CN113394144B

CN113394144B - Substrate carrier, film forming apparatus, substrate carrier conveying method, and film forming method

Info

Publication number: CN113394144B
Application number: CN202110269191.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 铃木健太郎
Original assignee: Canon Tokki Corp
Current assignee: Canon Tokki Corp
Priority date: 2020-03-13
Filing date: 2021-03-12
Publication date: 2023-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2041-03-12
Also published as: CN113394144A; JP2021145096A; KR102613397B1; JP7162631B2; KR20210116252A

Abstract

The invention provides a substrate carrier, a film forming apparatus, a method for conveying the substrate carrier, and a film forming method. In a film forming apparatus for forming a film while holding and conveying a substrate by a substrate carrier, the efficiency of circulating the substrate carrier can be improved. The substrate carrier has: a plate-like member that holds a substrate; a pair of first members fixed to a first side and a second side of the plate-like member in a first direction, respectively, and extending in the first direction, respectively; and a pair of second members fixed to the third side and the fourth side of the plate-like member in a second direction intersecting the first direction, respectively, and extending in the second direction, respectively.

Description

Substrate carrier, film forming apparatus, substrate carrier conveying method, and film forming method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a substrate carrier, a film forming apparatus, a method for transporting the substrate carrier, and a film forming method.

Background

As a method for manufacturing an organic EL display, a mask film forming method is known in which a film having a predetermined pattern is formed by forming a film on a substrate through a mask having openings formed in the predetermined pattern. In the mask film forming method, after aligning the mask with the substrate, the mask is brought into close contact with the substrate to form a film.

Patent document 1 describes the following: the substrate is held to a clamping plate (also referred to as a "substrate carrier") and transported along with the clamping plate. This enables conveyance of a large-area substrate having a large deflection. Patent document 1 describes that a substrate is bonded to a mask in a state where the substrate is held on a substrate carrier, and film formation is performed. In patent document 1, after a series of film formation onto a substrate is completed, the substrate and the substrate carrier are separated, the separated substrate carrier is returned to the chuck chamber through a return line, and another substrate is held in the chuck chamber on the returned substrate carrier, and film formation is performed.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: korean laid-open patent No. 10-2018-0067031

Problems to be solved by the invention

Patent document 1 describes that a substrate carrier from which a substrate is separated is circulated through a return line, but it is not studied how to circulate the substrate carrier specifically. In addition, the specific structure of the substrate carrier is not studied either.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve efficiency in circulating a substrate carrier in a film forming apparatus that holds and conveys a substrate by the substrate carrier and performs film formation.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problems, a substrate carrier according to the present invention includes:

a plate-like member that holds a substrate;

a pair of first members fixed to a first side and a second side of the plate-like member along a first direction, respectively, and extending along the first direction, respectively; and

and a pair of second members fixed to third and fourth sides of the plate-like member along a second direction intersecting the first direction, respectively, and extending along the second direction, respectively.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, in a film forming apparatus that performs film formation while holding and conveying a substrate by a substrate carrier, the efficiency in circulating the substrate carrier can be improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of a substrate carrier according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a lower surface of a substrate carrier according to an embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a tandem manufacturing system of an organic EL panel according to an embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a conveyance state of the substrate carrier and the mask according to the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a conveyance state of the carrier according to the embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an alignment mechanism of an embodiment.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the carrier holding portion and the mask holding portion according to the embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an alignment mechanism of an embodiment.

Fig. 9 (a) and (b) are schematic diagrams in the case where the deflection amount of the carrier is small and a gap is present between the carrier and the mask.

Fig. 10 (a) and (b) are schematic views of the alignment state of the carrier according to the embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of the rotary translation mechanism.

Fig. 12 (a) to (c) are plan views and enlarged views of marks showing the holding of the substrate and the mask.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing each step of the processing in the embodiment.

Fig. 14 (a) and (b) are explanatory views of the organic EL display device.

Description of the reference numerals

100: alignment chamber, 1: alignment device, 8: substrate carrier supporting portion, 9: substrate carrier, 60: alignment mechanism, 11: rotation translation mechanism, 10: z lifting slide block, 13: z lift base, 18: z guide, 70: control part, 5: a substrate, 6: mask, 6a: mask frame, 31: seat block

Detailed Description

Embodiment 1

The following is a description of an exemplary embodiment for carrying out the present invention with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the structural members described in the embodiments are not limited to those described above unless specifically described.

A substrate carrier, a film forming apparatus, a film forming method, and a method of manufacturing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 13. In the following description, a mask mounting apparatus and the like provided in an apparatus for manufacturing an electronic device will be described as an example. A case where a vacuum vapor deposition method is used as a film forming method for manufacturing an electronic device will be described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a sputtering method is used as a film forming method. The mask mounting apparatus and the like of the present invention can be applied to various apparatuses that require a mask to be mounted on a substrate, in addition to an apparatus used in a film forming process, and in particular, can be preferably applied to an apparatus that is a processing target for a large-sized substrate. As a material to be applied to the substrate of the present invention, any material such as a semiconductor (for example, silicon), a film of a polymer material, and a metal may be selected in addition to glass. As the substrate, for example, a silicon wafer or a substrate having a film such as polyimide laminated on a glass substrate may be used. When a plurality of layers are formed on a substrate, the substrate is also referred to as a "substrate" including the layers that have been formed up to the previous step. In the case where a plurality of identical or corresponding components are provided in the same drawing of various devices and the like described below, the references a, b and the like may be denoted by the references a, b and the like in the drawings, but the references A, B, a, b and the like may be omitted when the distinction is not necessary in the description.

(Carrier Structure)

Fig. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing the structure of a substrate carrier 9 to which a rail as a guided member of the present invention is applied. The substrate carrier 9 is a flat plate-like structure having a rectangular shape in plan view, and pairs of rails (51 a, 51 b) are provided on both side surfaces of the substrate carrier 9 in the vicinity of two opposing sides among four sides constituting the rectangular outer peripheral edge portion. The substrate carrier 9 is supported by supporting the pair of rails (51 a, 51 b) on the conveying rollers 15 as conveying rotating bodies arranged along the conveying direction on both sides of the conveying path of the substrate carrier 9. By this supporting structure, the movement of the substrate carrier 9 in the transport direction is guided by the rotation of the transport roller 15. Fig. 1 and 2 show a state in which the substrate carrier 9 supports the vicinities of the two opposite sides out of four sides constituting the rectangular outer peripheral edge portion by the conveying roller 15, and show a case in which a central portion (a central portion in a direction along the two opposite sides other than the supporting side out of four sides) separated from the two supporting sides is deformed so as to be recessed downward in the gravity direction due to deformation caused by self weight. Fig. 1 shows the substrate carrier 9 when the substrate carrier 9 is viewed from obliquely above, and fig. 2 shows the substrate carrier 9 when the substrate carrier 9 is viewed from obliquely below, with the conveyance roller 15 omitted. The structure of the substrate carrier 9 will be described with reference to these drawings.

The substrate carrier 9 includes: a carrier panel 30 as a rectangular flat plate-like member; 4

rails

50a, 50b, 51a, 51b fixed to the side surface of the carrier panel 30; and a clamping member 32. In the present embodiment, the case where the carrier panel 30 provided in the substrate carrier 9 is a rectangular member is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is sufficient to provide two pairs of opposing sides and provide rail pairs corresponding to the respective opposing sides.

The

rails

50a, 50b, 51a, 51b are provided one for each of the four sides of the rectangular outer periphery of the carrier panel 30, and the rails provided on the two opposite sides (the

rails

50a and 50b, and the

rails

51a and 51 b) are paired with each other and function as guided portions when the substrate carrier 9 is conveyed.

The pair of the

rails

51a and 51b in the two pairs of rails is used for conveying the substrate carrier 9 at the time of film formation of the substrate 5, and the pair of the

rails

50a and 50b orthogonal thereto is used in a conveying path for switching the conveying direction on the circulating conveying path of the substrate carrier 9. That is, the pair of the

rails

51a and 51b as the first guided member is supported and conveyed by a first conveying rotating body (described later) when conveyed in the first direction, and the pair of the

rails

50a and 50b as the second guided member is supported and conveyed by a second conveying rotating body (described later) when conveyed in the second direction. In the present embodiment, the case where the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any direction may be used as long as the first direction and the second direction intersect.

In order to reduce the weight of the entire substrate carrier 9, the carrier panel 30 is preferably made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy as a main material. On the other hand, the rails 50, 51 of the substrate carrier 9 of the present embodiment are preferably made of a material having a higher young's modulus than the carrier panel 30, such as stainless steel or high-rigidity steel after rust-proof plating. This reduces vibration of the entire substrate carrier 9 generated during conveyance, and reduces generation of particles and chips generated when the substrate carrier contacts the conveying roller 15.

In addition, the surfaces of the rails 50, 51 of the substrate carrier 9 of the present embodiment are subjected to surface treatment for increasing hardness, such as DLC coating, for example, whereby the effects of suppressing wear and grinding at the time of conveyance on the contact surface with the conveying roller 15 and reducing the generation of particles can be obtained. As the surface treatment of the rails 50, 51, other methods such as quenching may be used.

The chuck member 32 is a member for holding the substrate 5 along a holding surface constituted by the carrier panel 30. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, a plurality of the clip members 32 are disposed inside a plurality of holes provided in the carrier panel 30. An adhesive member is disposed at a portion of the chuck member 32 facing the substrate 5, and the substrate 5 can be held by an adhesive force. Clamping member 32 may also be referred to as an adhesive pad. The chuck member 32 is preferably arranged according to the shape of the mask 6, and more preferably, is arranged corresponding to the portions of the bars of the mask 6. This can prevent the temperature distribution in the film formation region of the substrate 5 from being affected by the contact between the chuck member 32 and the substrate 5. In the present embodiment, the clamping member 32 is a member for holding the substrate 5 by an adhesive force, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a member (electrostatic chuck) for holding the substrate 5 by an electrostatic force may be used as the clamping member 32.

