JPH0645331U - Glow discharge decomposition device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] No peeling of the amorphous silicon layer. [Structure] A plurality of cylindrical substrates having an outer diameter of 20 to 300 mm are stacked in a reaction chamber into which a film-forming gas is introduced so that their central axes are substantially the same, and these substrates are glow-discharged. A glow discharge decomposition apparatus for forming a film on an outer peripheral surface, wherein a gap of 0.2 mm or less is formed in comparison with the outer peripheral surface of the substrate, and an end portion of the outer peripheral surface of the substrate extends in a central axis direction of the cylindrical substrate. A spacer having a ring-shaped mask body covering a range of 2 to 40 mm is provided between individual cylindrical substrates.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a glow discharge decomposition apparatus for producing an amorphous silicon layer and the like, and more particularly to a glow discharge decomposition apparatus capable of simultaneously forming a film on each outer peripheral surface of a plurality of cylindrical substrates by a single reaction chamber. is there.

[0002]

[Prior art and its problems]

 Electrophotographic photoreceptors composed of an amorphous silicon layer (hereinafter, amorphous silicon is abbreviated as a-Si) are on the market, but in order to manufacture a large number of photoreceptors at the same time, it has already been put into practice. We have proposed a glow discharge decomposition device according to the publication.

According to the glow discharge decomposition apparatus, a plurality of cylindrical substrates are stacked in the reaction chamber into which the film-forming gas is introduced so that their central axes are substantially the same, and the When forming a film on the outer peripheral surface of the substrate, a notch is formed at the end of the inner peripheral surface of the substrate, and a spacer is interposed between the individual substrates.This spacer is placed inside the substrate. It is designed to fit into the cutout.

However, in the above-mentioned glow discharge decomposition apparatus, the discharge conditions are the same through the spacers between the individual substrates, which results in uniform formation on the entire outer peripheral surface of the substrate or between the individual substrates. Although a film can be formed, on the other hand, since the substrate temperature is set to about 300 ° C, when the substrate temperature drops to room temperature after the film formation, the thermal expansion coefficient of the a-Si layer and the substrate is Due to the difference, stress is concentrated on the edge of each substrate, which causes deformation of the edge of the substrate or peeling of the a-Si layer formed near the substrate. .

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In the glow discharge decomposition apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of cylindrical substrates having an outer diameter of 20 to 300 mm are stacked in a reaction chamber into which a film-forming gas is introduced so that the central axes thereof are substantially the same, and the glow is decomposed. A film is formed on the outer peripheral surfaces of these substrates by electric discharge so that a gap of 0.2 mm or less is formed in comparison with the outer peripheral surfaces of the substrates, and the end portions of the outer peripheral surfaces of the substrates are centered on the cylindrical substrate. It is characterized in that a spacer having a ring-shaped mask body so as to cover the axial direction in a range of 2 to 40 mm is provided between individual cylindrical substrates.

[0006]

[Action]

 According to the glow discharge decomposition apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, the plurality of cylindrical substrates each having an outer diameter of 20 to 300 mm have a gap of 0.2 mm or less as compared with the outer peripheral surface of the substrates, and When the substrate temperature is lowered to room temperature after film formation by interposing a spacer having a ring-shaped mask body that covers the end of the outer peripheral surface in the range of 2 to 40 mm over the central axis direction of the cylindrical substrate. However, even if stress concentrates on the edge of each substrate due to the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the a-Si layer and the substrate, the film is not formed in the substrate region covered by the ring-shaped mask body. Thereby, even if the edge portion of the substrate is deformed, the problem of peeling of the a-Si layer is solved.

[0007]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a glow discharge decomposition apparatus 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an installed state of a spacer 2 having a ring-shaped mask body. According to the glow discharge decomposition apparatus 1 of FIG. 1, 3 is a cylindrical reaction container, 3a is its lid, 3b is its peripheral wall, 4 is a cylindrical glow discharge electrode plate, and 5 is a cylindrical shape. The conductive substrate supports 6a and 6b are film forming cylindrical substrates. The stacked substrates 6a and 6b are placed on the flange portion of the substrate support 5a and electrically connected to each other. Further, the substrate support 5 is rotationally driven by the motor 7 provided on the lid 3a via the rotary shaft 8, and the substrates 6a and 6b are integrally rotated accordingly. The substrate support 5, the rotary shaft 8 and the lid 3a are electrically connected and grounded. Further, the peripheral wall 3b and the glow discharge electrode plate 4 are electrically connected to each other, and the power input terminal 9 attached to the peripheral wall 3b is connected to the high frequency power source 10. Under such a power applying system, Glow discharge is generated between the glow discharge electrode plate 4 and the substrates 6a and 6b. In addition, 11 and 12 are ring bodies that electrically insulate the electrode plate 4 from the substrates 6a and 6b. Reference numeral 13 is a gas inlet, and 14 is a gas outlet. The a-Si film forming gas was introduced into the reaction vessel 3 through the gas inlet 13 and then penetrated through the glow discharge electrode plate 4. The gas is blown toward the substrates 6a and 6b through the plurality of gas blowout ports 15.

