CN114959647A - Thin film deposition device and air inlet mechanism thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The application discloses film deposition apparatus and mechanism of admitting air thereof includes: the air inlet flange is provided with an inner wall, an outer wall and a first cavity enclosed by the inner wall and the outer wall, the outer wall is provided with an air inlet, the inner wall is provided with a plurality of air outlets at intervals along the circumferential direction of the inner wall, and the air inlet and the air outlets are both communicated with the first cavity; the flow equalizing plate is arranged on one side of the air inlet flange; the even flow plate is provided with a plurality of even flow holes, and gas flows out from the gas outlets and then passes through the even flow holes to uniformly flow out. The application provides a film deposition device and mechanism of admitting air thereof can improve the stability and the homogeneity of flow field in the reaction chamber to and the homogeneity of film deposition in the actual production.

Description

Thin film deposition device and air inlet mechanism thereof

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of solar cell manufacturing, in particular to a film deposition device and an air inlet mechanism thereof.

Background

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

In the field of solar cell manufacturing, an anti-reflective film or a passivation film is deposited by a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) method. The film deposition equipment adopts PECVD technology, utilizes a radio frequency electric field to enable process gas to generate glow discharge under the condition of low pressure, ionizes out plasma, and generates active groups capable of promoting reaction; the process gas can react at a lower temperature under the promotion of the active groups to generate the high-quality nano-scale film.

With the continuous expansion of the cell size in recent years, specifically from 156.75mm to 220mm, the tube diameter of the PECVD furnace tube is also sharply increased, for example, the inner diameter of the furnace tube is expanded from 380mm to 550mm, at this time, the conventional gas inlet method cannot meet the requirement of uniformity of the gas field in the tube.

In the process, process gas enters the quartz furnace tube from the front end gas inlet flange, and process tail gas is discharged out of the quartz furnace tube through the gas extraction holes welded on the end face flange connected to the tail end of the vacuum system. The reasonable technological parameters of pressure, flow, temperature and the like in the furnace tube can ensure that the process gas is uniformly distributed in the furnace tube, thereby ensuring the deposition uniformity of the deposited film.

However, as the graphite boat and the reaction chamber are larger, if the existing gas inlet mode is still adopted, the uniformity of the gas field concentration distribution of the cross section of the reaction chamber is reduced, the film deposition quality is also affected, and even the film deposition has chromatic aberration. The color difference can cause poor appearance of the solar cell, thereby affecting the yield and efficiency of the solar cell.

It should be noted that the above background description is only for the convenience of clear and complete description of the technical solutions in the present specification and for the understanding of those skilled in the art. Such solutions are not considered to be known to the person skilled in the art merely because they have been set forth in the background section of the present specification.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem that this application mainly solved provides a film deposition apparatus and mechanism admits air thereof, can improve the stability and the homogeneity of flow field in the reaction chamber to and the homogeneity of film deposition in the actual production.

In order to solve the technical problem, the application adopts a technical scheme that: provided is a gas inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus, including:

the air inlet flange is provided with an inner wall, an outer wall and a first cavity enclosed by the inner wall and the outer wall, the outer wall is provided with an air inlet, the inner wall is provided with a plurality of air outlets at intervals along the circumferential direction of the inner wall, and the air inlet and the air outlets are both communicated with the first cavity;

the flow equalizing plate is arranged on one side of the air inlet flange; the even flow plate is provided with a plurality of even flow holes, and gas flows out from the gas outlets and then passes through the even flow holes to uniformly flow out.

Further, the flange that admits air is back to one side of even flow plate is equipped with the furnace gate, the furnace gate with the flange sealing connection that admits air, even flow plate the furnace gate with the inner wall of the flange that admits air forms the second cavity, the gas outlet with even discharge orifice all with the second cavity intercommunication.

Furthermore, the air inlet flange is circular, the flow equalizing plate and the air inlet flange are vertically arranged in the axial direction, and the flow equalizing plate and the furnace door are arranged in parallel.

Further, a predetermined distance is reserved between the flow equalizing plate and the air outlet in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the flow equalizing plate.

Further, the predetermined distance is 5mm to 50 mm.

Further, a plurality of the air outlets are evenly arranged along the circumferential direction of the inner wall at intervals.

Furthermore, the diameter of the air inlet is 1mm-10mm, the diameter of the air outlet is 1mm-5mm, and the ratio of the cross sections of the air inlet and the air outlet is 0.1-5.