A manufacturing system (film forming apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a manufacturing system 300 for manufacturing an organic EL panel (organic EL display device) in series. The organic EL panel is generally manufactured through an organic light emitting element forming process of forming an organic light emitting element on a substrate and a sealing process of forming a protective layer on the formed organic light emitting layer, but the manufacturing system 300 of the present embodiment mainly performs the organic light emitting element forming process.

As shown in fig. 3, the manufacturing system 300 includes an alignment chamber 100 (mask mounting chamber), a plurality of film forming chambers 110, a spin chamber 111, a transfer chamber 112, a mask separating chamber 113, a substrate separating chamber 114, a substrate loading chamber 117 (substrate mounting chamber), a transfer chamber 118, and a transfer chamber 115. The manufacturing system 300 further includes a conveyance member, which will be described later, by which the substrate carrier 9 is conveyed along a predetermined conveyance path in each chamber provided in the manufacturing system 300. Specifically, in the configuration of fig. 3, the substrate carrier 9 is transported through the chambers in this order of the alignment chamber 100 (mask mounting chamber), the plurality of film forming chambers 110a, the spin chamber 111a, the transport chamber 112, the spin chamber 111b, the plurality of film forming chambers 110b, the mask separating chamber 113, the substrate separating chamber 114, the substrate loading chamber 117, and the transport chamber 115, and is returned to the alignment chamber 100 again. In this way, the substrate carrier 9 is conveyed along a predetermined conveyance path (circulation conveyance path) in a circulating manner. The manufacturing system 300 in this embodiment further includes a mask loading chamber 90 and a mask transfer chamber 116. The function of each chamber will be described below.

The substrate carrier 9 is circulated and conveyed on the circulation and conveyance path, whereas the mask 6 is put on the circulation and conveyance path from the mask putting chamber 90 and is sent out from the mask conveying chamber 116. The substrate 5 without film formation is fed from the substrate feeding chamber 117 onto the circulation transport path, and after film formation is performed while being held by the substrate carrier 9, the substrate 5 with film formation is fed from the substrate separating chamber 114. The substrate 5, which is not formed with a film and is fed into the substrate loading chamber 117, is held on the substrate carrier 9 in the substrate feeding chamber 117, and is fed into the alignment chamber 100 through the transport chamber 118 and the transport chamber 115.

The substrate loading chamber 117 and the substrate separation chamber 114 are provided with a reversing mechanism (not shown) for reversing the orientation of the holding surface of the substrate carrier 9 from the vertical direction upward to the vertical direction downward or from the vertical direction downward to the vertical direction upward. The substrate 5 is fed into the substrate loading chamber 117 arranged with the holding surface of the substrate carrier 9 facing upward in the vertical direction and placed on the holding surface of the substrate carrier 9 with the film-formed surface facing upward in the vertical direction, and held by the substrate carrier 9. Thereafter, the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 is turned over by a turning mechanism, not shown, and the film formation surface of the substrate 5 is oriented vertically downward. On the other hand, when the substrate carrier 9 is fed from the mask separating chamber 113 to the substrate separating chamber 114, the substrate 5 is fed with the film formation surface facing downward in the vertical direction. After the transfer, the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 is turned over by a turning mechanism, not shown, and the film formation surface of the substrate 5 is oriented vertically upward. Thereafter, the substrate 5 is sent out from the substrate separation chamber 114 with the film formation surface facing upward in the vertical direction.

When the substrate carrier 9, which is turned upside down while holding the substrate 5 loaded in the substrate loading chamber 117, is transferred into the alignment chamber 100, the mask 6 is transferred from the mask loading chamber 90 into the alignment chamber 100 in accordance with this. The alignment device 1 is mounted in the alignment chamber 100 (mask mounting chamber), the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 of the present embodiment and the mask 6 are aligned with high accuracy, the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) is placed on the mask 6, and thereafter, the substrate is transferred to the transfer roller 15 (transfer member), and the transfer to the next step is started. The substrate 5, the mask 6, and the substrate carrier 9 are conveyed on the conveyance path without changing the orientation. Namely, the following conveying method is adopted: even if the extending direction of the conveying path is changed, the direction is not changed and only the traveling direction is changed, respectively. The conveying roller 15 as a conveying member has the following structure: a plurality of substrates are disposed on both sides of the conveyance path in the conveyance direction, and rotated by driving force of an AC servomotor (not shown), thereby conveying the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6. On the conveying path, either one or both of a pair (15 Aa, 15 Ab) of conveying rollers 15A as a first conveying rotator for conveying in the first direction and a pair (15 Ba, 15 Bb) of conveying rollers 15B as a second conveying rotator for conveying in the second direction are provided according to the conveying direction.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the state in which both ends in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the lower surface of the mask 6 on which the substrate carrier 9 is mounted are supported by the conveying rollers 15, as viewed in the conveying direction, after alignment is completed. Since the mask 6 on which the substrate carrier 9 is mounted is supported by the conveyor rollers 15 only at both ends in the width direction, the central portion in the width direction is deformed in a downward convex shape so as to be recessed downward by its own weight together with the substrate carrier 9. In this state, the movement in the transport direction is guided by the transport rollers 15, and the film is formed on the substrate 5 by passing over the vapor deposition source 7 in the film forming chamber 110. Since the track 51 in the transport direction of the present invention passes over the transport rollers 15 during film formation, the substrate carrier 9 itself is excited by the influence of vibration at this time, and there is a possibility that positional displacement between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 may occur. Therefore, the film-forming direction rails 51 preferably have as high rigidity as possible. On the other hand, as described later, the track 50 of the present invention, which is a direction orthogonal to the film formation direction, is preferably low in rigidity, that is, relatively low in rigidity as compared with the track 51, from the viewpoint of ensuring the adhesion and alignment accuracy between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6.

In fig. 3, in a film forming chamber 110a at the front stage of the transport path, a substrate 5 adsorbed to a substrate carrier 9 fed in passes over a vapor deposition source 7, and film formation is performed on a surface of the substrate 5 except for a portion shielded by a mask 6. The substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are rotated by 90 ° in the traveling direction in the rotation chamber 111a, pass through the transfer chamber 112, pass through the rotation chamber 111b (further rotated by 90 °) and are fed into the film forming chamber 110b at the rear stage of the transfer path. In each of the rotation chambers 111, a pair (15 Aa, 15 Ab) of conveying rollers 15A as a first conveying rotator for conveying the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 in the first direction and a pair (15 Ba, 15 Bb) of conveying rollers 15B as a second conveying rotator for conveying the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 in the second direction are provided. The transfer of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 is performed by making the heights of the first conveying rotating body and the second conveying rotating body different, and only the traveling direction is changed without changing the orientations of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6. Specifically, in a state where the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are supported by the first conveying rotating body, the second conveying rotating body is raised upward from below and moved to a position higher than the first conveying rotating body, whereby the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are supported by the second conveying rotating body, and transfer can be realized.

After the film formation is completed, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are conveyed to the mask separation chamber 113, and the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 is separated from the mask 6 in the mask separation chamber 113. The substrate carrier 9 separated from the mask 6 is transported to the substrate separation chamber 114, and the substrate 5 having completed the film formation is separated from the substrate carrier 9 in the substrate separation chamber 114 and recovered from the circulation transport path. In the substrate separation chamber 114, the substrate carrier 9 is turned over as described above. On the other hand, the mask 6 separated from the substrate carrier 9 is directly transferred to the mask transfer chamber 116 via the transfer chamber 118. A new substrate 5 is loaded and adsorbed onto the substrate carrier 9 in the substrate loading chamber 117. In the substrate loading chamber 117, the substrate carrier 9 is turned over as described above. The substrate carrier 9 is again transferred to the alignment chamber 100 through the transfer chamber 118 and the transfer chamber 115. Next, in the alignment chamber 100, the mask 6 transferred from the throw-in chamber 90 is aligned and placed thereon. In the conveying chamber 118, conveying rollers having different (orthogonal) conveying directions are provided to the upper and lower layers. The plurality of lower conveying roller pairs aligned in the first direction are used when conveying the mask 6 separated in the mask separating chamber 113 from the mask conveying chamber 116. The plurality of upper conveying roller pairs aligned in the second direction are used when conveying the substrate carrier 9 fed from the substrate loading chamber 117 to the conveying chamber 115.

Fig. 5 shows a state in which the substrate carrier 9 is placed alone on the transport roller 15. The substrate carrier 9 is mounted on the transport roller 15 via a rail 51 and a rail 50. The rail 51 is placed on the conveying roller 15A as the first conveying rotator for conveying in the first direction, and the rail 50 is placed on the conveying roller 15B as the second conveying rotator for conveying in the second direction. As described above, since the process of separating the substrate 5 from the substrate carrier 9, the process of holding the substrate 5 on the substrate carrier 9, the process of conveying the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 and putting it into the alignment chamber 100, and the like are included, it is necessary to be able to convey the substrate carrier 9 alone in both the film forming direction and the direction orthogonal to the film forming direction. Therefore, by disposing the rail 50 as the second conveyance member for conveyance in the second direction and the rail 51 as the first conveyance member for conveyance in the first direction on the substrate carrier 9 as in the present embodiment, the substrate carrier 9 can be conveyed in the first direction and the second direction, and efficient conveyance can be performed. Further, by using a member having high wear resistance as the first member to be conveyed and the second member to be conveyed, wear resistance at the contact portion with the conveying roller 15 can be ensured, and dust emission from the contact portion of the conveying roller 15 with the substrate carrier 9 can be reduced. This prevents particles and chips from scattering in the production line and from adhering to the substrate 5 and the substrate carrier 9 in the film forming apparatus. As a result, the substrate carrier 9 can be conveyed in the first direction and the second direction while suppressing a reduction in yield during film formation.

Fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of an alignment mechanism of the tandem vapor deposition apparatus according to the present embodiment.