A spacer 2 having a ring-shaped mask body is provided between the substrates 6a and 6b. The spacer 2 contributes to electrical continuity between the substrates 6a and 6b and fixing / bonding. As shown in FIG. 2, the spacer 2 is composed of a ring-shaped mask body 2a and a ring-shaped spacer portion 2b. The mask body 2a has a wing shape so as to cover one end of both substrates 6a and 6b. It is the structure of. Furthermore, the substrates 6a and 6b are usually made of aluminum, while the spacer 2 is made of a heat-resistant conductive material such as an aluminum alloy or stainless steel.

According to the present invention, in the ring-shaped mask body 2a of the spacer 2 having such a structure, the outer diameter of the cylindrical substrate 6a, 6b having an outer diameter of 20-300 mm is 0.2 mm or less. The feature is that it is set to have a gap. By providing such a gap, as the substrate temperature rises to about 300 ° C., it is preferable that the gap becomes smaller and the two come into contact with each other. If this gap exceeds 0.2 mm, the electrical conduction between the two substrates 6a and 6b becomes unstable, and further, the film wraps around the gap, further preventing deformation of the edge of the substrate. Is reduced. Since the substrates 6a and 6b and the spacer 2 are thermally expanded during film formation, this numerical limitation is a non-deposition condition, and hereinafter, the same numerical limitation is a non-deposition condition. .

Moreover, according to the present invention, with respect to the ring-shaped mask body 2a, the end portions of the outer peripheral surfaces of the substrates 6a and 6b having a length dimension of 200 to 500 mm are extended in the central axis direction of the cylindrical substrates 6a and 6b. Another feature is that the structure is such that it covers in the range of 2 to 40 mm. If the mask size is less than 2 mm, the effect of preventing the deformation of the edge of the substrate cannot be obtained, and if it exceeds 40 mm, the effective film formation area of the substrates 6a and 6b is reduced, which is unsuitable.

According to experiments by the present inventors, when the ratio of the ring-shaped inner area of the mask body 2a to the area of the outer peripheral surfaces of the substrates 6a and 6b is set to 0.2% or more, both substrates 6a, It was also confirmed that stable electrical continuity was obtained between 6b.

As well as having the same function as the spacer 2 provided with the ring-shaped mask body 2a, mask bodies 16 and 17 are also provided at the other end portions of both substrates 6a and 6b.

In order to manufacture an a-Si photoconductor by the glow discharge decomposition apparatus 1 having the above structure, both the substrates 6a and 6b are rotated under the above-mentioned power application system and gas flow system, and further the substrates 6a and 6b are rotated. The substrate temperature is raised to about 300 ° C. by the heater 18 provided inside, and the a-Si layer is vapor-phase grown on the peripheral surfaces of the substrates 6a and 6b by glow discharge. Then, the gas decomposition residual gas generated by the vapor phase growth is discharged through the gas discharge port 14. The arrow in the figure indicates the gas flow.

The experimental results using the above glow discharge decomposition apparatus 1 will be described below. Table 1 shows the dimensions of the substrates 6a and 6b, the mask dimensions (length) of the ring-shaped mask body 2a in the direction of the central axis of the substrates 6a and 6b, the thickness, and the gap (gap) from the outer peripheral surface of the substrates 6a and 6b. Indicates.

[0015]

[Table 1]

Table 2 shows film forming conditions. According to the table, the a-Si photoconductor has a three-layer structure in which a carrier injection layer, a photoconductive layer, and a surface layer are sequentially laminated, and the respective gas flow rates, electric powers, and substrate temperatures are shown.

