JP2006192435A - Substrate coater - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate coater capable of definitely performing discharge at the time of transit of coating operations. <P>SOLUTION: Nozzles 4a to 4c are at stand-by positions until a substrate S that is an object for treatment is loaded on a stage 1. Each top section is then received in an opening of a stand-by pod 50. The nozzles 4a to 4c at the stand-by positions discharge an organic EL material to the pod 50 when the substrate S is loaded on the stage 1 and the start of a coating process is demanded. An upper lid section 53 of the pod 50 is spaced out from the nozzles 4a to 4c after the discharge is started from the nozzles 4a to 4c. Thereafter, the nozzles 4a to 4c are moved horizontally towards above the stage 1 from the stand-by positions. At this time, each nozzle 4a to 4c connects the discharge of the organic EL material from the stand-by positions. The discharge of the organic EL material is recovered by a drain tray 71 between the pod 50 and the stage 1. In addition, the organic EL material is discharged onto a mask board 61 on the stage 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor substrate, a FPD (Flat Panel Display) substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate”). The present invention relates to a substrate coating apparatus that forms a coating film by supplying a chemical solution such as a resist solution or a polyimide resin, and particularly relates to a standby device for a chemical solution supply nozzle.

  Conventionally, a coating apparatus has been used to apply a chemical solution of a thin film material to the upper surface of a substrate, and as this type of device, for example, it can be moved over a supply position above the substrate and a standby position separated from the side of the substrate. Some of them are equipped with a chemical supply nozzle for discharging the chemical.

  In this apparatus, when the chemical solution supply nozzle moves to the standby position, it is common to provide a standby pod for preventing the solvent in the chemical solution from volatilizing and solidifying the chemical solution at the tip of the nozzle. . The standby pod is formed with an insertion port for storing the tip of the chemical supply nozzle. These insertion ports communicate with the standby pod, and the tip of the chemical solution supply nozzle is placed in a solvent atmosphere.

  Therefore, in Patent Document 1, in order to prevent the chemical solution of each chemical solution supply nozzle stored in the standby pod from solidifying at the tip portion, each tip is provided with respect to the chemical solution supply nozzle that discharges a plurality of types of chemical solutions. There is provided a coating apparatus in which an atmosphere corresponding to a solvent of a chemical solution discharged from each chemical solution supply nozzle is formed in a standby pod that stores the portion in each insertion port.

  According to this prior art, since an atmosphere corresponding to the solvent of the chemical solution discharged from each chemical solution supply nozzle can be formed inside each insertion port, each chemical solution absorbs the solvent component in the atmosphere at the standby position, etc. It is possible to relieve changes in chemical concentration and physical properties such as viscosity.

  However, in order to meet the demand for applying a thin film material in accordance with a fine pattern shape, a nozzle type (hereinafter referred to as a straight nozzle) coating apparatus that discharges a coating liquid from one fine hole that can be discharged linearly. Is frequently used.

  For example, in recent years, an organic EL (electron luminescence) material is applied in a predetermined pattern shape on a substrate and used in a process of manufacturing an organic EL display device. A conventional organic EL display device is manufactured as described below. First, a transparent ITO (indium tin oxide) film is formed on the surface of a glass substrate.

  Next, the ITO film formed on the glass substrate is patterned and formed on a plurality of stripe-shaped first electrodes by using a photolithography technique. This first electrode corresponds to the anode. Next, an electrically insulating partition wall that protrudes on the glass substrate so as to surround the stripe-shaped first electrode is formed using a photolithography technique.

  Then, the organic EL material is ejected from the nozzle of the coating device toward the striped first electrode in the partition wall, and the organic EL material is applied onto the striped first electrode in the partition wall.