The vapor deposition apparatus generally includes a chamber 4 and an alignment device 1 for performing relative positional alignment with respect to a substrate 5 and a mask 6 held by a substrate carrier portion 9. The chamber 4 can be configured such that a chamber pressure is adjusted by a chamber pressure control unit (not shown) including a vacuum pump and a chamber pressure gauge, and an evaporation source 7 (film forming source) containing a vapor deposition material 71 (film forming material) can be disposed inside the chamber 4, whereby a depressurized film forming space 2 is formed inside the chamber. In the film forming space 2, the vapor deposition material splashes from the evaporation source 7 toward the substrate 5, and a film is formed on the substrate. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 12, the mask 6 has a structure in which a mask foil 6b having a thickness of about several μm to several tens μm is welded and fixed to a frame-like mask frame 6 a. The mask frame 6a supports the mask foil 6b in a state in which the mask foil 6b is stretched in the plane direction (X direction and Y direction described later) so that the mask foil 6b does not flex. Openings corresponding to a desired film formation pattern are formed in the mask foil 6 b. When a glass substrate or a substrate having a film made of a resin such as polyimide formed on the glass substrate is used as the substrate 5, an iron alloy, preferably an iron alloy containing nickel, can be used as the main material of the mask frame 6a and the mask foil 6 b. Specific examples of the iron alloy containing nickel include invar alloy materials containing 34 to 38 mass% of nickel, super invar alloy materials containing cobalt in addition to 30 to 34 mass% of nickel, and low-thermal expansion fe—ni-based plating alloys containing 38 to 54 mass% of nickel.

In the illustrated example, a description will be given of a structure in which upward deposition of film formation is performed in a state where a film formation surface of a substrate is directed downward in a gravitational direction at the time of film formation. However, the deposition may be performed in a state where the film formation surface of the substrate is oriented upward in the gravity direction during film formation. The substrate may be vertically raised to form a film with the film formation surface substantially parallel to the gravity direction, and the side deposition may be performed. That is, the present invention can be suitably used when positioning with high accuracy in a state where sagging or bending occurs in at least one member of the substrate carrier and the mask is required to be generated when the substrate held by the carrier and the mask are brought into relative proximity.

The chamber 4 has an upper partition wall 4a (ceiling), side walls 4b, and a bottom wall 4c. The inside of the chamber may be maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, or in an inert gas atmosphere such as nitrogen gas, in addition to the above-described reduced pressure atmosphere. In the present specification, the term "vacuum" refers to a state in a space filled with a gas having a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, and typically refers to a state in a space filled with a gas having a pressure lower than 1atm (1013 hPa).

The evaporation source 7 may include a material storage portion such as a crucible for storing the vapor deposition material, and a heating member such as a sheath heater for heating the vapor deposition material. Further, by providing a mechanism for moving the material storage portion in a plane substantially parallel to the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 or a mechanism for moving the entire evaporation source 7, the position of the outlet from which the vapor deposition material is injected can be relatively displaced with respect to the substrate 5 in the chamber 4, and the film formation onto the substrate 5 can be made uniform.

The alignment apparatus 1 generally includes an alignment mechanism 60 (alignment member), and the alignment mechanism 60 is mounted on the upper partition wall 3a of the chamber 4 to drive the substrate carrier 9 so as to align the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 in opposition. The alignment apparatus 1 has a carrier support 8 (substrate carrier support) that holds a substrate carrier 9, a mask receiving table 16 (mask support) that holds a mask 6, and a conveying roller 15 (conveying member).

The alignment mechanism 60 is provided outside the chamber 4, and moves at least one of the substrate carrier support and the mask support to change the relative positional relationship between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6. In the present embodiment, the alignment mechanism 60 moves the carrier support portion 8 as the substrate carrier support portion. The alignment mechanism 60 generally includes a rotation translation mechanism 11 (in-plane moving member), a Z lift base 13, and a Z lift slider 10.

The rotation/translation mechanism 11 is connected to the upper partition wall 4a of the chamber 4, and drives the Z lift base 13 in the X direction, the Y direction, and the θ direction (these are also collectively referred to as the xyθ direction). The Z lift base 13 is connected to the rotary translation mechanism 11, and serves as a base when the substrate carrier 9 moves in the Z direction. The Z-lift slider 10 is a member movable in the Z direction along the Z guide 18. The Z lift slider is connected to the substrate carrier support 8 via a substrate holding shaft 12.

In this configuration, when the rotation translation mechanism 11 drives the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 in the substantially parallel plane with the XY θ (drives in the XY θ direction), the Z lift base 13, the Z lift slider 10, and the substrate holding shaft 12 move integrally, and a driving force is transmitted to the carrier support portion 8. The substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 is moved in a plane substantially parallel to the substrate 5 and the mask 6. The mask 6 and the substrate 5 are deflected by gravity as will be described later, but the plane substantially parallel to the substrate 5 and the mask 6 herein refers to a plane substantially parallel to the substrate 5 and the mask 6 in an ideal state where no deflection occurs. For example, in a structure in which the substrate 5 and the mask 6 are horizontally arranged such as upward deposition or downward deposition, the substrate 5 is moved in a horizontal plane by the rotation-translation mechanism 11. When the Z lift slider 10 is driven in the Z direction with respect to the Z lift base 13 by the Z guide 18, a driving force is transmitted to the carrier support portion 8 via the substrate holding shafts 12 (in the present embodiment, 4

substrate holding shafts

12a, 12b, 12c, 12d are provided, and in fig. 8, the shaft 12d is hidden from the substrate 5 and the mask 6 and is not shown). Further, the distance of the substrate 5 with respect to the mask 6 is varied (separated or approximated). That is, the Z lift base 13, and the Z guide 18 function as distance changing members of the alignment members.

As shown in the example, by disposing the alignment mechanism 60 including a large number of movable parts outside the film forming space, dust emission in the film forming space or the space in which alignment is performed can be suppressed. This can prevent the mask and the substrate from being contaminated by dust, and thus can prevent the film formation accuracy from being lowered. In the present embodiment, the structure in which the alignment mechanism 60 moves the substrate 5 in the xyθ direction and the Z direction has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the alignment mechanism 60 may move the mask 6, or may move both the substrate 5 and the mask 6. That is, the alignment mechanism 60 is a mechanism that moves at least one of the substrate 5 and the mask 6, and thereby can align the relative positions of the substrate 5 and the mask 6.

The substrate carrier 9 has a carrier panel 30 (panel member), a seating block 31 (seating member), and a chucking member 32.

The carrier panel 30 is a plate-like member made of metal or the like, and is a member constituting a holding surface for holding the substrate 5. The carrier panel 30 has a certain degree of rigidity (at least higher rigidity than the substrate 5), and by holding the substrate 5 along the holding surface, the deflection of the substrate 5 can be suppressed.

The plurality of seating blocks 31 are arranged to protrude from the holding surface of the carrier panel 30 outside the substrate holding area of the holding surface. The seating block 31 is provided so as to protrude toward the mask 6 side with respect to the substrate 5 in a state where the substrate 5 is held by the substrate carrier 9. The substrate carrier 9 is seated on the outer peripheral frame of the mask frame 6a via the seating block 31 through an aligning operation.

The chuck member 32 has a chuck surface for bringing the substrate 5 into contact with the substrate 5 to chuck the substrate 5. The clamping surface of the clamping member 32 of the present embodiment is an adhesive surface formed of an adhesive member, and holds the substrate 5 by adhesive force. Therefore, the clamping member 32 of the present embodiment may also be referred to as an adhesive pad. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, the plurality of clip members 32 are disposed in the plurality of holes provided in the carrier panel 30 so that the clip surfaces (bonding surfaces) provided in the clip members are coplanar with the holding surfaces of the carrier panel 30 (on the same plane). Thus, the substrate 5 can be held along the holding surface of the carrier panel 30 by clamping the substrate 5 by the plurality of clamping members 32. The plurality of clip members 32 may be arranged such that the clip surfaces provided in the clip members protrude from the holding surface of the carrier panel 30 by a predetermined distance. The chuck member 32 is preferably arranged in accordance with the shape of the mask 6, and more preferably, is arranged in correspondence with the portions of the bars of the mask 6 (boundary portions for dividing the film formation region of the substrate 5). This can prevent the temperature distribution in the film formation region of the substrate 5 from being affected by the contact between the chuck member 32 and the substrate 5. In the present embodiment, the clamping member 32 is a member for holding the substrate 5 by an adhesive force, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a member (electrostatic chuck) for holding the substrate 5 by an electrostatic force may be used as the clamping member 32.

The substrate carrier 9 further includes a magnetic attraction member (not shown) for magnetically attracting the mask 6 via the held substrate 5. As the magnetic attraction member, a magnet plate having a permanent magnet, an electromagnet, or a permanent magnet may be used. In addition, the magnetic attraction member may be provided so as to be movable relative to the carrier panel 30. More specifically, the magnetic attraction member may be provided so as to be able to change the distance from the carrier panel 30.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view showing the mask and the carrier holding portion, and a detailed portion will be described with reference to fig. 7. The substrate carrier portion 9 can be aligned with respect to the mask 6 via the carrier support portion 8. The carrier support portion 8 is constituted by carrier receiving claws 42 and carrier receiving surfaces 41, and supports the entire substrate carrier 9 by placing the rails 51 on the side surfaces of the substrate carrier 9 on the carrier receiving surfaces 41, thereby performing an alignment operation with respect to the mask 6.

The mask frame 6a is supported by the mask stage 16 via a mask pad 33 constituting a mask receiving surface. The mask pad 33 preferably has a high friction coefficient so that the mask position is not shifted by vibration generated in alignment. For example, it is conceivable to make the surface in an embossed shape by bringing metals into contact with each other.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the rectangular substrate carrier 9 and the rectangular mask 6 are supported by the carrier support portion 8 and the mask support portion (mask receiving table 16) along the conveying direction (first direction) of the conveying roller 15A, respectively. That is, one of the two sets of sides of the substrate carrier 9 facing each other is disposed substantially parallel to the conveying direction (first direction) of the conveying roller 15A, a rail 51 as a first conveyed member is disposed at the peripheral edge portion of the substrate carrier 9 corresponding to the one set, and the carrier support portion 8 disposed facing the rail 51 supports the rail 51. Further, one of the two sets of sides of the mask 6 facing each other is disposed substantially parallel to the conveying direction (first direction) of the conveying roller 15A, and the peripheral edge portion of the mask 6 corresponding to the one set of sides is supported by the mask support portion disposed facing the one set of sides. The facing sides supported by the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 may be long sides or short sides. In the case where the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are square, the peripheral edge portion of one of the two sets of sides may be supported.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the alignment mechanism. The mask receiving table 16 is guided up and down (lifted) along a lift table guide 34 placed on the mask table base 19. A conveying roller 15A is disposed at a lower portion of a side of the mask 6 in the conveying direction, and the mask 6 is transferred to the conveying roller 15A by lowering the mask receiving table 16.