[0017]

[Table 2]

The surface potential characteristics of the thus-produced a-Si photosensitive member were measured under the measurement conditions shown in Table 3, and the results shown in FIG. 3 were obtained. The surface potential characteristics are as follows: After the a-Si photoconductor was left in the dark, it was rotated, and the surface potential when a constant current was applied to the charger while applying static elimination light was taken as the dark part surface potential, and then exposed. In this case, the surface potential was defined as the bright surface potential. As is clear from the results shown in FIG. 3, the surface potential value was substantially uniform in the vicinity of the spacer 2 and in the axial direction of the substrates 6a and 6b.

[0019]

[Table 3]

Further, a non-film-forming portion 19 is formed at the end portion of the substrate after the film-forming is completed, as shown in FIG. In the substrates 6a and 6b thus formed, the stress was not concentrated on the end portions thereof, so that the end portions of the substrate were not deformed and the a-Si layer on the end face was not peeled off.

Further, without using the spacer 2 provided with the ring-shaped mask body 2a, the spacer 20 of FIG. 5 already proposed by Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 64-53758 is provided instead, and all other conditions are the same. Then, an a-Si photosensitive member of a comparative example was manufactured. Then, when the surface potential characteristics of the photoconductor were measured, the results shown in FIG. 6 were obtained. As is clear from the figure, although the electrical conductivity between the substrates 6a and 6b is enhanced by the spacer 20, the deformation of the substrate end portion causes the dark portion surface to extend in the axial direction of the effective region. The characteristic showed that the potential was non-uniform.

Further, the end portion of the a-Si photosensitive member of this comparative example was deformed as shown in FIG. 7, and part of the a-Si layer was peeled off. FIG. 8 shows the result of measuring the outer diameter near the edge of the substrate.

As described above, the a-Si photoconductor manufactured according to the present invention has a uniform surface potential over the entire outer peripheral surfaces of both substrates 6a and 6b, and further, the deformation of the substrate end portion and the vicinity of the substrate are caused. There was no peeling of the a-Si layer formed on the substrate. On the other hand, in the a-Si photoconductor of the comparative example, the surface potential was uneven over the outer peripheral surfaces of both substrates 6a and 6b. Further, the edge portion of the substrate was deformed, or the a-Si layer formed near the substrate was peeled off.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and improvements may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, although two substrates are provided in the above embodiment, three or more substrates may be stacked and a spacer may be provided between the individual substrates.

[0025]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the glow discharge decomposition apparatus of the present invention, the gap between the plurality of cylindrical substrates is 0.2 mm or less as compared with the outer peripheral surface of the substrates, and the end of the outer peripheral surface of the substrate is Even if the substrate temperature is lowered to room temperature after the film formation by interposing a spacer having a ring-shaped mask body covering the portion in the range of 2 to 40 mm over the central axis direction of the cylindrical substrate, a- Even if stress concentrates on the edges of each substrate due to the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the Si layer and the substrate, no film is formed in the substrate area covered by the ring-shaped mask body, which results in the substrate Even if the edges were deformed, the problem of peeling of the a-Si layer was solved.

Further, according to the glow discharge decomposition apparatus of the present invention, since the electrical continuity between the individual cylindrical substrates is good, the internal resistance thereof becomes small, and thus the unevenness of the electric field becomes small and uniform. A film can be formed, and the power cost is reduced, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a glow discharge decomposition apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an arrangement state of a glow discharge decomposition device of a spacer having a ring-shaped mask body.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the surface potential of an amorphous silicon photoconductor according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an end portion of an amorphous silicon photoconductor according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a conventional spacer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the surface potential of a conventional amorphous silicon photoconductor.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an end portion of a conventional amorphous silicon photoconductor.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an outer diameter deformation amount of an end portion of an amorphous silicon photoconductor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 spacer 2a mask body 2b spacer part 3 reaction vessel 4 glow discharge electrode plate 5 conductive substrate support 6a, 6b cylindrical substrate for film formation

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of cylindrical substrates having an outer diameter of 20 to 300 mm are stacked in a reaction chamber into which a film-forming gas is introduced so that their central axes are substantially the same, and these are stacked by glow discharge. In a glow discharge decomposition apparatus for forming a film on the outer peripheral surface of a substrate, a gap of 0.2 mm or less with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the substrate and an end portion of the outer peripheral surface of the substrate of 2 to 40 mm over the central axis direction of the cylindrical substrate. A glow discharge decomposition apparatus, characterized in that a spacer having a ring-shaped mask body covering a range is provided between the plurality of cylindrical substrates.