JPH01230768A - Production of sputtering target unit and transparent conductive film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an abnormal discharge during sputtering by bonding plural target split pieces consisting of tin-contg. indium oxide to a packing plate at regular intervals, and injecting an alloy of the same quality as the main target body into the gap. CONSTITUTION:Plural target split pieces 1-3 of the indium oxide contg. about 50-20atom% of tin are worked so that the bonding surfaces are inclined at an angle of 45 deg.. The pieces 1-3 are bonded to the packing plate 4 made of steel with a bonding material 7 to produce a target unit 6. At this time, the intervals between the pieces 1-3 are controlled to 0.3-2mm, and an indium-tin alloy having the same atomic ratio of indium to tin as in the main target body is injected into the gap to bond the pieces. By this method, the chipping at the target unit boding part is prevented, and the characteristic of the formed film is uniformized.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a tin-containing indium oxide film used when forming a tin-containing indium oxide transparent conductive film (hereinafter referred to as ITO) by sputtering. A method for manufacturing a sputtering target unit having an indium target and a method for manufacturing a transparent conductive film.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, attempting to manufacture a large-area indium oxide target containing 9 tin as a single piece is technically difficult and costly depending on the dimensions. For this purpose, a tarp unit with a large area is made by bonding two or more target segment pieces to a backing plate. At this time, in order to reduce abnormal discharge at the joints of the target divided pieces, the cross sections of the target divided pieces are processed diagonally, and the interval between the divided pieces is set to 0.3 mm to 2.0 mm, preferably 0.3 mm to 2.0 mm.
It was bonded to the backing plate with a thickness of 5 mm to 1 mm.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, since the edges of the divided pieces have acute angles, they are easily broken (,
51,i The reduction of lightning discharge was also not sufficient.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, when bonding the target divided pieces of side 2-42 to the backing plate-L, the interval between the target divided pieces is set to 0. .3 mm~
2.0 mm, preferably 0.5 mm to 1 mm,
Furthermore, they invented a method for manufacturing a sputtering target unit by injecting an indium-tin alloy having an atomic ratio of indium-tin almost equal to that of the target body into the gap and bonding the divided target pieces.

The shape of the target segment may be such that the cross section can be machined diagonally so that abnormal discharge can be reduced even without an indium-tin alloy. Maintain a spacing that prevents plasma from entering, preferably a spacing of 0.3 mm to 2.0 mm.
, particularly preferably with a thickness of 0.5 mm to 1 mm on the backing plate. Historically, the composition of the indium-tin alloy injected into this gap was determined by the principle 111 that the composition of the material sputtered from the oxide target body and the alloy junction were approximately equal. It is desirable to make it almost shaded with the target body, and since the indium-tin content of the target body is 5 to 20 wL%, the composition of the alloy joint is preferably 5 to 20 wt%. It is desirable to do so.

[Function] In the present invention, the indium-tin alloy placed in the gap between the target pieces fills the sharp corners or edges of the target pieces, so that sputtering that is likely to occur at acute angles can be avoided. Makes abnormal discharge 1 preventable. In addition, since alloys generally have a higher sputtering rate than oxides, the alloy joints are sputtered more, creating depressions between the ridges and target segments. However, the joints are processed diagonally to prevent plasma from entering. Because it is kept at a certain depth, it does not go deeper than a certain depth. Furthermore, the indium-tin atomic ratios of the target body and the alloy joint are almost the same, and the area of the alloy joint compared to the target body is
Since it is very small, the uniformity of the film formed by sputtering can be maintained.

Example Example 1 100mm x 100mm x 5m as shown in Figure 1.2
Make three target segments 1 to 3 of indium oxide sintered body containing 10% tin in atomic ratio and have a thickness of m, and process the surfaces that will become the joints of target segments 1 to 3 at an angle of 45°. did. Thereafter, these target divided pieces 1 to 3 were bonded to a backing plate 4 made of copper using a bonding material 7 to manufacture a target unit 6. At that time, a distance of 1 mm was maintained between the joints. next,
An indium-tin alloy containing 10% tin in atomic ratio is melted and poured into the target so as to fill the gap between the targets and solidified to form an indium-tin alloy joint 5.
′, the excess alloy that would cause lightning discharge was removed. Using the target unit 6 made in this way, ITO is applied to the glass plate 1- by sputtering.
A film was formed. As a result, the frequency of abnormal discharge during sputtering in the target unit with alloy injected in the joint is 1/I compared to the target unit without alloy injected in the joint.
It decreased to more than O. In addition, the distribution of J, t, root cause resistance, and transmittance of 20cn + square was within 5%, and the distribution of film thickness was within 10%, which was equivalent to that without injecting the alloy into the joint. .

[Operations and Effects of the Invention] The present invention provides the following advantages:
°4 It has the excellent feature of preventing regular discharge and preventing chipping at the joints of the target unit, which often occur during transportation or installation of the target unit. Another feature is that by making the indium-tin atomic ratio of the alloy to be used almost the same as that of the target body, the characteristics of the film formed can be made uniform. Also, compared to a one-piece target, there is less strain inside the target, which affects the temperature during sputtering.
The effect of reducing the occurrence of cracks, which are thought to be caused by

Furthermore, if an l'F0 film is formed on a light-transmitting substrate by sputtering using the target unit manufactured according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of abnormal discharge, thereby reducing the distribution of resistance and transmittance. , and an ITO film with a small thickness distribution can be manufactured.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sputter mm target unit manufactured according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view of a joint portion of the target unit of FIG. 1: Target division piece 2: Target division piece 3: Target division j1 4: Packing plate 5: Indium-tin alloy joint 6: Target unit 7: Bonding material

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a method for manufacturing a sputtering target unit in which a split target of tin-containing indium oxide used when forming a tin-containing indium oxide transparent conductive film by sputtering is bonded to a backing plate, the target segment the interval of 0.3
A method for manufacturing a sputtering target unit, characterized in that the gap is between 2 mm and 2 mm, and further injected into the gap with an indium-tin alloy equal to the atomic ratio of indium and tin in the target body to bond the target divided pieces. (2) A method for producing a transparent conductive film, in which a tin-containing indium oxide film is formed on a light-transmitting substrate by sputtering using the tin-containing indium oxide target according to claim (1).