JP2006176867A - Film-forming apparatus and vapor deposition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a film-forming apparatus and a vapor deposition apparatus, of which the maintenance operation can be performed in a short period of time. <P>SOLUTION: The film-forming apparatus comprises an outer chamber 1 having a chamber upper part 1a and a chamber lower part 1b, an inner chamber 6 which is placed in the outer chamber 1 and is installed on the chamber lower part 1b, and a substrate holder 4a which is placed in the inner chamber 6 and holds a substrate 16 to be film-formed, wherein the chamber upper part 1a and the chamber lower part 1b are formed to be releasable from each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus and a vapor deposition apparatus, and more particularly to a film forming apparatus and a vapor deposition apparatus that can easily perform maintenance work in a short time.

  An organic EL display in which an organic EL thin film is formed on a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate is one of the promising candidates for the next-generation flat panel display. As one of techniques for forming an organic EL thin film on a transparent substrate, there is a method of depositing an organic EL thin film on a transparent substrate by a vapor deposition apparatus.

  The vapor deposition apparatus evaporates or sublimates an evaporation material or a sublimation material, and forms a vapor deposition film on the substrate by depositing the evaporated or sublimated vapor deposition material on the substrate. During this vapor deposition process, the vapor deposition film also adheres to an inner cover (protection plate) provided inside the chamber. When the deposited film becomes thicker, the deposited film is peeled off, and the separated deposited material may adhere to the deposited film formed on the substrate and become a contamination (foreign matter). For this reason, the maintenance operation | work which replaces | exchanges an adhesion prevention board or cleans regularly is required (refer patent document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-104971 (2-4 pages, FIG. 1)

  The maintenance work described above, the operator opens the upper lid of the chamber of the vapor deposition apparatus, puts the head in the chamber and removes the screws of the deposition plate, removes all the deposition plates and replaces or cleans, The deposition plate is attached to the chamber with screws, the vapor deposition apparatus is assembled, and the apparatus is adjusted. This maintenance work took a long time.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a film forming apparatus and a vapor deposition apparatus that can easily perform maintenance work in a short time.

In order to solve the above problems, a film forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an external chamber having an upper chamber portion and a lower chamber portion,
An inner chamber disposed within the outer chamber and attached to the lower portion of the chamber;
A substrate holding unit disposed in the internal chamber and holding a deposition target substrate;
Comprising
The upper part of the chamber and the lower part of the chamber are formed to be separable.

  According to the film forming apparatus according to the present invention, the internal chamber attached to the lower portion of the chamber can be easily removed in a short time by separating the upper portion of the chamber from the lower portion of the chamber. It can be easily attached to the lower part in a short time. Thereby, the maintenance work can be easily performed in a short time.

  In the film forming apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the internal chamber is mounted or fitted on the lower portion of the chamber so that the inner chamber can be removed from the lower portion of the chamber with one touch. Thereby, the internal chamber attached to the lower part of the chamber can be easily removed in a short time, and the internal chamber can be easily attached to the lower part of the chamber in a short time.

Further, the film forming apparatus according to the present invention may further include a vertical movement mechanism that moves the lower part of the chamber in the vertical direction.
The film forming apparatus according to the present invention may further include a moving mechanism that moves the lower portion of the chamber in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.

An evaporation apparatus according to the present invention includes an outer chamber having a chamber upper portion, a chamber lower portion and a chamber bottom portion,
An inner chamber disposed within the outer chamber and attached to the lower portion of the chamber;
An evaporation source disposed in the inner chamber and attached to the bottom of the chamber;
A substrate holder that is disposed in the internal chamber and holds a deposition target substrate at a position facing the evaporation source;
Comprising
The upper part of the chamber and the lower part of the chamber are formed to be separable,
The lower part of the chamber and the bottom part of the chamber are formed to be separable.

  According to the vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention, the internal chamber attached to the lower portion of the chamber can be easily removed in a short time by separating the upper portion of the chamber from the lower portion of the chamber. Can be easily attached in a short time. Thereby, the maintenance work can be easily performed in a short time. In addition, since the lower part of the chamber and the bottom part of the chamber can be separated, maintenance work for the evaporation source can be easily performed in a short time.

  Moreover, the vapor deposition apparatus which concerns on this invention WHEREIN: It is preferable that the said internal chamber is mounted or fitted in the said chamber lower part so that it can remove from the said chamber lower part by one touch.

The vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention may further include a vertical movement mechanism that moves the lower part of the chamber and the bottom part of the chamber in the vertical direction.
The vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention may further include a vertical movement mechanism that moves the chamber bottom in the vertical direction.

The vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention may further include a moving mechanism for moving the lower portion of the chamber and the bottom portion of the chamber in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.
The vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention may further include a moving mechanism that moves the chamber bottom in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a film forming apparatus and a vapor deposition apparatus that can easily perform maintenance work in a short time.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an organic EL vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This organic EL vapor deposition apparatus is for vapor-depositing an organic EL film on a glass substrate to be a flat display panel.

  The organic EL vapor deposition apparatus includes an external chamber 1, and the external chamber 1 includes a chamber upper portion 1a and a chamber lower portion 1b. The chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b constitute a side portion of the external chamber, and the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b can be separated from each other. A lid 2 is disposed above the chamber upper portion 1a, and a base flange (chamber bottom portion) 3 is disposed below the chamber lower portion 1b. A chamber capable of maintaining airtightness is formed by the external chamber 1, the lid 2 and the base flange 3.

  An internal chamber 6 is disposed in the external chamber 1, and this internal chamber 6 is attached to the chamber lower portion 1b. An evaporation source 7 is disposed below the internal chamber 6, and the evaporation source 7 is held by a holding member 8. The holding member 8 is attached to the base flange 3. The evaporation source 7 is provided with a heating mechanism (not shown) for heating the evaporation material or the sublimation material.

  Further, the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus includes a substrate holding mechanism 4, and the substrate holding mechanism 4 has a substrate holding portion 4a and a rotating shaft 4b. The substrate holding unit 4 a holds a film formation substrate 16 such as a glass substrate, and is disposed above the evaporation source 7 and above the internal chamber 6 so as to face the film formation substrate 16. Yes. The rotating shaft 4b supports the substrate holding portion 4a and applies a rotational force. The rotating shaft 4b is connected to the motor 5 via the lid portion 2. The motor 5 applies a rotational force to the rotating shaft 4b to rotate the substrate holding portion 4.

  In the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus, the inside of the internal chamber 6 is brought into a predetermined vacuum state, and the evaporation source 7 or the sublimation material is released upward by heating the evaporation source 7 while rotating the substrate holding portion 4a by the motor 5. A vapor deposition film is formed on the entire surface of the substrate 16. The reason why the substrate holding portion 4a is rotated in this manner is that a deposited film is formed on the substrate 16 with good in-plane uniformity as the substrate 16 rotates.

  In the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus, in the process of forming a vapor deposition film on the substrate 16 by evaporating or sublimating the evaporation material or sublimation material as described above, and depositing the evaporated or sublimated vapor deposition material on the substrate 16. The deposited film also adheres to the internal chamber 6. When the deposited film becomes thicker, the deposited film is peeled off, and the peeled deposited material may adhere to the deposited film formed on the substrate 16 and become a contamination (foreign matter). For this reason, the operation | work which replaces the internal chamber 6 is performed before the thickness of the vapor deposition film adhering to the internal chamber 6 becomes thick.

  In this replacement operation, the internal chamber 6 with the deposited film attached is removed from the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus, and a new internal chamber or a cleaned internal chamber for removing the deposited vapor deposited film is attached to the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus. The removed internal chamber 6 is cleaned to remove the deposited film while the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus is moving, and when the internal chamber is replaced next, the cleaned internal chamber is attached to the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus. Is preferred.

Next, the replacement work will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the upper part of the chamber and the lower part of the chamber are separated in the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus can separate the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b, and the chamber lower portion 1 and the base flange 3 are moved up and down by a moving mechanism (not shown). It is configured to be possible. By moving the chamber lower portion 1b and the base flange 3 downward, the internal chamber 6 attached to the chamber lower portion 1b and the holding member 8 attached to the base flange 3 also move downward. In this state, the internal chamber 6 can be removed from the chamber lower part 1b easily or with one touch.

  That is, in a state where the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b are separated, the internal chamber 6 is placed or fitted on the upper portion of the chamber lower portion 1b, and the chamber lower portion 1b is attached to the chamber upper portion 1a in FIG. In the state, the internal chamber 6 is sandwiched between the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b. Therefore, in a state where the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b are separated, the internal chamber 6 can be easily detached from the chamber lower portion 1b or with one touch.

  According to Embodiment 1 described above, the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b can be separated, whereby the internal chamber 6 can be easily removed in a short time, and the internal chamber can be easily attached in a short time. Can do. Thereby, the maintenance operation | work which replaces | exchanges an internal chamber can be performed easily in a short time. Therefore, the operation rate of the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus can be improved.

  Moreover, the time for opening the external chamber 1 to the atmosphere can be shortened by exchanging the internal chamber in a short time.

  When the internal chamber 6 is removed, the holding member 8 is attached to the base flange 3 and the evaporation source 7 is attached to the holding member 8. In this state, it is easy to clean the evaporation source 7 and replenish the evaporation source 7 with an evaporation material or a sublimation material.

  In the present embodiment, the internal chamber 6 is placed on the upper portion of the chamber lower portion 1b. However, the inner chamber may be fixed to the lower portion of the chamber with a fixing means (for example, a screw). .