The substrate holding shaft 12 is provided so as to straddle the outside and inside of the chamber 4 through a through hole provided in the upper partition wall 4a of the chamber 4. A carrier support portion 8 is provided below the substrate holding shaft 12 in the film forming space, and the substrate 5 as a film formation object can be held via a substrate carrier 9.

In order to avoid interference between the substrate holding shaft 12 and the upper partition wall 4a, the through hole is designed to be sufficiently large with respect to the outer diameter of the substrate holding shaft 12. In the substrate holding shaft 12, a section from the through hole to a fixing portion to be fixed to the Z lift slider 10 (a portion above the through hole) is covered with a bellows 40 fixed to the Z lift slider 10 and the upper partition wall 4 a. Thus, the substrate holding shaft 12 is covered with the closed space communicating with the chamber 4, and therefore, the entire substrate holding shaft 12 can be held in the same state (for example, vacuum state) as the film forming space 2. As the bellows 40, a bellows having flexibility in the Z direction and the XY direction can be used. This can sufficiently reduce the resistance generated when the bellows 40 is displaced by the operation of the alignment device 1, and can reduce the load during position adjustment.

The mask receiving portion is provided on the surface of the upper partition wall 4a on the film forming space 2 side in the chamber 4, and can support the mask 6. For example, a mask used in the manufacture of an organic EL panel has the following structure: the mask foil 6b having the openings corresponding to the film formation pattern is fixed in a state of being stretched over the mask frame 6b having high rigidity. According to this structure, the mask receiving portion can be held in a state in which the deflection of the mask foil 6b is reduced.

Various operations (alignment by a rotary translation mechanism, lifting of the Z-lift slider 10 by a distance changing member, substrate holding by the carrier support portion 8, vapor deposition by the evaporation source 7, and the like) by the alignment apparatus 1 are controlled by the control portion 70. The control unit 70 may be constituted by a computer having a processor, a memory, a storage, an I/O, and the like, for example. In this case, the function of the control section 70 is realized by executing a program stored in a memory or a storage by a processor. As the computer, a general-purpose personal computer may be used, or an embedded computer or PLC (programmable logic controller: programmable logic controller) may be used. Alternatively, part or all of the functions of the control unit 70 may be constituted by a circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA. The control unit 70 may be provided for each vapor deposition device, or a plurality of vapor deposition devices may be controlled by one control unit 70.

Next, the details of the alignment mechanism 60 of the alignment device 1 will be described with reference to fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the alignment mechanism. The guides for guiding the Z lift slider 10 in the vertical Z direction include a plurality (4 in this case) of Z guides 18a to 18d, and are fixed to the side surfaces of the Z lift base 13. A ball screw 27 for transmitting driving force is disposed in the center of the Z lift slider, and power transmitted from a motor 26 fixed to the Z lift base 13 is transmitted to the Z lift slider 10 via the ball screw 27.

The motor 26 has a rotary encoder, not shown, incorporated therein, and can indirectly measure the Z-direction position of the Z-lift slider 10 based on the rotational speed of the encoder. By controlling the driving of the motor 26 by the external controller, the precise positioning in the Z direction of the Z lift slider 10 can be performed. The lifting mechanism of the Z-lift slider 10 is not limited to the ball screw 27 and the rotary encoder, and any mechanism such as a combination of a linear motor and a linear encoder may be used.

In the structure of fig. 11, the rotary translation mechanism 11 has a plurality of

drive units

21a, 21b, 21c, 21d at four corners of the base. The driving units 21a to 21d are arranged such that directions of driving forces generated by the driving units are different by 90 degrees from each other in each of four corners, and the driving units arranged at adjacent corners are rotated by 90 degrees about the Z axis.

Each drive unit 21 includes a drive unit motor 25 that generates a drive force. Each driving unit 21 further includes: a first guide 22, the first guide 22 sliding in a first direction by transmitting a force of the drive unit motor 25 via the drive unit ball screw 46; and a second guide 23, the second guide 23 sliding in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction in the XY plane. And, a swivel bearing 24 rotatable about the Z axis is provided. For example, in the case of the drive unit 21d, there are a first guide 22 sliding in the X direction, a second guide 23 sliding in the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction, and a rotation bearing 24, and the force of the drive unit motor 25 is transmitted to the first guide 22 via the drive unit ball screw 46. The

other driving units

21a, 21b, 21c are also arranged with only 90 degrees difference in orientation from each other, and each has the same configuration as the driving unit 21d.

The driving unit motor 25 incorporates a rotary encoder, not shown, and is capable of measuring the displacement amount of the first guide 22. In each driving unit 21, the driving of the driving unit motor 25 is controlled by the control unit 70, so that the position of the Z lift base 13 in the xyθz direction can be precisely controlled.

For example, when the Z lift base 13 is moved in the +x direction, a force sliding in the +x direction may be generated by the drive unit motor 25 in each of the

drive units

21a and 21d, and transmitted to the Z lift base 13. In addition, in the case of moving in the +y direction, a force sliding in the +y direction may be generated by the driving unit motor 25 in each of the driving unit 21b and the driving unit 21c, respectively, and transmitted to the Z lift base 13.

In the case of rotating the Z lift base 13 by +θ (rotating θz in the clockwise direction) about the rotation axis parallel to the Z axis, a force required for rotating +θz about the Z axis can be generated using the driving unit 21a and the driving unit 21d arranged diagonally, and transmitted to the Z lift base 13. Alternatively, the force required for rotation may be transmitted to the Z lift base 13 using the driving unit 21b and the driving unit 21 c.

Next, an imaging device for simultaneously measuring the positions of the respective alignment marks to detect the positions of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 will be described. As shown in fig. 6 and 8, imaging devices 14 (14 a, 14b, 14c, 14 d) which are position acquisition members for acquiring the positions of the alignment marks (mask marks) on the mask 6 and the alignment marks (substrate marks) on the substrate 5 are disposed on the outer surface of the upper partition wall 4 a. The upper partition wall 4a is provided with an imaging through hole on the camera optical axis so that the position of an alignment mark disposed in the chamber 4 can be measured by the imaging device 14. The imaging through-hole is provided with a window 17 (17 a, 17b, 17c, 17 d) or the like for maintaining the air pressure inside the chamber. Further, by providing illumination, not shown, in or near the imaging device 14 and irradiating light near the alignment marks of the substrate and the mask, accurate measurement of the mark image can be performed. In fig. 6, the imaging device 14d and the window glass 17c and 17d are hidden from other members and are not shown.

A method of measuring the positions of the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 using the imaging device 14 will be described with reference to fig. 12 (a) to 12 (c).

Fig. 12 (a) is a view of the substrate 5 on the carrier panel 30 held by the carrier support portion 8, as viewed from above. For ease of illustration, the carrier panel 30 is illustrated in phantom lines in a transparent fashion. On the substrate 5,

substrate marks

37a, 37b, 37c, 37d that can be measured by the imaging device 14 are formed at four corners of the substrate 5. The substrate marks 37a to 37d are measured simultaneously by the four imaging devices 14a to 14d, and the translation amount and rotation amount of the substrate 5 are calculated from the positional relationship of the center position 4 of each of the substrate marks 37a to 37d, whereby the positional information of the substrate 5 can be acquired. The carrier panel 30 is provided with a through hole, and the position of the substrate mark 37 can be measured from above by the imaging device 14.

Fig. 12 (b) is a view of the mask frame 6a from the upper surface. Mask marks 38a, 38b, 38c, 38d that can be measured by an imaging device are formed at the four corners. The four

imaging devices

14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d measure the mask marks 38a to 38d simultaneously, and calculate the translation amount, rotation amount, and the like of the mask 6 from the positional relationship of the center position 4 points of the mask marks 38a to 38d, thereby obtaining positional information of the mask 6.

Fig. 12 (c) is a diagram schematically showing a field of view 44 of a captured image when one of four sets of mask marks 38 and substrate marks 37 is measured by the imaging device 14. In this example, the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 are measured simultaneously in the field of view 44 of the imaging device 14, and therefore, the relative positions of the mark centers can be measured. The mark center coordinates can be obtained based on an image obtained by measurement by the imaging device 14 using an image processing device, not shown. Note that, although the mark having a quadrangular shape and a circular shape is shown as the mask mark 38 and the substrate mark 37, the shape of the mark is not limited thereto. For example, a shape having symmetry, such as an x-mark or a cross, is preferably used, which is easy to calculate the center position.

In the case where high-precision alignment is required, a high-magnification CCD camera having a high resolution of several μm is used as the imaging device 14. Since the diameter of the field of view of such a high-magnification CCD camera is as small as several mm, if the positional displacement when the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the carrier receiving claw 41 is large, the substrate mark 37 is out of the field of view and cannot be measured. Therefore, the imaging device 14 is preferably provided with a low-magnification CCD camera having a wide field of view together with a high-magnification CCD camera. In this case, the mask mark 38 and the substrate mark 37 are aligned with high accuracy (fine alignment) by roughly aligning (rough alignment) with the low-magnification CCD camera so that the mask mark 38 and the substrate mark 37 are simultaneously accommodated in the field of view of the high-magnification CCD camera, and then performing position measurement with the high-magnification CCD camera.