  Specifically, a red organic EL material is applied onto a stripe-shaped first electrode in a certain partition wall by a nozzle for a red organic EL material. On the first electrode adjacent to the first electrode to which the red organic EL material is applied, the green organic EL material is applied by a nozzle for the green organic EL material. On the next first electrode adjacent to the first electrode to which the green organic EL material is applied, the blue organic EL material is applied by a blue organic EL material nozzle. On the next first electrode adjacent to the first electrode coated with the blue organic EL material, the red organic EL material is coated. Thus, red, green, and blue organic EL materials are individually applied on the first electrode in that order.

  Next, a plurality of stripe-shaped second electrodes that are opposed to each other so as to be orthogonal to the first electrode are formed on the glass substrate in parallel by a vacuum vapor deposition method, and between the first electrode and the second electrode. An organic EL material is sandwiched. This second electrode corresponds to a cathode. Thus, an organic EL display device capable of full-color display in which the first electrode and the second electrode are arranged in a simple XY matrix is manufactured.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-137665

  However, in the straight nozzle that discharges from the fine holes according to the fine pattern shape as described above, the discharge port of the nozzle is fine, so that the chemical solution is solidified inside the nozzle even if the standby pod is in a solvent atmosphere as in the past. It cannot be surely prevented.

  On the other hand, when the chemical solution is discharged into the standby pod in advance (so-called dummy dispensing), solidification can be prevented, but the chemical solution is unnecessarily consumed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate coating apparatus that can surely discharge during the transition of the coating operation.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the present invention is a substrate coating apparatus for applying a chemical solution to a substrate, a stage on which a substrate to which a chemical solution is applied is placed, and a supply that is above the substrate placed on the stage A chemical supply nozzle that discharges a chemical solution that is configured to be movable between a position and a standby position that is separated from the side of the substrate, and the chemical supply nozzle that is disposed at the standby position and moves to the standby position. And a drain tray disposed between the standby pod and the stage, and the chemical supply nozzle starts discharging the chemical into the standby pod at the standby position. Then, while continuing the discharge of the chemical solution, it moves from the standby position to the supply position via the drainage tray and performs a coating process on the substrate.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate coating apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, the standby pod is separated from the chemical supply nozzle when the chemical supply nozzle moves from the standby position to the supply position. It is characterized by doing.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate coating apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, after the standby pod is separated from the chemical liquid supply nozzle, the chemical liquid supply nozzle moves in a horizontal lateral direction from the standby position. It is characterized by performing a coating process.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate coating apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, after the coating process is completed, the chemical solution supply nozzle passes above the drain tray and waits for the standby. It moves to a position and is stored in the standby pod.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate coating apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the chemical solution is an organic EL material.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate coating apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the upper portion of the stage and the upper portion of the drainage tray located on the stage side. It further comprises a mask plate arranged across the board.

  According to the present invention, after the chemical solution supply nozzle starts discharging the chemical solution to the standby pod at the standby position, the chemical solution discharge nozzle moves from the standby position to the supply position through the upper portion of the drain tray while continuing the discharge of the chemical solution to the substrate. Since the application process is performed, the chemical solution is continuously discharged before the application operation, and the discharge can be reliably performed when the application operation is shifted.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 5, the organic EL material can be reliably discharged at the time of transition of the application operation of the organic EL material.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. A substrate coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention specifically manufactures an organic EL display device by coating an organic EL material as a chemical solution in a predetermined pattern shape on a rectangular glass substrate (simply referred to as a substrate S). Is. FIG. 1 is a plan block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a substrate coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a main part of the substrate coating apparatus. In the following description, an apparatus for applying an organic EL material onto the substrate S is illustrated. However, the coating solution handled in the present invention is not limited to the organic EL material, and other materials are thin film materials formed on the surface of the substrate S. Applicable to various chemical solutions to be obtained.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the substrate coating apparatus moves a stage 1 on which a substrate S that receives coating of organic EL materials 10a to 10c of red, green, and blue is placed, and the stage 1 is moved in a predetermined direction. The stage moving mechanism unit 2, the alignment mark detection unit 3 for detecting the position of the alignment mark formed on the substrate S, the coating processing unit 4, and the nozzles 4a to 4c of the coating processing unit 4 are moved in a predetermined direction. Control unit for controlling the nozzle movement mechanism unit 8 to be performed, the standby pod 50 disposed on the side of the stage 1, the stage movement mechanism unit 2, the alignment mark detection unit 3, the coating processing unit 4, and the nozzle movement mechanism unit 8. 9. Further, mask plates 61 and 62 that cover the side surface of the substrate S are disposed above the stage 1, and drainage trays 71 and 72 are disposed on the side of the stage 1.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, on the surface of the substrate S to which the red, green and blue organic EL materials 10a to 10c are applied, the organic EL materials 10a to 10c of the respective colors are to be applied. A plurality of stripe-shaped grooves 11 corresponding to the pattern shape are formed side by side. FIG. 1 schematically shows a state where a substrate S on which a groove 11 corresponding to a predetermined pattern shape to which an organic EL material is to be applied is formed is viewed from above. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional view of a part of the substrate S shown in FIG.