(Embodiment 2)
2A is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an organic EL vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a lower part of the chamber of the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which isolate | separated the base flange. 2, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same parts is omitted.

  The organic EL vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. 2 (A) is configured such that the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b can be separated as in the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus according to the first embodiment, and further shown in FIG. 2 (B). In this way, the lower part of the chamber and the base flange are also separable. The base flange 3 is configured to be movable up and down by a moving mechanism (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 2B, by moving the base flange 3 downward, the holding member 8 attached to the base flange 3 and the evaporation source 7 held by the holding member 8 also move downward. In this state, the evaporation source 7 can be easily detached from the holding member 8.

  In the second embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the chamber lower part 1b and the base flange 3 can be separated, maintenance work for the evaporation source 7 (replenishment of evaporation material or sublimation material, cleaning of the evaporation source, elimination of defects in the evaporation source) Etc.) can be easily performed in a short time. Therefore, the operation rate of the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus can be improved.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an organic EL vapor deposition apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a state in which the upper part of the chamber and the lower part of the chamber are separated in the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating a state in which the lower portion of the chamber is laterally moved (slid) in the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3. 3, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same parts is omitted.

  The configuration of the external chamber 1, lid 2, base flange 3, substrate holding mechanism 4, internal chamber 6, evaporation source 7 and holding member 8 in the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. .

  The base flange 3 is attached to a slide guide member 9 and can be slid in the lateral direction (a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction) on the slide guide member 9. The slide guide member 9 is held by the first mount plate 10. A slide motor 11 is attached to the first mount plate 10, and the base flange 3 and the chamber lower part 1 b are moved laterally (slid) on the slide guide member 9 by the rotational driving force of the slide motor 11. Can be done.

  A second mount plate 13 is connected to the first mount plate 10 via elevating ball screws 12a and 12b which are elevating guide members. Ascending / descending driving force transmission joints 14 a, 14 b, 14 c are attached to the second mount plate 13. The base end of the lifting ball screw 12a is connected to the lifting drive force transmission joint 14a, and the base end of the lifting ball screw 12b is connected to the lifting drive force transmission joint 14b. The elevating driving force transmission joints 14a to 14c are connected to each other by ball screws. The lifting drive force transmission joint 14 c is connected to the lifting motor 15. The rotational driving force of the elevating motor 15 is transmitted to the elevating ball screws 12a and 12b via the elevating driving force transmission joints 14a to 14c. The first mount plate 10 can be moved up and down by rotating the elevating ball screws 12a and 12b.

  After forming a vapor deposition film on the substrate 16 with the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus in the state shown in FIG. 3, the internal chamber 6 is exchanged. This replacement operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4, the elevating ball screw is rotated by transmitting the rotational driving force of the elevating motor 15 to the elevating ball screws 12a and 12b via the elevating driving force transmission joints 14a to 14c. As a result, the chamber lower portion 1b, the base flange 3, the internal chamber 6, the evaporation source 7 and the holding mechanism 8 are lowered together with the first mount plate 10 to separate the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the base flange 3 and the chamber lower portion 1 b are laterally moved (slid) on the slide guide member 9 by the rotational driving force of the slide motor 11. As a result, the internal chamber 6 and the evaporation source 7 are moved from below the chamber upper portion 1a. That is, a space (space) is provided above the internal chamber 6 and the evaporation source 7.

  Next, the internal chamber 6 is removed from the chamber lower portion 1b with one touch, and a new internal chamber or a cleaned internal chamber for removing the deposited film is attached to the chamber lower portion 1b. The detached internal chamber 6 is preferably cleaned to remove the deposited film while the organic EL deposition apparatus is moving.

  Next, the base flange 3 and the lower chamber portion 1b are slid on the sliding guide member 9 by the rotational driving force of the sliding motor 11 and moved below the upper chamber portion 1a. Next, the lifting and lowering ball screw is rotated by transmitting the rotational driving force of the lifting and lowering motor 15 to the lifting and lowering ball screws 12a and 12b via the lifting and lowering driving force transmission joints 14a to 14c. Accordingly, the chamber lower portion 1b, the base flange 3, the internal chamber 6, the evaporation source 7 and the holding mechanism 8 are raised together with the first mount plate 10, and the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b are connected and integrated.

  Maintenance work can be easily performed in a short time by exchanging the internal chamber by the method described above. Therefore, the operation rate of the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus can be improved. Moreover, the time for opening the external chamber 1 to the atmosphere can be shortened by exchanging the internal chamber in a short time. When the internal chamber 6 is removed, the holding member 8 is attached to the base flange 3 and the evaporation source 7 is attached to the holding member 8. In this state, it becomes easy to clean the evaporation source 7 and replenish the evaporation source 7 with an evaporation material or a sublimation material.