By using a high-magnification CCD camera as the imaging device 14, the relative position of the mask frame 6a and the substrate 5 can be adjusted with accuracy within a few μm of error. However, the imaging device 14 is not limited to a CCD camera, and may be a digital camera including a CMOS sensor as an imaging element, for example. In addition, even if the high-magnification camera and the low-magnification camera are not separately provided together, the high-magnification and low-magnification measurement can be performed with a single camera by using a camera and a zoom lens that can exchange the high-magnification lens and the low-magnification lens.

Based on the positional information of the mask frame 6a and the positional information of the substrate 5 acquired by the imaging device 14, the relative positional information of the mask frame 6a and the substrate 5 can be acquired. The relative position information is fed back to the control unit 70 of the alignment device, and the driving amounts of the respective driving units such as the elevating slider 10, the rotary translation mechanism 11, and the carrier support unit 8 are controlled.

(Structure of substrate Carrier and Rail)

The substrate carrier 9 of the present embodiment and the track shape and structure suitable for application of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 9 and 10. Fig. 9 is a schematic view showing the structure of the substrate carrier 9a of example 1 of the present embodiment, and fig. 10 is a schematic view showing the structure of the substrate carrier 9b of example 2 of the present embodiment.

The substrate carrier 9a of embodiment 1 shown in fig. 9 has: a rail 52 as a first guided member supported while being conveyed by the conveying roller 15A for conveying in the first direction; and a rail 53 as a second guided member that is supported while being conveyed by the conveying roller 15B for conveying in the second direction. Thus, the substrate carrier 9a of example 1 can suppress dust emission during conveyance and a reduction in yield during film formation, and can convey in both the first direction and the second direction. In embodiment 1, the rail 52 as the first guided member and the rail 53 as the second guided member each have a shape in consideration of rigidity so that vibration can be reduced at the time of conveyance, and rails of the same cross-sectional shape are used. Specifically, as shown in fig. 9 (b), the rail shapes are thicker corresponding to the shape of the cross section コ. The reason why the cross section is shaped like a letter コ is that the head of the bolt 54 is recessed to prevent the bolt from protruding when the bolt is fastened to the side surface of the carrier panel 30.

The substrate carrier 9b of embodiment 2 shown in fig. 10 also has the same structure as that of embodiment 1: a rail 51 as a first guided member supported while being conveyed by a conveying roller 15A for conveying in a first direction; and a rail 50 as a second guided member that is supported while being conveyed by the conveying roller 15B for conveying in the second direction. Thus, the substrate carrier 9b of example 2 can also suppress dust emission during conveyance and a reduction in yield during film formation, and can be conveyed in both the first direction and the second direction. On the other hand, the substrate carrier 9b of embodiment 2 is different from embodiment 1 in that the rail 51 as the first guided member and the rail 50 as the second guided member are rails having different sectional shapes. That is, the rail 51 as the first guided member has a structure of importance for rigidity having a cross section of a shape of a letter コ like the rail 52 of embodiment 1 shown in fig. 9, but the rail 50 as the second guided member has a cross section of a shape of a letter "L" as shown in fig. 10 (b). Thus, the cross-sectional area of the rail 50 as the second guided member is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the rail 51 as the first guided member, and the cross-sectional moment of inertia of the rail 50 is smaller than the cross-sectional moment of inertia of the rail 51. In embodiment 2, both the rail 51 and the rail 50 are stainless steel rails.

Fig. 9 (a) shows a state (separated state) in which the substrate carrier 9a and the mask 6 are separately held by the alignment mechanism at the time of alignment. The substrate carrier 9a is aligned with respect to the mask 6 in a state of being supported on the carrier receiving surface 41 via the rail 52 as the first guided member. In the substrate carrier 9a of embodiment 1, since both the first guided member and the second guided member have high rigidity, the deflection of the substrate carrier 9a is suppressed by the rigidity of the rail 52 as shown in fig. 9 (a). As a result, after the substrate carrier 9a is placed on the mask 6, a gap ds is generated with respect to the mask frame 6 a.

When the substrate carrier 9a of example 1 is aligned with respect to the mask 6 and then placed on the mask 6, when the substrate carrier 9a is seated on the mask frame 6a, first, a region extending along a portion (the rail 52) of the substrate carrier 9a supported by the carrier receiving claws 42 and a region extending along a portion of the mask 6 supported by the mask supporting portion are brought into contact with each other by edges. When the sides are in contact with each other, if the two sides are in an ideal state in which the two sides are in contact with each other while being in the same shape and the two sides are in close contact while being kept parallel, the sides are in contact with each other in their entirety at one time, but in reality, contact starts from a part of the sides due to the influence of various disturbances. In this case, the contact start portion is affected by various disturbances and changed each time, and the contact start portion is randomly determined and not fixed at one portion. In addition, not only the contact start position in one side is randomly determined, but also which of two opposite sides starts to contact first, and it becomes uncertain due to the influence of various disturbances. As a result, reproducibility of seating the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 is reduced. When one of the two opposing sides first comes into contact, a biasing load is applied to the first side, and therefore, a reaction force generated when the substrate carrier 9a is seated is transmitted to the alignment mechanism 60 via the carrier receiving surface 41, and there is a possibility that disturbance such as a change in posture and a positional displacement of the mechanism may occur.

On the other hand, in embodiment 2, since the rigidity of the rail 50 as the second guided member is reduced as described above, when only the rail 51 as the first guided member is held, the amount of deflection in the supported state of the carrier becomes larger than that in embodiment 1 shown in fig. 9. Therefore, if the deflection of the rail 50a is larger than the deflection of the mask frame 6a, the substrate carrier 9b becomes a central portion with respect to the seated portion of the mask 6 (mask frame 6 a) at the time of alignment, and the contact start portion becomes the same portion each time, so that stable seating can be performed. In addition, since the lateral offset amount of the substrate carrier 9b with respect to the mask 6 at the time of seating is also reduced, the alignment accuracy is improved. Further, since the substrate carrier 9b is symmetrically brought into contact with the outer side from the center thereof, and the load is uniformly applied to the carrier receiving surface 41 in the left-right direction, the posture fluctuation and displacement shift of the alignment mechanism 60 due to the offset load are reduced.

The gap ds between the substrate carrier 9b and the mask 6 is hardly generated due to the good adhesion between the carrier 9b and the mask 6 when seated, and finally, as shown in fig. 4, the film is transferred and formed without a gap. This can prevent the spread of the organic material during film formation, and thus has an effect of improving the yield of the organic EL panel production.

Here, deflection of the substrate carrier 9 supported by the carrier support 8 and the mask 6 supported by the mask support is studied in more detail. As described above, the substrate carrier 9 (holding substrate 5) supported by the carrier support portion 8 has a parabolic curved shape protruding downward in the direction of gravity in a cross section perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying roller 15. The mask 6 supported by the mask support portion also has a parabolic curved shape protruding downward in the gravitational direction in a cross section perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying roller 15. In the present specification, as amounts for quantitatively processing the degree of deflection of the substrate carrier 9 and the degree of deflection of the mask 6, a carrier gravity deflection dc and a mask gravity deflection dm are defined as follows.

In the present specification, the carrier gravity deflection dc refers to a difference (absolute value) between a reference height and a height of a portion deflected by the gravity, based on a height along a certain plane (a height of a virtual plane) when the carrier support portion 8 is intended to support the substrate carrier 9 along the plane (the virtual plane). For example, when the substrate carrier 9 is to be horizontally supported by the carrier support portion 8, the difference (absolute value) between the reference height and the height of the lower surface of the substrate carrier 9 (typically, the height of the lower surface of the substrate carrier 9 corresponding to the intermediate portion between the carrier support portions 8 disposed opposite to each other) of the portion of the substrate carrier 9 where the maximum deflection (the portion of the height from the virtual plane where the height changes the maximum) is the carrier weight deflection dc with respect to the height of the carrier receiving surface 41. That is, as shown in fig. 10 a, the height of the end portion where the change in height is the smallest is defined as the height of the virtual plane on the lower surface of the substrate carrier 9 supported by the carrier support portion 8, and the difference (absolute value) between the height of the virtual plane and the height of the central portion where the change in height is the largest is defined as the carrier weight deflection dc. The carrier weight deflection dc may be defined based on the upper surface instead of the lower surface of the substrate carrier 9. In this case, the height of the virtual plane may be obtained based on the height of the carrier receiving surface 41 and the thickness (height) of the substrate carrier 9. That is, the height of the virtual plane may be a value obtained by adding the thickness of the substrate carrier 9 to the height of the carrier receiving surface 41, focusing on the portion of the substrate carrier 9 that is in contact with the carrier receiving surface 41.

In the present specification, the mask weight deflection dm refers to a difference (absolute value) between a reference height and a height of a portion deflected by the weight, based on a height along a certain plane (a virtual plane) when the mask 6 is to be supported by the mask support portion along the plane (the virtual plane). For example, when the mask 6 is to be horizontally supported by the mask support portion, the difference (absolute value) between the reference height and the height of the upper surface of the mask 6 at the portion of the mask 6 where the maximum deflection (the portion where the height from the virtual plane changes the most) is based on the height of the upper surface of the portion of the mask 6 that is in contact with the mask receiving surface 33 (typically the height of the upper surface of the mask 6 corresponding to the intermediate portion between the mask support portions that are disposed in opposition) becomes the mask weight deflection amount dm. That is, as shown in fig. 10 (a), the height of the portion of the upper surface of the mask 6 supported by the mask support portion at which the change in height is minimal is defined as the height of the virtual plane, and the difference (absolute value) between the height of the virtual plane and the height of the central portion where the change in height is greatest is defined as the mask weight deflection dm. The height of the virtual plane may be obtained based on the height of the mask receiving surface 33 and the thickness (height) of the mask 6. That is, as the inclination of the end portion of the mask 6 at the time of deflection is small to a negligible extent, the height at the end portion of the mask 6 can be assumed to be approximately the same as the thickness of the mask 6. In addition, the mask weight deflection dm may be defined not with respect to the upper surface but with respect to the lower surface of the mask 6, and in this case, the height of the mask receiving surface 33 may be defined as a reference height.