  Here, the manufacturing process of the board | substrate S which receives application | coating of the organic EL material 10a-10c of each color is demonstrated. First, a transparent ITO (iridium tin oxide) film is formed on the surface of the flat substrate S. Next, the ITO film formed on the substrate S is patterned and formed on the plurality of stripe-shaped first electrodes 12 by using a photolithography technique. The first electrode 12 corresponds to an anode.

  Next, an electrically insulating partition wall 13 protruding on the substrate S so as to surround the striped first electrode 12 is formed using a photolithography technique. The partition wall 13 is formed of, for example, chromium (Cr) or a dry film. In this way, on the surface of the substrate S, a plurality of stripe-shaped grooves 11 to be coated with the organic EL materials 10a to 10c of the respective colors are formed side by side.

  A hole transport layer 14 that positively transports holes toward the organic EL materials 10a to 10c is formed on the striped first electrode 12 in the groove 11. For example, PEDT (polyethylene dioxythiophene) -PSS (poly-styrene sulphonate) is adopted as the hole transport layer 14. The width of the groove 11 is, for example, about 100 μm, the depth of the groove 11 is, for example, about 1 to 10 μm, and the distance between the groove 11 and the groove 11 is, for example, about 10 to 20 μm. Thus, the board | substrate S in the state which receives the application | coating of the organic EL material 10a-10c of each color is manufactured.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the coating processing unit 4 supplies a first supply unit 5 that supplies the red organic EL material 10a to the red nozzle 4a, and supplies a green organic EL material 10b to the green nozzle 4b. The second supply unit 6 includes a third supply unit 7 that supplies the blue organic EL material 10c to the blue nozzle 4c.

  The first supply unit 5 detects, for example, the supply source 20a of the red organic EL material 10a, the pump 21 for taking out the red organic EL material 10a from the supply source 20a, and the flow rate of the red organic EL material 10a. And a filter 23 for removing foreign matter in the red organic EL material 10a.

  For example, the second supply unit 6 detects a supply source 20b of the green organic EL material 10b, a pump 21 for taking out the green organic EL material 10b from the supply source 20b, and a flow rate of the green organic EL material 10b. And a filter 23 for removing foreign matter in the green organic EL material 10b.

  The third supply unit 7 detects, for example, the supply source 20c of the blue organic EL material 10c, the pump 21 for taking out the blue organic EL material 10c from the supply source 20c, and the flow rate of the blue organic EL material 10c. And a filter 23 for removing foreign substances in the blue organic EL material 10c.

  Here, the shapes of the nozzles 4a to 4c will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which the nozzle 4 a is stored in the standby pod 50. As shown in FIG. 1, the standby pod 50 has three openings 51 a to 51 c corresponding to the nozzles 4 a to 4 c on the upper surface. And since the inside corresponding to each opening 51a-51c is the same structure, hereafter, the structure of the nozzle 4a shown in FIG. 3 is demonstrated as an example. The nozzles 4a (4b, 4c) correspond to the chemical solution supply nozzle of the present invention.