Furthermore, the uniform flow holes are circular, the distance between every two adjacent uniform flow holes is 1-20 mm, the porosity of the uniform flow holes in the uniform flow plate is 5-30%, the diameter of each uniform flow hole is 0.8-10mm, the diameter of each uniform flow hole is further selected to be 1-8mm, and the diameter of each uniform flow hole is further selected to be 2-5 mm.

Further, the diameter of the uniform flow holes is gradually reduced from the center of the uniform flow plate to the edge.

Furthermore, the flow homogenizing plate is made of metal materials.

In order to solve the above technical problem, another technical solution adopted by the present application is: provided is a thin film deposition apparatus including:

the intake mechanism according to any one of the above embodiments;

a chamber having first and second opposite ends, the chamber configured to perform a thin film deposition reaction; the air inlet mechanism is positioned at the first end;

and the air pumping mechanism is positioned at the second end and used for pumping the air in the cavity.

Different from the prior art, the beneficial effects of the application are that: the thin film deposition device and the air inlet mechanism thereof provided by the embodiment of the application are provided with an air inlet flange and a uniform flow plate. This air inlet flange has inner wall, outer wall and by the inner wall with the first cavity that the outer wall encloses, its outer wall is equipped with the air inlet, and the inner wall is equipped with a plurality of gas outlets along its circumference interval to gas in the first cavity need flow from a plurality of positions, and first cavity physical stamina makes gaseous preliminary diffusion even. After the gas flows out from the plurality of gas outlets, the gas can be further uniformly distributed through the plurality of uniform flow holes on the uniform flow plate, and the gas can uniformly enter the reaction cavity through the uniform flow holes. Therefore, the air inlet mechanism can improve the stability and uniformity of a flow field in the reaction cavity and the uniformity of film deposition in actual production.

In addition, the diameter of the uniform flow holes is gradually reduced from the center to the edge of the uniform flow plate, so that gas at the edge of the uniform flow plate can be prevented from entering the reaction cavity first, gas at the center and the edge can be ensured to enter the reaction cavity approximately simultaneously, the condition that the thickness of a film layer on a film deposition product is uneven due to an inappropriate airflow mode can be avoided, and the film with even thickness can be obtained on the surface of a product with larger size.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts. Wherein:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of an air inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus according to the present embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the structure of FIG. 1 except for the oven door;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of an even flow plate according to this embodiment.

Description of reference numerals:

1. an air inlet flange; 2. an inner wall; 3. an outer wall; 4. a first cavity; 5. an air inlet; 6. an air outlet; 7. a flow homogenizing plate; 8. a second cavity; 9. flow homogenizing holes; 10. a furnace door.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not denote a single embodiment.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used herein in the description of the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The inventor researches and discovers that when the volume of a reaction cavity is larger and larger, the gas in the central area in the cavity is thin and the stability and uniformity of a flow field are reduced by adopting a gas inlet mode in the prior art, so that the thickness of an antireflection film of a silicon wafer positioned in the middle of a graphite boat is slightly thinner than that of the silicon wafer positioned at two sides, and the deposition chromatic aberration of the film is caused. Therefore, it is necessary to design a gas inlet mechanism, which can ensure the uniform distribution of gas in the reaction chamber when the volume of the reaction chamber in the chamber is large, and especially can prevent the gas in the central region in the chamber from being rarefied.

Please refer to fig. 1 to 3. The embodiment of the application provides a gas inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition device, which comprises a gas inlet flange 1 and a uniform flow plate 7.

The air inlet flange 1 has an inner wall 2, an outer wall 3, and a first cavity 4 enclosed by the inner wall 2 and the outer wall 3. The outer wall 3 is provided with an air inlet 5. The inner wall 2 is provided with a plurality of air outlets 6 at intervals along its circumference. The air inlet 5 and the air outlet 6 are both communicated with the first cavity 4. The uniform flow plate 7 is arranged on one side of the air inlet flange 1. The uniform flow plate 7 is provided with a plurality of uniform flow holes 9. The gas flows out from the plurality of gas outlets 6 and then uniformly flows out through the uniform flow holes 9 of the uniform flow plate 7.

The thin film deposition device and the air inlet mechanism thereof provided by the embodiment of the application are provided with an air inlet flange 1 and a uniform flow plate 7. This air intake flange 1 has inner wall 2, outer wall 3 and by inner wall 2 with the first cavity 4 that the outer wall 3 encloses, its outer wall 3 is equipped with air inlet 5, and inner wall 2 is equipped with a plurality of gas outlets 6 along its circumference interval to gas in the first cavity 4 need flow from a plurality of positions, and first cavity 4 enables gaseous preliminary diffusion even. After the gas flows out from the plurality of gas outlets 6, the gas can be further uniformly distributed through the plurality of uniform flow holes 9 on the uniform flow plate 7, and the gas can uniformly enter the reaction cavity through the uniform flow holes 9. Therefore, the air inlet mechanism can improve the stability and uniformity of a flow field in the reaction cavity and the uniformity of film deposition in actual production.