Here, the substrate carrier 9 is used to suppress the deflection of the substrate 5 and facilitate the conveyance, and therefore, it is preferable to increase the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9 as much as possible and not deflect as much as possible from the viewpoint of this purpose. On the other hand, the mask 6 uses the mask frame 6b having high rigidity as described above so that the mask foil 6a does not flex, and therefore, it is difficult to flex as compared with the substrate 5. Conventionally, since the length of one side of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is at most about 1.5m, the deflection of the mask 6 is negligible, but even when the substrate 5 and the mask 6 in which the length of one side is greater than 2m, such as the eighth generation or the tenth generation, are used, the deflection of the mask 6 cannot be ignored. Further, as in the present embodiment, when the rectangular mask 6 and the substrate carrier 9 are supported not by all the 4 sides but by only a pair of opposite sides, the deflection of the mask 6 becomes larger. That is, when the substrate carrier 9 is designed according to the conventional idea, the mask 6 is more likely to flex than the substrate carrier 9.

As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found that in this case, if the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9 is increased as much as possible according to conventional ideas so as not to be deflected, some disadvantages may occur. Hereinafter, a description will be given of a problem occurring when the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9 is increased as much as possible so that the carrier gravity deflection dc is smaller than the mask gravity deflection dm (that is, when dc < dm is obtained).

In the case of dc < dm, first, the substrate carrier 9 is brought into contact with the mask 6, and when the mask 6 is mounted on the substrate 5 by placing the substrate carrier 9 on the mask 6, if the deflection of the mask 6 is excessively large compared with the deflection of the substrate carrier 9, a large gap is generated between the mask foil 6a and the substrate 5. Fig. 9 (a) shows a state in which a large gap is generated between the mask 6 and the substrate 5. If a large gap is generated between the mask foil 6a and the substrate 5, the gap may remain even if the mask foil 6a is attached to the substrate 5 by sucking the mask 6 from the back side through the substrate 5 and the substrate carrier 9 by a magnetic sucking member such as a magnet. In this way, when the film is formed by conveying the substrate 5 held on the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 with the gap ds left therebetween, the film forming material spreads through the gap between the mask foil 6a and the substrate 5 during film formation, and a film blurring occurs. As a result, film formation unevenness occurs, and there is a possibility that quality of the display is reduced due to brightness unevenness.

In the case of dc < dm, next, when the substrate carrier 9 is brought into contact with the mask 6, contact is started from a region extending along the long side which is a portion supported by the respective support portions (carrier support portion, mask support portion). The long sides of the substrate carrier 9 are all supported by the carrier receiving claws 42 to the same height, and the long sides of the mask 6 are all supported by the mask supporting portions to the same height, so that the start of contact occurs on the sides (long sides or regions extending along the long sides) to each other. When the sides are in contact with each other, if the two sides are in an ideal state in which the two sides are in contact with each other while being in the same shape and the two sides are in close contact while being kept parallel, the sides are in contact with each other in their entirety at one time, but in reality, contact starts from a part of the sides due to the influence of various disturbances. In this case, the contact start portion is affected by various disturbances and changed each time, and the contact start portion is randomly determined and not fixed at one portion. As a result, reproducibility of seating the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 is reduced. For example, the Z lift slider 10 at the time of alignment is guided by the Z guide 18 to descend, but the path and posture of the process of descending the substrate carrier 9 are different due to the reproducibility of the straightness and posture of the Z guide, and thus it is difficult to fix the contact start portion. Therefore, when the contact start position is changed, the reaction force received by the substrate carrier 9 from the mask frame 6a is changed, and therefore, there is a concern that the offset manner when the substrate carrier 9 is seated on the mask 6 is greatly different each time after the alignment of the substrate carrier 9 (or the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9) and the mask 6 is completed, and the offset occurs. In the case of dc=dm, the operation mode at the time of seating is unstable similarly to the case of dc < dm, and thus, it is not preferable from the viewpoint of realizing stable seating.

Therefore, the present inventors have achieved the above-described object by adjusting the deflection amount of the substrate carrier 9 and the deflection amount of the mask 6 without excessively increasing the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9. In the present embodiment, the rigidity of the rails 50, 51 of the substrate carrier 9 is adjusted so that the relationship between the carrier gravity deflection dc and the mask gravity deflection dm becomes dc > dm. By setting dc > dm, as shown in fig. 10 (a), the substrate carrier 9 is deflected more than the mask 6. Since the substrate 5 is held by the substrate carrier 9 along the holding surface thereof, the amount of deflection of the substrate 5 can be regarded as being equal to the carrier gravity deflection dc.

When the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask 6 in this state, the substrate carrier 9 is placed so as to resemble the mask 6, and therefore, after placement, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 can be made to flex in accordance as shown in fig. 4. Therefore, the gap between the mask foil 6a and the substrate 5 can be sufficiently reduced, and film blurring at the time of film formation can be suppressed.

Further, when the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 is brought into contact with the mask 6, the contact is started from the most flexible portion on the short side of the substrate 5 by setting dc > dm. In the present embodiment, a plurality of seating blocks 31 are arranged outside the region of the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5, and the seating blocks 31 are provided so as to protrude from the substrate 5. In addition, a part of the plurality of seating blocks 31 is arranged in the center of the short side of the substrate carrier 9, that is, in the most flexible part. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the substrate carrier 9 is brought into contact with the mask 6, the contact can be started from the seating block 31 disposed in the center of the short side of the substrate carrier 9, and thus seating reproducibility can be improved. In addition, the first contact seating block 31 can be used as a reference for alignment, and the reproducibility of the position by the seating can be improved.

(substrate mounting method)

A series of operations of the vapor deposition apparatus, which is configured to mount the substrate 5 on the substrate carrier 9 and align the substrate 5 on the substrate carrier 9 with the mask 6 and mount the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) on the mask 6, will be described below.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of the vapor deposition device according to the embodiment.

First, in step S101, the substrate carrier 9 mounted on a roller conveying mechanism, not shown, is fed into the chamber 4 through a gate valve, and is mounted on the carrier receiving claws 42 on both sides of the carrier support portion 8. One of the carrier receiving claws 42a is disposed along one side of the substrate 5 (substrate carrier 9) at a predetermined interval, and supports a rail 51a, which is a peripheral portion of the substrate carrier 9, in the vicinity of the one side of the substrate 5. The other carrier receiving claws 42b are arranged at predetermined intervals along a second side opposite to the one side of the substrate 5, and support rails 51b as peripheral portions of the substrate carrier 9 in the vicinity of the second side of the substrate 5.

Next, in step S103, the substrate carrier 9 is lowered and set at a height at which photographing is performed by the low-magnification CCD camera. Next, in step S104, the substrate mark 37 provided on the substrate 5 is photographed by a low-magnification CCD camera. The control unit 70 obtains positional information of the substrate 5 based on the captured image and stores the positional information in the memory.

For step S105, there are cases where: next, the step S104 is performed; and when the determination in step S109 or step S113 is no, then these S109 or S113 are executed.

In step S105, which is performed next to step S104, the substrate carrier 9 is lowered to be set at the alignment operation height, and the position of the substrate 5 is adjusted based on the positional information acquired in step S104.

First, the height of the substrate carrier 9 is changed to a height lower than that in step S104 by a distance separating the carrier receiving surface 41 (upper surface of the carrier receiving claw 42) from the mask 6. However, at this time, the position of the carrier receiving surface 41 is set to a height at which the substrate 5 on the substrate carrier 9 deflected by its own weight does not come into contact with the mask 6. The step S105 and the step S104 may be performed at the same height according to different situations.

In the alignment operation in step S105, which is performed next to step S104, the control unit 70 drives the alignment mechanism 60 provided in the alignment apparatus 1 based on the positional information of the substrate 5 acquired in step S104. That is, the control unit 70 adjusts the position of the substrate 5 so that the substrate mark 37 of the substrate 5 is within the field of view of the high-magnification CCD camera. With respect to the mask 6, the relative position of the mask 6 and the high-magnification CCD camera has been previously adjusted so that the mask mark 38 comes into the field of view (preferably the center of the field of view) of the high-magnification CCD camera. Therefore, by the alignment operation in step S105 performed in step S104, both the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 are adjusted so as to be within the field of view of the high-magnification CCD camera. However, at this time, the substrate mark 37 may not be photographed by a high-magnification CCD camera due to the depth of field. In the alignment operation, the substrate 5 is moved in the xyθz direction, but since the substrate 5 is moved at a height where the substrate 5 deflected by its own weight does not contact the mask 6 as described above, the surface of the substrate 5 or the film pattern formed on the surface of the substrate 5 is not slid with the mask 6 and is not damaged.

Next, in step S106, the substrate carrier 9 is lowered, and the substrate 5 is set at a height at which the image is captured by the high-magnification CCD camera.

Here, in order to image the high-magnification CCD camera with a depth of view by focusing on both the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 36, the substrate 5 is brought close to the mask 6 until at least a part (deflected part) of the substrate 5 comes into contact with the mask 6, and a substrate mask contact portion occurs.

Next, in step S108, the substrate mark 37 of the substrate 5 and the mask mark 38 of the mask 6 are simultaneously photographed by a high-magnification CCD camera. The control unit 70 obtains relative positional information between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 based on the captured image. Specifically, the relative position information referred to herein refers to information related to the distance between the center positions of the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 and the direction of the positional shift. Step S108 is a measurement step (measurement process) of acquiring relative positional information (relative positional displacement) between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 and measuring the positional displacement between the substrate 5 and the mask 6.

Next, in step S109, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the positional deviation amount of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 measured in step S108 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. The predetermined threshold value is a value set in advance so that the amount of positional displacement between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is within a range that is not obstructed even when film formation is performed. The threshold is set so that the required alignment accuracy of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 can be achieved. The threshold is set to a level within a few μm of the error, for example.

If it is determined in step S109 that the positional deviation amount between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 exceeds the predetermined threshold (no in step S109), the process returns to step S105 to perform the alignment operation, and the process proceeds to step S106 and subsequent steps.