  The nozzle 4a has a shape that decreases in a conical shape as it goes downward, and a circular chemical solution discharge port 41a is formed at the lowermost end of the nozzle 4a. The discharge port 41a is connected to a liquid supply path 42a formed inside the nozzle 4a, and the liquid supply path 42a is connected to the first supply unit 5 via a pipe (not shown). The organic EL material 10a is pressure-injected into the nozzle 4a by the liquid supply path 42a and discharged from the discharge port 41a. Note that the hole diameter of the discharge port 41a is smaller than the width of the groove 11 formed in the substrate S, for example, about several tens of μm, and is 10 to 70 μm here.

  Further, as a feature of this apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, a standby pod 50 is installed at a position deviated from the stage 1 to the side. This standby pod 50 is a rectangular parallelepiped container that opens only upward, and the shape of the opening is set such that the tips of the nozzles 4a to 4c with respect to the openings 51a to 51c can be fitted from above. ing. And the inside is divided into 3 corresponding to the nozzles 4a-4c.

  Returning to FIG. 3, in the standby pod 50, an internal space V is formed by connecting a side member 52 configured in a bellows shape that can be vertically expanded and contracted, and an upper lid portion 53 and a bottom portion 54 by the side member 52. .

  The upper lid 53 is formed with the opening 51a as described above. A sealing member 55 is disposed around the opening 51a, and a driving means 59 such as a cylinder is connected to the end of the upper lid portion 53. The driving means 59 moves up until the upper lid 53 comes into contact with the contact surface 43a of the nozzle 4a that has been moved above the standby pod 50 by its vertical movement. And the sealing member 55 contacts the contact surface 43a of the nozzle 4a, thereby forming a sealed state. At the same time, the side member 52 follows the operation of the drive means 59 by the bellows extending.

  An insertion port 56 for a solvent atmosphere communicating with the internal space V is formed in the bottom 54. The insertion port 56 is connected to a tank 57 filled with a solvent used for the organic EL material 10a as a solvent through an on-off valve 56a. From this insertion port 56, an atmosphere of solvent is supplied to fill the internal space V. The tank 57 and the on-off valve 56a correspond to the atmosphere forming means of the present invention.

  The pipe connected to the insertion port 56 is branched downstream of the on-off valve 56a and connected to the suction device 58 via the on-off valve 56b. The suction device 58 sucks the atmosphere of the internal space V and discharges it to the outside.

  The suction machine 58 discharges the atmosphere of the internal space V by driving, so that the internal space V is in a decompressed state. For example, suction can be performed until the pressure value of the internal space V becomes lower than the atmospheric pressure. This suction machine 58 corresponds to the decompression means of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle moving mechanism unit 8 includes the nozzles 4 a to 4 c of the respective colors, a holding member 31 that holds these nozzles 4 a to 4 c in parallel, and the holding member 31 of the support shaft 34. A support member 32 that is rotatably supported around and a guide member 33 for moving the support member 32 along the support member 32 is provided. FIG. 5A is a schematic perspective view of the nozzle moving mechanism unit, FIG. 5B is a schematic plan view of the nozzle moving mechanism unit viewed from above, and FIG. It is a schematic plan view which shows the state rotated around the support shaft of the support member.

  The support member 32 is provided with a support shaft 34 in a direction orthogonal to the nozzle juxtaposed surface of the holding member 31. The holding member 31 is provided with a fitting hole 35 for fitting with the support shaft 34. A fitting hole 35 of the holding member 31 is fitted to the support shaft 34 of the support member 32, and the support member 32 supports the holding member 31 so as to be rotatable around the support shaft 34.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5C, by rotating the holding member 31 around the support shaft 34, the application pitch interval P2 is narrower than the application pitch interval P1 of each color in the state shown in FIG. 5B. And can be adjusted so as to narrow the coating pitch interval of each color.

