Metal film and metal film-coated member, metal oxide film and metal oxide film-coated member, thin film forming apparatus and thin film forming method for producing metal film and metal oxide film

Abstract

The metal film of the present invention is a dense film of a single crystal that has very low surface roughness and very good crystal orientation because an arithmetic mean roughness of the surface is not larger than 2 nm and a (111) peak intensity of X-ray diffraction is not less than 20 times the sum of all other peaks. Also the metal oxide film of the present invention is a dense film that includes less oxygen defects and almost no voids therein because a content of a non-oxidized metal is not higher than 1 mole % of a metal component that constitutes the metal oxide and a packing density is 0.98 or higher.

1 - 14 . (canceled)  
     
     
         15 . A metal film formed by a thin film forming method comprising the steps of holding a substrate, over the surface of which a thin film made of a metal is to be formed, in a chamber; supplying a gas for generating plasma into the chamber; applying high frequency electric field in the inner space of the chamber; heating and evaporating an evaporation material that is the material of the thin film, in the chamber; and controlling the gas supply wherein the quantity of the gas supplied into the chamber for generating plasma is controlled so as to be larger in the early stage of the thin film forming process than in the latter stage, wherein the substrate is maintained at a temperature not higher than 80° C. when the thin film is formed.  
     
     
         16 . (canceled)  
     
     
         17 . The metal film according to  claim 15 , which is formed by the thin film forming method further comprising the step of applying a direct current voltage across the substrate and the boat that holds the evaporation material, with the boat serving as an anode.  
     
     
         18 . The metal film according to  claim 15 , which is formed by the thin film forming method wherein the chamber is electrically floated.  
     
     
         19 - 22 . (canceled)  
     
     
         23 . A metal oxide film wherein a content of a non-oxidized metal is not higher than 1 mole % of a metal component that constitutes the metal oxide, and a packing density is 0.98 or higher.  
     
     
         24 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 23 , wherein a difference in the reflectivity from a theoretical value is 0.2% or less in a visible light region.  
     
     
         25 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 23 , wherein an insulation resistance is 1 GΩ or higher.  
     
     
         26 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 23 , which is at least one selected from the group consisting of chromium oxide, silicon oxide, titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, hafnium oxide and indium oxide.  
     
     
         27 . A metal film-coated member comprising a substrate and the metal film of any one of  claims 23  to  26  formed on the substrate.  
     
     
         28 . The metal film-coated member according to  claim 27 , wherein the substrate is glass, ceramics, semiconductor material, metallic material or plastic.  
     
     
         29 . The metal film-coated member according to  claim 27 , wherein the substrate is a resin film.  
     
     
         30 . A metal oxide film formed by a thin film forming method of depositing a material of a thin film turned into plasma on the surface of a substrate that is maintained at a temperature not higher than 100° C., wherein a content of a non-oxidized metal is not higher than 1 mole % of a metal component that constitutes the metal oxide and a packing density is 0.98 or higher.  
     
     
         31 . The metal film according to  claim 30 , which is formed in the condition that a temperature of the substrate is not higher than 60° C.  
     
     
         32 . The metal film according to  claim 30 , wherein a difference in the reflectivity from a theoretical value is 0.2% or less in a visible light region.  
     
     
         33 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 30 , wherein an insulation resistance is 1 GΩ or higher.  
     
     
         34 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 30 , which is made of at least one selected from the group consisting of chromium oxide, silicon oxide, titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, hafnium oxide and indium oxide.  
     
     
         35 . A metal oxide film formed by a thin film forming method comprising the steps of holding the substrate over the surface of which a thin film made of a metal oxide is to be formed in a chamber; supplying a gas for generating plasma and oxygen gas into the chamber; applying high frequency electric field in the inner space of the chamber; heating and evaporating an evaporation material that is the material of the thin film in the chamber; and controlling the gas supply wherein the quantity of gas supplied into the chamber for generating plasma is controlled so as to be larger in the early stage of the thin film forming process than in the latter stage, while the substrate is maintained at a temperature of 60° C. or lower throughout the period when the thin film is formed.  
     
     
         36 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 35 , wherein a content of a non-oxidized metal is not higher than 1 mole % of the metal component that constitutes the metal oxide and a packing density is 0.98 or higher.  
     
     
         37 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 35 , which is formed by the thin film forming method further comprising the step of applying a direct current voltage across the substrate and the boat that holds the evaporation material, with the boat serving as an anode.  
     
     
         38 . The metal oxide film according to  claim 35 , which is formed by the thin film forming method wherein the chamber is electrically floated.  
     
     
         39 . An optical coating film comprising a metal oxide film wherein the content of a non-oxidized metal is not higher than 1 mole % of the metal component which constitutes the metal oxide, and the packing density is 0.98 or higher, and a difference in reflectivity from the theoretical value is 0.2% or less in the visible light region.  
     
     
         40 . The optical coating film according to  claim 39 , wherein the metal of the metal oxide film is at least one selected from the group consisting of the Group 3, Group 4, Group 5, Group 6, Group 13 and Group 14 in the Periodic Table.  
     
     
         41 . An insulation film comprising a metal oxide film wherein content of a non-oxidized metal is not higher than 1 mole % of the metal component which constitutes the metal oxide, and the packing density is 0.98 or higher, and insulation resistance is 1 GΩ or higher.  
     
     
         42 . The insulation film according to  claim 41 , wherein the metal oxide film is made of chromium oxide.  
     
     
         43 - 59 . (canceled)