage is applied between the electrodes. A surface treatment apparatus configured to cause a chemical reaction of the surface treatment gas when the surface treatment gas passes between electrodes. 17. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein a separation distance between the guide surface of the facing member and the rectifying member is larger than a separation distance between the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body and the guide surface. Processing equipment. 18. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising a cover member that covers the rotating body and the opposing member, and a surface for introducing a surface treatment gas into the cover member. A treatment gas introduction port and a surface treatment gas discharge port for discharging the surface treatment gas from the gap between the rotating body and the facing member in the cover member toward the surface of the base material are provided. The surface treatment apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The surface treatment apparatus of Claim 6 WHEREIN: The said opposing member is arrange | positioned between the surface of the said base material, and the said rotary body so that it may oppose also to the surface of the said base material, And this opposing member and the said rotation Gas having a gas discharge port that penetrates the counter member at a position upstream of the rotating body in the rotational direction of the rotating body relative to a position where the clearance with the body is minimized, and gas that has flowed backward from the clearance to the upstream side of the rotating body in the rotational direction Is disposed so as to be sent to the surface of the base material through the gas discharge port. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 19 , wherein the gas discharge port has a slit shape extending in a direction parallel to a rotation axis direction of the rotating body. 21. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 19 or 20 , wherein the facing member has a concave surface that is curved along the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body, and the circumference thereof is between the concave surface and the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body. A surface treatment apparatus, wherein the surface treatment apparatus is disposed at a position where a substantially uniform minute gap is formed in a direction. The surface treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 19 to 21 , further comprising: a cover member that covers the rotating body, and introducing a surface treatment gas into the cover member for introducing the surface treatment gas into the cover member. A surface treatment apparatus, wherein a mouth is provided and a part of a wall constituting the covering member is interposed between the rotating body and the base material to constitute the facing member.

Images