  The mask plates 61 and 62 are formed of a long flat plate, and are disposed above the side surface of the substrate S with a gap. The mask plates 61 and 62 limit the coating range of the substrate S and correspond to the end portions of the grooves 11. The mask plates 61 and 62 are installed on the stage 1 and move with the movement of the stage 1 so that the relative position with respect to the substrate S does not change.

  The drain trays 71 and 72 are constituted by containers that are open at the top, and are disposed on the side of the stage 1. And the part located in the stage 1 side of the drainage trays 71 and 72 overlaps the edge part lower surface of the above-mentioned mask plates 61 and 62. FIG. The drainage trays 71 and 72 are trays that receive discharge from the nozzles 4a to 4c that move beyond the mask plates 61 and 62. When the moving directions of the nozzles 4a to 4c are reversed, the nozzles 4a to 4c It is placed in a rest position where it stops once.

  For example, a CCD camera is employed as the alignment mark detection unit 3. When receiving the instruction from the control unit 9, the alignment mark detection unit 3 images the alignment marks M respectively formed at the four corners of the glass substrate S shown in FIG. Are output to the control unit 9.

  The control unit 9 detects the position of the alignment mark M based on the image data captured by the alignment mark detection unit 3. The control unit 9 is preliminarily given layout data such as the first electrode 12 and the groove 11 designed using CAD (Computer Aided Design). Based on the calculation result of the position of the alignment mark M and the layout data of the groove 11 given in advance, the control unit 9 performs the application start point, that is, at one end side of the groove 11 of the substrate S. An application start position for starting application (corresponding to application start position B described later) is calculated. Here, the alignment marks M formed on the substrate S are four points, but the number may be other than four points, for example, two points.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the control unit 9 controls the movement of the coating processing unit 4 from the standby position and the movement during the coating process. At the standby position, pressure reduction control of the standby pod 50 is performed. Further, during the coating process, the stage moving mechanism unit 2 is controlled so as to move the stage 1 in a predetermined direction (y direction) by a predetermined amount, and the nozzles 4a to 4c are moved in a predetermined direction (x direction) by a predetermined amount. As shown in FIG. 1, the nozzle moving mechanism unit 8 is controlled in accordance with the detection amounts a to c from the flow meters 22 of the first to third supply units 5 to 7, and the nozzles 4a to 4c are predetermined. Commands d to f are output to the pumps 21 of the first to third supply units 5 to 7 so as to flow out the organic EL materials 10a to 10c at a flow rate.

  Next, an operation for manufacturing an organic EL display device using the substrate coating apparatus configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the movement path of the nozzle from the standby position in the present embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a schematic view for explaining the movement path of the nozzle in the present embodiment during the substrate processing.

  As shown in FIG. 4, since the substrate S in a state of receiving the application of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c is already manufactured as described above, the substrate placed on the stage 1 is already described. The process of applying the organic EL materials 10a to 10c to the groove 11 of S will be described.

(Standby state)
Until the first substrate S to be processed is placed on the stage 1, the nozzles 4a to 4c are in the standby position. At this time, each front-end | tip part is accommodated in each opening 51a-51c of the standby pot 50 (S1 of FIG. 6).

  In the standby pod 50, the upper lid portion 53 is raised by the driving means 59, and the upper lid portion 53 is brought into contact with the nozzles 4a to 4c. The internal space V of the standby pod is cut off from the external atmosphere, and the opening / closing valve 56a is opened to create an atmosphere containing the solvent component from which the solvent is volatilized. This prevents solidification of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c in the nozzles 4a to 4c.

(Discharge start)
When the substrate S is placed on the stage 1 and the start of the coating process is instructed, the coating amount of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c is discharged from the discharge ports 41a of the nozzles 4a to 4c in the standby state. At the same time, the opening / closing valve 56b is opened and the atmosphere in the internal space V is exhausted by the suction device 58.