In step S105, which is executed when the determination in step S109 is no, the substrate carrier 9 is raised to be set at the alignment operation height, and the position of the substrate 5 is adjusted based on the relative position information acquired in step S108.

In the alignment operation performed when the determination in step S109 is no, the control unit 70 drives the alignment mechanism provided in the alignment apparatus 1 based on the relative position information of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 acquired in step S108. That is, the control unit 70 moves the substrate 5 in the xyθz direction to adjust the position so that the substrate mark 37 of the substrate 5 and the mask mark 38 of the mask 6 are in closer positional relationship.

In the alignment operation, the substrate 5 is moved in the xyθz direction, but since the substrate 5 which is deflected by its own weight as described above is moved in a height where it does not contact the mask 6, the surface of the substrate 5 or the film pattern which has been formed on the surface of the substrate 5 is not slid and damaged with the mask 6.

Step S105 is an alignment step (alignment process) of moving the substrate 5 so that the amount of positional displacement between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 decreases, and if the determination in step S109 is negative, fine alignment is performed.

If the determination in step S109 is yes, the substrate carrier 9 is further lowered in step S110, and the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask frame 6a as a whole. That is, the support of the substrate carrier 9 by the carrier support portion 8 is released, and both the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) and the mask frame 6a (mask 6) on which the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) is mounted are supported by the mask receiving table 16 (mask support portion). Next, in step S112, the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 36 are photographed by a high-magnification CCD camera, and relative positional information between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is acquired.

Next, in step S113, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the positional deviation amount of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, based on the relative positional information of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 acquired in step S112. The predetermined threshold is set in advance as a condition within a range that is not obstructed even if film formation is performed if the predetermined threshold is within.

In step S113, when it is determined that the amount of positional displacement between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 exceeds the predetermined threshold (step S113: NO), the carrier receiving claws 42 are raised to the height of the substrate 5 to support the substrate carrier 9. The determination of whether or not to perform the above-described steps S109 to S114 may occur, for example, when a positional deviation occurs due to external vibration.

Then, the process returns to step S105 to perform the alignment operation. Thereafter, the processing proceeds to step S106 and beyond.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S113 that the amount of positional displacement between the substrate 5 and the mask 6a is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold (yes in step S113), the routine proceeds to step S114, where the mask lift table 16 is lowered, and the mask lift table is transferred to the conveying roller 15. Whereby the alignment sequence is completed (end).

In this embodiment, the substrate carrier includes: a first rail as a first guided member, which is supported by a plurality of conveying rollers 15 as conveying rotating bodies arranged along a first direction in a conveying path when the substrate carrier is conveyed along the first direction in the conveying path; and a second rail as a second guided member that is supported by a plurality of conveying rollers 15 as conveying rotating bodies arranged in the conveying path along the second direction when the substrate carrier is conveyed in the conveying path along the second direction. When the substrate after film formation is collected, the substrate carrier is circulated and conveyed upstream of the film formation conveyance path, and is used again for holding the substrate during film formation. In such a circulating conveyance path (single conveyance path), by providing the first rail and the second rail, conveyance can be performed in the first direction and the second direction orthogonal to each other without changing the orientation (direction) of the substrate carrier, and circulating conveyance up to the upstream of the desired path can be performed efficiently.

The first rails fix a pair along the first direction (so that the longitudinal direction is parallel to the first direction) on both sides in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction among the sides of the plate-like member for holding the substrate on the substrate carrier. On the other hand, the second rail fixes a pair along the second direction (so that the longitudinal direction is parallel to the second direction) on the side surfaces of both sides in the first direction orthogonal to the second direction among the side surfaces of the plate-like member for holding the substrate on the substrate carrier. The first rail is supported by the carrier support portion during alignment, and the second rail is deformed by the weight (dead weight) of the substrate carrier and the substrate during alignment. The first rail and the second rail are long rail-like members each made of the same material, and the cross-sectional area of the second rail is made smaller than the cross-sectional area of the first rail by examining the shape of the cross-section perpendicular to the respective lengths or by making the cross-sectional area of the second rail smaller, so that the cross-sectional moment of inertia of the second rail in the cross-section perpendicular to the lengths is smaller than the cross-sectional moment of inertia of the first rail, that is, the second rail is more easily deflected than the first rail. In this way, an improvement in alignment accuracy of the substrate carrier with respect to the mask can be achieved.

That is, in the present embodiment, as the supporting step, the pair of peripheral edge regions of the peripheral edge portion of the substrate carrier 9 support the opposite peripheral edge portions of the substrate carrier 9, that is, the

rails

51a and 51b corresponding to the pair of opposite sides among the four sides constituting the peripheral edge portion of the substrate 5, by the substrate carrier supporting portion 8 such that the

rails

51a and 51b extend in a predetermined direction. As a pair of peripheral edge regions of the peripheral edge portion of the mask 6, the opposite peripheral edge portions of the mask 6 (mask frame 6 a) corresponding to a pair of opposite sides among four sides constituting the peripheral edge portion of the mask 6 are supported by the mask support portion (mask receiving table 16) so that the opposite peripheral edge portions are along a predetermined direction. In the present embodiment, the predetermined direction (first direction) is the Y-axis direction, the second direction is the X-axis direction, and the third direction is the Z-axis direction, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the rectangular substrate 5 and the rectangular mask 6 are illustrated, but the shape of the substrate and the mask is not limited to rectangular, and a pair of peripheral regions corresponding to a pair of opposite sides arranged in a predetermined direction among a plurality of sides constituting the peripheral portions of the substrate and the mask may be employed. Therefore, the intersection of the first direction and the second direction is not limited to being orthogonal depending on the shape of the substrate and the mask.

In addition, as the mounting step, the substrate carrier support section 8 is lowered so as to move (shift from the separated state to the mounted state) the substrate carrier 9 from the separated position where the substrate carrier 9 is separated upward from the mask 6 to the mounted position where the substrate carrier 9 is mounted on the mask 6. In the present embodiment, the direction is lowered along the Z-axis direction as the third direction, but the direction may be slightly angled with respect to the Z-axis direction within a range in which the desired mounting operation of the present invention can be achieved. In addition, the mask support portion may be moved instead of the substrate carrier support portion 8, or both may be moved.

At this time, the substrate carrier 9 supported only by the substrate carrier support portion 8 and the mask 6 supported only by the mask support portion are supported respectively so as to satisfy the relationship of dc > dm (formula (1)) as described above. Therefore, when the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are moved from the separated position to the attached position, the portions of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 having the largest deflection in the third direction come into contact with each other.

It is preferable that the substrate carrier 9 is supported by the substrate carrier support portion 8 so that the substrate carrier support portion 8 (carrier receiving surface 41) is more easily slid with respect to the mask 6 in a direction orthogonal to the third direction when the substrate carrier 9 is brought into contact with the mask 6 during the movement from the separation position to the attachment position. That is, the substrate carrier 9 is configured such that the deformation in which the positions of both end portions in the second direction are displaced in the second direction occurs in response to the elimination of the deflected state, but the displacement of both end portions can be absorbed and eliminated by sliding with the substrate carrier support portion 8 (carrier receiving surface 41) rather than sliding with the mask 6. This effectively suppresses displacement shift in the plane direction when the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask 6.

Various methods can be used for controlling the magnitude of the sliding easiness. For example, the seating member 31 of the substrate carrier 9 is made of a metal member such as iron, and at least two contact portions are made of a polished surface or a ground surface, and the contact area at the contact portions is appropriately set, similarly to the mask 6 (mask frame 6 a). On the other hand, in order to ensure a frictional force to such an extent that the substrate carrier 9 does not slip off when supported alone, and to facilitate sliding with respect to the substrate carrier 9 as compared with between the seating member 31 and the mask 6, various coating films may be applied to the carrier receiving surface 41. The contact portion of the carrier receiving surface 41 with the substrate carrier 9 may be coated with, for example, an inorganic material, fluorine, DLC, or an inorganic ceramic as a base material (inorganic material, fluorine-based coating, ceramic-based coating, DLC coating). The method other than the method described in this embodiment mode may be used as appropriate.

According to the present embodiment, when the substrate carrier and the mask are aligned in the vapor deposition apparatus, the substrate can be accurately aligned with the mask, and the gap between the substrate and the mask can be sufficiently reduced to mount the mask on the substrate. Therefore, film formation unevenness can be reduced, and film formation accuracy can be improved.

Embodiment 2

< method for manufacturing electronic device >

A method of manufacturing an electronic device using the above substrate processing apparatus will be described. Here, as an example of the electronic device, a case of an organic EL element used in a display device such as an organic EL display device will be described. The electronic device of the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a thin film solar cell or an organic CMOS image sensor. In this embodiment, there is a step of forming an organic film on the substrate 5 by using the film forming method described above. Further, the method includes a step of forming a metal film or a metal oxide film after forming an organic film on the substrate 5. The structure of the organic EL display device 600 obtained by such a process will be described below.

Fig. 14 (a) shows an overall view of the organic EL display device 600, and fig. 14 (b) shows a cross-sectional structure of one pixel. As shown in fig. 14 (a), a plurality of pixels 62 each including a plurality of light-emitting elements are arranged in a matrix in a display region 61 of an organic EL display device 600. Each light-emitting element has a structure including an organic layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. Here, the pixel means the minimum unit in which a desired color can be displayed in the display area 61. In the case of the organic EL display device of the present figure, the pixel 62 is configured by a combination of the first light emitting element 62R, the second light emitting element 62G, and the third light emitting element 62B which show different light emission from each other. The pixel 62 is often constituted by a combination of a red light emitting element, a green light emitting element, and a blue light emitting element, but may be a combination of a yellow light emitting element, a cyan light emitting element, and a white light emitting element, and is not particularly limited as long as it is at least one color. Each light-emitting element may be formed by stacking a plurality of light-emitting layers.