Preferably, the diameter of the uniform flow holes 9 gradually decreases from the center to the edge of the uniform flow plate 7, that is, the diameter of the uniform flow holes 9 near the center of the uniform flow plate 7 is larger, and the diameter of the uniform flow holes 9 near the edge of the uniform flow plate 7 is smaller, so that the gas at the edge of the uniform flow plate 7 can be prevented from entering the reaction chamber first, and thus the gas at the center and the gas at the edge can be ensured to enter the reaction chamber at approximately the same time. The flow equalizing plate 7 with the structure can avoid uneven film thickness on a film deposition product caused by an improper air flow mode, and can obtain a film with even thickness on the surface of a product with larger size.

In this embodiment, the side of the air intake flange 1 facing away from the uniform flow plate 7 may be provided with an oven door 10. The oven door 10 and the air intake flange 1 are hermetically connected, thereby preventing air leakage. A sealing component such as a sealing ring or a rubber gasket can be arranged between the furnace door 10 and the air inlet flange 1. Before and after the film deposition reaction, the furnace door 10 may be opened or closed, and a product to be film-deposited or a film-deposited product may be taken out. The uniform flow plate 7 is fixedly connected with the furnace door 10, and the uniform flow plate 7 can move along with the furnace door 10, thereby facilitating the in and out of the film deposition products. The uniform flow plate 7, the furnace door 10 and the inner wall 2 of the air inlet flange 1 can form a second cavity 8, and the air outlet 6 and the uniform flow hole 9 are communicated with the second cavity 8. After flowing out from the plurality of gas outlets 6, the gas can be uniformly diffused in the second cavity 8 again, and then flows into the reaction cavity from the uniform flow holes 9.

In a preferred embodiment, the inlet flange 1 is annular. Correspondingly, the flow homogenizing plate 7 is circular, the flow homogenizing plate 7 is vertically arranged with the axial direction of the air inlet flange 1, and the flow homogenizing plate 7 is arranged in parallel with the oven door 10, so that the second cavity 8 is approximately cylindrical. The uniform flow plate 7 and the furnace door 10 form two planes of the second cavity 8, and the inner wall 2 of the air inlet flange 1 forms an arc-shaped side surface of the second cavity 8.

In order to achieve better flow equalizing effect of the flow equalizing plate 7, the diameter of the inner wall 2 of the gas inlet flange 1 is equal to the diameter of the reaction cavity, and the diameter of the flow equalizing plate 7 is approximately equal to the inner diameter of the reaction cavity, so that all gas entering the reaction cavity can be equalized, and the gas can only enter the reaction cavity through the flow equalizing holes 9.

In another embodiment, since the flow equalizing plate 7 is fixed relative to the furnace door 10, the flow equalizing plate 7 moves along with the furnace door 10 when the furnace door 10 is operated, and the diameter of the flow equalizing plate 7 can be set to be slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the reaction chamber, so as to ensure that the furnace door 10 and the flow equalizing plate 7 move smoothly.

Preferably, in order to avoid gas from flowing out of the gap between the flow homogenizing plate 7 and the reaction chamber, a blocking mechanism is arranged on the side of the flow homogenizing plate 7 facing away from the furnace door 10. One end of the blocking mechanism is connected with the wall surface of the reaction cavity, and the other end is connected with one surface of the uniform flow plate 7 back to the furnace door 10. Specifically, the position where the blocking mechanism contacts with the uniform flow plate 7 is located at the edge of the uniform flow plate 7, and the blocking mechanism is located on the periphery side of all the uniform flow holes 9. In the vertical direction of the plane of the uniform flow plate 7, the blocking mechanism can block the gap between the uniform flow plate 7 and the reaction cavity, so that the gas in the second cavity can only enter the reaction cavity through the uniform flow holes 9 and can not flow into the reaction cavity from the gap between the uniform flow plate 7 and the reaction cavity. The blocking mechanism may be a baffle, a retainer ring, or other structures, which are not limited in this application.

In the present embodiment, a predetermined distance is provided between the flow equalizing plate 7 and the gas outlets 6 in the vertical direction of the plane of the flow equalizing plate 7, so that the gas can be further uniformly diffused after flowing out from the plurality of gas outlets 6 and before entering the reaction chamber through the flow equalizing holes 9 of the flow equalizing plate 7. Preferably, the predetermined distance is 5mm-50mm, so as to reserve sufficient space for uniformly mixing the gas.