  The displacement at this time is set as follows. The organic EL materials 10a to 10c are injected into the discharge ports 41a of the nozzles 4a to 4c. If the discharge pressure by the pump 21 is not reached, the organic EL materials 10a to 10c fall or leak in a normal state at the standby position. There is no. However, since the diameter of the discharge port 41a is small, when the solvent of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c is volatilized and the viscosity is increased as much as possible, according to the pump 21, it becomes difficult to discharge unless the discharge pressure is higher than usual.

  Therefore, the internal space V of the standby pod 50 is depressurized and the atmospheric pressure is made lower than the atmospheric pressure, whereby the organic EL materials 10a to 10c in the nozzles 4a to 4c are pulled from the internal space V side to the internal space V by a pressure difference. By doing so, a pressure value obtained by reducing the internal space V is added to the discharge pressure by the pump 21 so that the discharge can be performed easily.

  What is important here is the reduced pressure value of the internal space V, which is a vacuum state lower than the atmospheric pressure. As the degree of vacuum increases, the organic EL materials 10a to 10c in the nozzles 4a to 4c can be discharged without the pump 21 being operated, and the process can surely proceed to the coating process.

  In this manner, the nozzles 4a to 4c at the standby position can prevent the organic EL materials 10a to 10c stored in the discharge ports 41a at the respective front end portions from being solidified by the solvent atmosphere. And by the decompression of the internal space V, the organic EL materials 10a to 10c in the nozzles 4a to 4c can quickly perform a discharge operation.

(Substrate coating process)
After the discharge is started, the opening / closing valve 56b is closed at the same time, the exhaust of the internal space V by the suction machine 58 is stopped, and the upper lid portion 53 of the standby pod 50 is separated from the nozzles 4a to 4c. Thereafter, the nozzles 4a to 4c are moved in the horizontal horizontal direction from the standby position above the stage 1.

  Prior to this coating process, the control unit 9 gives an instruction to the alignment mark detection unit 3 so as to image the alignment marks M at the four corners of the substrate S placed on the stage 1. The alignment mark detection unit 3 outputs the captured image data of the alignment mark M to the control unit 9. The control unit 9 calculates the position of the alignment mark M based on the image data captured by the alignment mark detection unit 3.

  Based on the calculation result of the position of the alignment mark M and the layout data of the groove 11 given in advance, the controller 9 positions the nozzles 4a to 4c in the application start point, that is, the groove 11 of the substrate S. In this manner, the stage moving mechanism unit 2 and the nozzle moving mechanism unit 8 are controlled. The support member 32 of the nozzle moving mechanism unit 8 is well adjusted so that the red, green, and blue nozzles 4a to 4c are positioned near the center of the groove 11 in the width direction.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 9 instructs each pump 21 to start pouring the organic EL materials 10 a to 10 c from the nozzles 4 a to 4 c into the grooves 11 on the substrate S, and the organic EL The support member 32 is controlled to move along the guide member 33 so that the materials 10a to 10c flow along the groove 11 on the substrate S and flow into the groove 11. In this way, the red, green, and blue organic EL materials 10a to 10c are poured into the respective grooves 11 at the same time.

  At this time, each of the nozzles 4a to 4c continues to discharge the organic EL materials 10a to 10c from the standby position. The discharge of the organic EL materials 10 a to 10 c is collected by the drain tray 71 until the stage 1. Further, the ink is discharged onto the mask plate 61 on the stage 1.

  The discharge of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c from the nozzles 4a to 4c in the coating process is performed reliably without the clogging of the discharge port 41a because the pressure reduction control is performed in the standby pod 50. The operation will be started.

  When the nozzles 4 a to 4 c are positioned at the application stop position E where the application is stopped on the other end side of the groove 11 of the substrate S, the control unit 9 stops the movement of the support member 32 along the guide member 33. Pouring of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c from the nozzles 4a to 4c is continued and collected in the drain tray 72 (S2 in FIG. 6). The control unit 9 controls the application amount according to the moving speed of the nozzles 4a to 4c so that the application amount of the organic EL material at each point of the striped groove 11 becomes uniform.

