Apparatus for treating substrates
AssigneeBobst Manchester Ltd
InventorsGary Barlow, Nicholas Copeland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus for coating a substrate with a material in a chamber subject, during use, to substantial evacuation, which includes a coating station within the chamber for coating a substrate by sputtering and/or by evaporation; at least one treating station disposed in serial with the coating station and equipped with a plasma treater incorporating a plasma generator in sufficient proximity to the substrate to treat the substrate; a magnetic device for generating a magnetic field; at least one cylindrical electrode surrounding the magnetic device, the plasma treater incorporates a device for rotating the electrode about its longitudinal axis.
Claims28
An apparatus for coating a substrate with a material in a chamber subject, during use, to substantial evacuation, the apparatus comprising:
- a coating station within said chamber configured and operable for coating a substrate by evaporation at a first pressure;
- at least one treating station disposed in series with and segregated from the coating station and equipped with a plasma treater, the treater incorporating a device configured and operable for generating plasma in sufficient proximity to the substrate and to treat the substrate with the plasma at a second pressure, the second pressure being greater than the first pressure, the at least one treating station comprising;
- a magnetic device configured and operable for generating a magnetic field;
- at least one cylindrical electrode surrounding the magnetic device;
- a rotation device operable for rotating the electrode about a longitudinal axis of said electrode thereby in operation causing deposits on the electrode surface to be removed,
- wherein the plasma treater receives a gas that includes at least oxygen.
A plasma treater adapted to plasma treat a substrate, the treater comprising a device configured and operable for generating plasma in sufficient proximity to the substrate for treating the substrate with the plasma,
- a magnetic device configured and operable for generating a magnetic field,
- at least one cylindrical electrode surrounding the magnetic device,
- a rotation device operable for rotating the electrode about a longitudinal axis of said electrode thereby in operation causing deposits on the electrode surface to be removed,
- the treater being arranged to be disposed in serial with a coating station adapted to coat the substrate at a coating pressure by evaporation,
- the treater being further arranged to be segregated from and have a separate pressure environment from the coating station such that in operation the treater is arranged to operate at a treating pressure, the treating pressure being higher than the coating pressure, and the treater receives a gas that includes at least oxygen.
An apparatus for coating a substrate with a material in a chamber subject, during use, to substantial evacuation, the apparatus comprising:
- a coating station within said chamber configured and operable for coating a substrate by evaporation at a first pressure;
- at least one treating station disposed in series with and segregated from the coating station and equipped with a plasma treater, the treater incorporating a device configured and operable for generating plasma in sufficient proximity to the substrate and to treat the substrate with the plasma at a second pressure, the second pressure being greater than the first pressure, the at least one treating station comprising;
- a magnetic device configured and operable for generating a magnetic field;
- at least one cylindrical electrode surrounding the magnetic device;
- a rotation device operable for rotating the electrode about a longitudinal axis of said electrode thereby in operation causing deposits on the electrode surface to be removed,
- wherein the treating station includes only one pre-treater located upstream of the coating station and is configured and operable to perform a pre-treatment on the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.