In the present embodiment, a side wall may be further included between the inner wall 2 and the outer wall 3 of the air inlet flange 1, wherein a plane of the side wall is parallel to a plane of the flow equalizing plate 7, and the inner wall 2, the outer wall 3 and the side wall jointly enclose the annular first cavity 4. Inner wall 2 and outer wall 3 are cylindricly, and the one side that inner wall 2 back to first cavity 4 is the through-hole, and this through-hole is a part of second cavity 8. In this embodiment, the second cavity 8 is defined by the oven door 10, the inner wall 2 of the air inlet flange 1, the cavity and the flow homogenizing plate 7. The plurality of gas outlets 6 are uniformly arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction of the inner wall 2, so that the gas flowing out of the gas outlets 6 can be uniformly distributed. The gas flowing out from the gas outlet 6 has a tendency to move towards the center of the cylinder where the inner wall 2 is located and towards the flow equalizing plate 7.

Preferably, the diameter of the air inlet 5 is 1mm to 10 mm. The diameter of the air outlet 6 is 1mm-5mm, and the section range of the air inlet and the air outlet is 1: 0.1-5. The number of the gas inlets 5 and the number of the gas outlets 6 are not specifically limited in the embodiment of the application, one gas inlet 5 can be used for the same kind of gas, and the number of the gas inlets 5 can be equal to the number of the types of the gas; the number of the air outlets 6 may be set as desired.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the uniform flow holes 9 in the present embodiment may be circular. In other embodiments, the flow-homogenizing holes 9 can be other shapes, such as rectangular, triangular, etc. The uniform flow holes 9 in this embodiment penetrate the uniform flow plate 7 to communicate the second cavity 8 with the reaction cavity, so that gas can enter the reaction cavity from the second cavity 8.

In the embodiment, the distance between the adjacent uniform flow holes 9 is 1mm-20mm, the porosity of the uniform flow holes in the uniform flow plate is 5-30%, the diameter of the uniform flow holes 9 is 0.8-10mm, the diameter of the uniform flow holes is further selected to be 1-8mm, and the diameter of the uniform flow holes is further selected to be 2-5 mm.

In the present embodiment, the uniform flow plate 7 can reflect part of the heat, thereby saving energy. The flow equalization plate 7 may be made of metal material, so as to shield Radio Frequency (RF).

In a specific application scenario, the process gas can enter from the gas inlet 5 of the gas inlet flange 1 at the position of the furnace mouth, then is ejected from the gas outlet 6, is uniformly mixed, passes through the uniform flow plate 7 and then enters the reaction cavity in a planar gas inlet mode, and the uniformity and the stability of the flow field distribution in the reaction cavity can be improved under the condition that the radial size of the reaction cavity is larger.

The gas inlet mechanism provided by the embodiment can improve the film deposition uniformity of the film deposition device, can ensure that the process gas is rapidly and uniformly distributed in the reaction cavity, can greatly improve the stability and uniformity of the cross-section flow field in the reaction cavity, and is favorable for improving the film deposition uniformity in the actual production after the radial size of the reaction cavity is increased.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a thin film deposition apparatus (not shown), which includes a chamber, an air inlet mechanism, and an air exhaust mechanism.

Wherein the cavity has opposing first and second ends. The cavity is used for carrying out film deposition reaction. The cavity used for carrying out the film deposition reaction is the reaction cavity. The air intake mechanism is located at the first end. The air exhaust mechanism is positioned at the second end and used for exhausting the air in the cavity.

It should be noted that the gas inlet mechanism of the thin film deposition apparatus in this embodiment may be the gas inlet mechanism in any of the above embodiments, and for detailed description, reference is made to the above contents, which are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, the oven door 10 is fixedly connected to the flow equalizing plate 7. The air inlet flange 1 can be fixedly arranged on the cavity, and a sealing component such as a sealing ring or a rubber gasket can be arranged between the furnace door 10 and the air inlet flange 1. The oven door 10 can be opened or closed relative to the air intake flange 1. The diameter of the inner wall 2 of the air inlet flange 1 can be equal to the inner diameter of the cavity, so that the uniform flow plate 7 can conveniently pass through the center of the inner wall 2 when the furnace door 10 is opened. When the furnace door 10 is connected with the air inlet flange 1 in a sealing way, the flow equalizing plate 7 is positioned in the cavity.

In other embodiments, the oven door 10, the air inlet flange 1 and the flow equalizing plate 7 can be fixedly connected, and the air inlet flange 1 and the cavity are connected in a sealing manner.

