Method for producing photosensitive film for electrophotography
First Claim
1. In a method of producing a photosensitive film on a substrate surface including generating a glow discharge in a space between a cylindrical conductive substrate coaxially supported by a rotatable support arranged in a reaction chamber and a cylindrical electrode coaxially opposed to the surface of said cylindrical conductive substrate to decompose a reaction gas introduced into said reaction chamber, said method comprising previously cleaning said surface of said substrate, and supplying or exhausting said reaction gas to or from said space between said substrate and said electrode so as to be uniformly dispersed in an axial direction of at least said substrate.
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Abstract
Disclosed are method and apparatus for producing highly uniform films of photosensitive materials (e.g., amorphous silicon) for electrophotography on large diameter cylindrical metal substrates (e.g., aluminum or stainless steel) by plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The cylindrical substrate is rotatably mounted in a reaction chamber and serves as an electrode. A hollow metallic second electrode in the reaction chamber coaxially surrounds the substrate and is spaced apart therefrom. Hydrogen gas is first introduced into the inter-electrode space between the substrate and the second electrodes, and a high-frequency electric field is applied to the two electrodes to generate a glow discharge for plasma cleaning of the substrate surface. The hydrogen gas is then pumped out of the reaction chamber, and a reaction gas of monosilane (SiH4) is then flowed through the inter-electrode space and a glow discharge is again generated between the electrodes to decompose the silane and to cause amorphous silicon to deposit on the surface of the substrate. During deposition both the substrate and the second electrode are electrically heated. The reaction gas is introduced and exhausted in a manner such that reaction gas density in the inter-electrode space is uniform along the axial direction.
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Citations
9 Claims
- 1. In a method of producing a photosensitive film on a substrate surface including generating a glow discharge in a space between a cylindrical conductive substrate coaxially supported by a rotatable support arranged in a reaction chamber and a cylindrical electrode coaxially opposed to the surface of said cylindrical conductive substrate to decompose a reaction gas introduced into said reaction chamber, said method comprising previously cleaning said surface of said substrate, and supplying or exhausting said reaction gas to or from said space between said substrate and said electrode so as to be uniformly dispersed in an axial direction of at least said substrate.
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