  Further, the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is configured such that the chamber lower portion 1b and the base flange 3 can also be separated. Therefore, the chamber lower portion 1b and the base flange 3 can be separated by the same method as that for separating the chamber upper portion 1a and the chamber lower portion 1b. This will be described below.

  First, the elevating ball screws 12a and 12b are rotated by the elevating motor 15, and the base flange 3, the evaporation source 7 and the holding mechanism 8 are lowered together with the first mount plate 10 to separate the base flange 3 and the lower chamber portion 1b. Next, the base flange 3 is laterally moved (slid) on the slide guide member 9 by the slide motor 11, and the evaporation source 7 is moved from below the chamber upper portion 1a. That is, a space (space) is provided above the evaporation source 7. Next, the evaporation source 7 is removed from the holding member 8 and maintenance work of the evaporation source 7 (replenishment of evaporation material or sublimation material, cleaning of the evaporation source, elimination of defects of the evaporation source, etc.) is performed.

  Next, the base flange 3 is slid on the slide guide member 9 by the slide motor 11 and moved below the chamber lower portion 1b. Next, the elevating motor 15 rotates the elevating ball screws 12 a and 12 b to raise the base flange 3, the evaporation source 7 and the holding mechanism 8 together with the first mount plate 10, and connect the chamber lower portion 1 b and the base flange 3 to each other. Integrate.

  By performing the maintenance work by the method as described above, the work can be easily performed in a short time. Therefore, the operation rate of the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus can be improved. Further, by performing the maintenance work in a short time, the time for opening the external chamber 1 to the atmosphere can be shortened.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the first to third embodiments, the present invention is applied to an organic EL vapor deposition apparatus. However, the present invention is applied to other film forming apparatuses such as a sputtering apparatus and a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) apparatus. Is also possible.

(A) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the organic electroluminescent vapor deposition apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention, (B) is the state which isolate | separated the chamber upper part and the chamber lower part in the organic EL vapor deposition apparatus shown to (A) FIG. (A) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the organic electroluminescent vapor deposition apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention, (B) is the state which isolate | separated the chamber lower part and base flange of the organic electroluminescent vapor deposition apparatus shown to (A) FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the organic electroluminescent vapor deposition apparatus by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the state which isolate | separated the chamber upper part and the chamber lower part in the organic electroluminescent vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the state which horizontally moved (slided) the lower part of the chamber in the organic electroluminescent vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... External chamber 1a ... Chamber upper part 1b ... Chamber lower part 2 ... Lid part 3 ... Base flange (chamber bottom part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 4 ... Substrate holding mechanism 4a ... Substrate holding part 4b ... Rotating shaft 5 ... Motor 6 ... Internal chamber 7 ... Evaporation source 8 ... Holding member 9 ... Slide guide member 10 ... First mount plate 11 ... Slide motor 12a, 12b Elevating ball screw 13 Second mount plates 14a, 14b, 14c ... Elevating driving force transmission joint 15 Elevating motor 16 ... Deposition substrate

Claims (10)

An external chamber having an upper chamber portion and a lower chamber portion;
An inner chamber disposed within the outer chamber and attached to the lower portion of the chamber;
A substrate holding unit disposed in the internal chamber and holding a deposition target substrate;
Comprising
The film forming apparatus, wherein the upper part of the chamber and the lower part of the chamber are formed to be separable.   2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the internal chamber is mounted or fitted to the lower portion of the chamber so that the inner chamber can be removed from the lower portion of the chamber with one touch.   3. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vertical movement mechanism that moves the lower portion of the chamber in the vertical direction.   4. The film forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a moving mechanism for moving the lower portion of the chamber in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction. An external chamber having a chamber top, a chamber bottom and a chamber bottom;
An inner chamber disposed within the outer chamber and attached to the lower portion of the chamber;
An evaporation source disposed in the inner chamber and attached to the bottom of the chamber;
A substrate holder that is disposed in the internal chamber and holds a deposition target substrate at a position facing the evaporation source;
Comprising
The upper part of the chamber and the lower part of the chamber are formed to be separable,
The lower part of the chamber and the bottom part of the chamber are formed to be separable from each other.   6. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the internal chamber is mounted or fitted on the lower portion of the chamber so that the inner chamber can be removed from the lower portion of the chamber with a single touch.   The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a vertical movement mechanism that moves the lower portion of the chamber and the bottom portion of the chamber in the vertical direction.   8. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a vertical movement mechanism that moves the bottom of the chamber in a vertical direction.   8. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a moving mechanism that moves the lower portion of the chamber and the bottom portion of the chamber in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.   9. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a moving mechanism that moves the bottom of the chamber in a direction substantially perpendicular to the vertical direction.

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