It should be noted that, in the description of the present specification, the terms "first", "second", and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and for distinguishing similar objects, and no order is present therebetween, and no indication or suggestion of relative importance is to be made. Further, in the description of the present specification, "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

Any numerical value recited herein includes all values from the lower value to the upper value, in increments of one unit, provided that there is a separation of at least two units between any lower value and any higher value. For example, if it is stated that the number of a component or a value of a process variable (e.g., temperature, pressure, time, etc.) is from 1 to 90, preferably from 20 to 80, more preferably from 30 to 70, it is intended that equivalents such as 15 to 85, 22 to 68, 43 to 51, 30 to 32 are also expressly enumerated in this specification. For values less than 1, one unit is suitably considered to be 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1. These are only examples of what is intended to be explicitly recited, and all possible combinations of numerical values between the lowest value and the highest value that are explicitly recited in the specification in a similar manner are to be considered.

Unless otherwise indicated, all ranges include the endpoints and all numbers between the endpoints. The use of "about" or "approximately" with a range applies to both endpoints of the range. Thus, "about 20 to about 30" is intended to cover "about 20 to about 30", including at least the endpoints specified.

The term "consisting essentially of …" describing a combination shall include the identified element, ingredient, component or step as well as other elements, ingredients, components or steps that do not materially affect the basic novel characteristics of the combination. The use of the terms "comprising" or "including" to describe combinations of elements, components, or steps herein also contemplates embodiments that consist essentially of such elements, components, or steps. By using the term "may" herein, it is intended to indicate that any of the described attributes that "may" include are optional.

A plurality of elements, components, parts or steps can be provided by a single integrated element, component, part or step. Alternatively, a single integrated element, component, part or step may be divided into separate plural elements, components, parts or steps. The disclosure of "a" or "an" to describe an element, ingredient, component or step is not intended to foreclose other elements, ingredients, components or steps.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and all modifications of equivalent structures and equivalent processes, which are made by the contents of the specification and the drawings of the present application or are directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are also included in the scope of the present application.

Claims (13)

1. An air inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus, comprising:

the air inlet flange is provided with an inner wall, an outer wall and a first cavity enclosed by the inner wall and the outer wall, the outer wall is provided with an air inlet, the inner wall is provided with a plurality of air outlets at intervals along the circumferential direction of the inner wall, and the air inlet and the air outlets are both communicated with the first cavity;

the flow equalizing plate is arranged on one side of the air inlet flange; the uniform flow plate is provided with a plurality of uniform flow holes, and gas flows out from the gas outlet and then passes through the uniform flow plates to uniformly flow out from the uniform flow holes.

2. The gas inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the uniform flow holes is gradually reduced from the center to the edge of the uniform flow plate.

3. The air inlet mechanism of the thin film deposition device according to claim 1, wherein an oven door is disposed on a side of the air inlet flange facing away from the uniform flow plate, the oven door is connected to the air inlet flange in a sealing manner, inner walls of the uniform flow plate, the oven door and the air inlet flange form a second cavity, and the air outlet and the uniform flow hole are both communicated with the second cavity.

4. The thin film deposition apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the gas inlet flange has a circular shape, the flow distribution plate and the gas inlet flange are arranged in a vertical direction, and the flow distribution plate and the furnace door are arranged in parallel.

5. The gas inlet mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the gas outlet is spaced apart from the flow distribution plate by a predetermined distance in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the flow distribution plate.

6. The gas inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined distance is 5mm to 50 mm.

7. The gas inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of gas outlets are uniformly spaced along a circumferential direction of the inner wall.

8. The gas inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the gas inlet is 1mm to 10mm, and the diameter of the gas outlet is 1mm to 5 mm.

9. The gas inlet mechanism for a thin film deposition apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the cross-sectional area of the gas inlet and the gas outlet is in a range of 1 to 0.1 to 5.

10. The gas inlet mechanism of a thin film deposition apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said smoothing holes have a circular shape, a distance between adjacent said smoothing holes is 1mm to 20mm, and a diameter of said smoothing holes is 0.8 mm to 10 mm.

11. The gas supply mechanism according to claim 10, wherein the uniform flow holes in the uniform flow plate have a porosity of 5 to 30%.

12. The gas inlet mechanism of claim 1, wherein the flow-equalizing plate is made of metal.

13. A thin film deposition apparatus, comprising:

the intake mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 12;

a chamber having first and second opposite ends, the chamber configured to perform a thin film deposition reaction; the air inlet mechanism is positioned at the first end;

and the air pumping mechanism is positioned at the second end and used for pumping the air in the cavity.

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