A color filter may be used in which the pixel 62 is constituted by a plurality of light emitting elements that emit light in the same manner, and a plurality of different color conversion elements are arranged in a pattern so as to correspond to the respective light emitting elements, and one pixel can display a desired color in the display region 61. For example, a color filter in which pixels 62 are formed of at least three white light emitting elements and color conversion elements of red, green, and blue are arranged so as to correspond to the respective light emitting elements may be used. Alternatively, a color filter in which pixels 62 are formed of at least three blue light emitting elements and red, green, and colorless color conversion elements are arranged so as to correspond to the respective light emitting elements may be used. In the latter case, the display color gamut can be enlarged as compared with a usual organic EL display device not using a Quantum Dot (QD) material by using a QD (Quantum Dot) filter (QD-CF) as a material constituting the color filter.

Fig. 14 (B) is a schematic partial cross-sectional view at line a-B of fig. 14 (a). The pixel 62 includes an organic EL element including a first electrode (anode) 64, a hole transport layer 65, one of

light emitting layers

66R, 66G, and 66B, an electron transport layer 67, and a second electrode (cathode) 68 on the substrate 5. Among these, the hole transport layer 65, the

light emitting layers

66R, 66G, 66B, and the electron transport layer 67 correspond to organic layers. In the present embodiment, the light-emitting layer 66R is an organic EL layer that emits red light, the light-emitting layer 66G is an organic EL layer that emits green light, and the light-emitting layer 66B is an organic EL layer that emits blue light. In the case of using a color filter or a quantum dot color filter as described above, the color filter or the quantum dot color filter is disposed on the light emission side of each light emitting layer, that is, on the upper or lower portion in fig. 14 (b), but the illustration is omitted.

The light-emitting

layers

66R, 66G, and 66B are formed in patterns corresponding to light-emitting elements (also sometimes referred to as organic EL elements) that emit red light, green light, and blue light, respectively. In addition, the first electrode 64 is formed separately for each light emitting element. The hole transport layer 65, the electron transport layer 67, and the second electrode 68 may be formed in common with the plurality of

light emitting elements

62R, 62G, and 62B, or may be formed for each light emitting element. In order to prevent the first electrode 64 and the second electrode 68 from being short-circuited by foreign substances, an insulating layer 69 is provided between the first electrodes 64. Further, since the organic EL layer is degraded by moisture and oxygen, a protective layer P for protecting the organic EL element from moisture and oxygen is provided.

Next, a specific description will be given of an example of a method of manufacturing an organic EL display device as an electronic device. First, a substrate 5 on which a circuit (not shown) for driving the organic EL display device and a first electrode 64 are formed is prepared.

Next, a resin layer such as an acrylic resin or polyimide is formed on the substrate 5 on which the first electrode 64 is formed by spin coating, and the insulating layer 69 is formed by patterning the resin layer by photolithography so that an opening is formed in a portion where the first electrode 64 is formed. The opening corresponds to a light emitting region where the light emitting element actually emits light.

Next, the substrate 5 patterned with the insulating layer 69 is fed to a first film formation device, the substrate is held by a substrate holding unit, and the hole transport layer 65 is formed as a common layer on the first electrode 64 in the display region. The hole transport layer 65 is formed by vacuum deposition. In practice, the hole transport layer 65 is formed to be larger in size than the display region 61, and therefore a high-definition mask is not required. Here, the film forming apparatus used for forming the film in this step and the film forming of each layer below is the film forming apparatus according to any one of the above embodiments.

Next, the substrate 5 formed to the hole transport layer 65 is fed to the second film forming apparatus, and held by the substrate holding unit. The substrate and the mask are aligned, the substrate is placed on the mask, and a red light emitting layer 66R is formed on a portion of the substrate 5 where the red light emitting element is arranged. According to this example, the mask and the substrate can be favorably superimposed, and film formation with high accuracy can be performed.

In the same manner as the formation of the light-emitting layer 66R, the light-emitting layer 66G that emits green light is formed by the third film formation device, and the light-emitting layer 66B that emits blue light is formed by the fourth film formation device. After the formation of the light-emitting

layers

66R, 66G, 66B is completed, the electron transport layer 67 is formed over the entire display region 61 by the fifth film forming apparatus. Each of the light-emitting

layers

66R, 66G, and 66B may be a single layer or a layer obtained by stacking a plurality of different layers. The electron transport layer 65 is formed as a common layer on the

light emitting layers

66R, 66G, 66B of three colors. In the present embodiment, the electron transport layer 67 and the

light emitting layers

66R, 66G, and 66B are formed by vacuum deposition.

Next, a second electrode 68 is formed on the electron transport layer 67. The second electrode may be formed by vacuum evaporation or sputtering. Thereafter, the substrate on which the second electrode 68 is formed is moved to a sealing device, and the protective layer P is formed by plasma CVD (sealing process), thereby completing the organic EL display device 600. The protective layer P is formed by CVD, but not limited thereto, and may be formed by ALD or inkjet.

When the substrate 5 patterned with the insulating layer 69 is exposed to an environment including moisture and oxygen from the time when the formation of the protective layer P is completed, the light-emitting layer made of the organic EL material may be degraded by the moisture and oxygen. Therefore, in this example, the transfer of the substrate between the film forming apparatuses is performed in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere.

Claims

1. A substrate carrier which is transported in a first direction and a second direction while holding the substrate in a substrate film forming apparatus, the substrate carrier comprising a plurality of first transport rotating bodies arranged in the first direction and a plurality of second transport rotating bodies arranged in the second direction,

The substrate carrier is characterized by comprising:

a plate-like member that holds a substrate;

a pair of second members fixed to a third side and a fourth side of the plate-like member along a second direction intersecting the first direction, respectively, and extending along the second direction, respectively,

the pair of first members are supported by the first conveying rotating body,

the pair of second members are supported by the second conveying rotating body,

the substrate carrier is placed on the mask from a state in which the pair of first members are supported and the pair of second members are not supported,

the film formation is performed in a state in which the film formation surface of the substrate is placed on the mask so as to face downward.

2. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein,

the Young's modulus of the first member and the Young's modulus of the second member are higher than the Young's modulus of the plate-like member.

3. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein,

The plate-like member is composed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy,

the first and second components are constructed of stainless steel.

4. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein,

the second member has a smaller cross-sectional moment of inertia in a cross-section orthogonal to the second direction than a cross-sectional moment of inertia in a cross-section orthogonal to the first direction of the first member.

5. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein,

the first part and the second part are each composed of the same material,

an area of a cross section of the second member orthogonal to the second direction is smaller than an area of a cross section of the first member orthogonal to the first direction.

6. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein,

the surfaces of the first member and the second member are coated with DLC coating or the surfaces are quenched.

7. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein,

the second member has a cross-sectional moment of inertia in a cross-section orthogonal to the second direction, and is set so that, when the second member is placed on the mask, a portion of the second member protruding from the substrate carrier furthest downward and having the greatest deflection comes into contact with the mask.

8. The substrate carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein,

the deflection dc of the substrate carrier in a state where the pair of first members are supported and the pair of second members are not supported when viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the first direction is larger than the deflection dm of the mask when viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the first direction.

9. A film forming apparatus includes:

a substrate carrier holding a substrate;

a film forming member for forming a film on a film forming surface of the substrate held on the substrate carrier via a mask;

a plurality of first conveying rotating bodies arranged in a first direction; and

a plurality of second conveying rotating bodies arranged in a second direction intersecting the first direction,

the film forming apparatus is characterized in that,

the substrate carrier has:

a plate-like member that holds a substrate;

a pair of first members fixed to a first side and a second side of the plate-like member along the first direction, respectively, and extending along the first direction, respectively; and

A pair of second members fixed to a third side and a fourth side of the plate-like member along the second direction, respectively, and extending along the second direction, respectively,

the plurality of first conveying rotating bodies support the pair of first members, convey the substrate carrier in the first direction,

the plurality of second conveying rotating bodies support the pair of second members, convey the substrate carrier in the second direction,

the plurality of first conveying rotating bodies and the plurality of second conveying rotating bodies convey the substrate carriers in a state where the substrates are not held, respectively.

10. The film forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein,

11. The film forming apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein,

the plate-like member is composed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy,

the first and second components are constructed of stainless steel.

12. A film forming apparatus includes:

a substrate carrier holding a substrate;

the film forming apparatus is characterized in that,

the substrate carrier has:

a plate-like member that holds a substrate;

the film forming apparatus further includes a support member that supports the substrate carrier in a state where the pair of first members are supported and the pair of second members are not supported,

The support member moves the substrate carrier relative to the mask so as to be placed on the mask with the film formation surface of the substrate facing downward from the state,

when the substrate carrier is in the mounting state, the film forming member forms a film on the film formation surface.

13. The film forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein,

14. The film forming apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, wherein,

the first part and the second part are each composed of the same material,

15. The film forming apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, wherein,

16. The film forming apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, wherein,

17. The film forming apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, wherein,

18. A method for transporting a substrate carrier in a film forming apparatus, the substrate carrier comprising:

a plate-like member that holds a substrate;

The substrate carrier conveying method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

a step of supporting the pair of first members by a plurality of first conveying rotating bodies aligned in the first direction and conveying the substrate carrier in the first direction; and

a step of supporting the pair of second members by a plurality of second conveying rotating bodies arranged in the second direction and conveying the substrate carrier in the second direction,

the method for transporting the substrate carrier includes a loading step of loading the substrate carrier in a state where the pair of first members are supported and the pair of second members are not supported on a mask so that a film formation surface of the substrate faces downward.

19. The method of transporting a substrate carrier according to claim 18,

20. The method of transporting a substrate carrier according to claim 18,

21. The method of transporting a substrate carrier according to claim 18,

in the mounting step, the substrate carrier is mounted on the mask so as to come into contact with a portion of the mask protruding most downward from the substrate carrier where deflection is greatest.

22. A film forming method is characterized by comprising:

a step of placing the substrate carrier holding the substrate on the mask using the method for transporting a substrate carrier according to claim 18; and

and a film forming step of forming a film on a film formation surface of the substrate via the mask while conveying the substrate carrier and the mask in the first direction.