  Thus, application | coating of the organic EL material 10a-10c to the groove | channel 11 for three rows is completed. The thickness of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c poured into the groove 11 can be adjusted by the amount of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c poured, but here, the thickness of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c is formed to be about 0.1 μm. Has been.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the stage 1 is pitch-fed in the y direction by three rows of grooves 11 so that the organic EL materials 10a to 10c can be applied to the grooves 11 of the next three rows. . In the first three rows of the grooves 11 described above, the left end side of the grooves 11 is set as the application start position, the drain tray 72 above the right end side of the grooves 11 is set as the application stop position E, and the nozzles 4 a to 4 c are arranged along the grooves 11. The organic EL materials 10a to 10c are poured into the respective grooves 11 from the left to the right. However, in the next three rows of the grooves 11, the right end side of the grooves 11 is set as the application start position B, and the left end side of the grooves 11 The upper part of the drainage tray 71 is set as an application stop position E, and the nozzles 4a to 4c are moved from right to left along the grooves 11 so that the organic EL materials 10a to 10c are poured into the grooves 11 ( S3 in FIG.

  The remaining groove 11 on the substrate S is also repeatedly executed so that the organic EL materials 10 a to 10 c of the respective colors are poured into the grooves 11. In this way, a so-called stripe arrangement is formed in which the red, green, and blue organic EL materials 10a to 10c are arranged in the order of red, green, and blue for each of the stripe-shaped grooves 11.

  In addition, the semicircle broken line shown in FIG. 7 shows that each nozzle 4a-4c transfers to the groove | channel 11 for the next three rows, and each nozzle 4a-4c is actually shown with this broken line. It does not move on a semicircular route. As described above, the organic EL materials 10a to 10c are satisfactorily poured into the groove 11 by moving the nozzles 4a to 4c in the x direction after moving on the stage 1 in the y direction.

  Finally, when the application of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c into all the grooves 11 on the substrate S is completed (S3 in FIG. 6), the nozzles 4a to 4c pass above the drain tray 71 and are in the standby position (in FIG. 6). It is moved to S1) and stored in the standby pod 50.

  When the application of the organic EL materials 10a to 10c into all the grooves 11 on the substrate S is completed, the substrate S is formed by applying a stripe-shaped second electrode that is opposed to the first electrode 12 by a vacuum deposition method. A plurality of lines are formed on S. Organic EL materials 10a to 10c are sandwiched between the first electrode 12 and the second electrode. This second electrode corresponds to a cathode. In this way, an organic EL display device capable of full color display in which the first electrode 12 and the second electrode are arranged in a simple XY matrix is manufactured.

  As described above, the nozzles 4a to 4c are accommodated in the internal space in the solvent state in the standby state. In this state, the internal space is depressurized and the organic EL materials 10a to 10c are discharged. And the process which apply | coats organic EL material 10a-10c to the desired application | coating range of the board | substrate S is performed.

  As a result, in the standby state, the organic EL materials 10a to 10c in the nozzles 4a to 4c are maintained in a state where solidification is prevented and discharge is easy. And at the start of an application | coating process, even if it does not continue discharge of a chemical | medical solution during standby, discharge of a chemical | medical solution can be started rapidly.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the Example and modification which were mentioned above, It can implement also with another form as follows.

  (1) In the embodiment described above, the substrate S is a glass substrate. However, the substrate and the shape of the substrate other than glass are not limited to a rectangle, and the application range is limited by a mask device even if it is a circle. It may be adopted.

  (2) Although each of the above embodiments has shown the case where an organic material (such as polyimide) is applied, the present invention can also be applied to the case where other photoresist materials are applied.

  In addition, various design changes can be made within the scope of technical matters described in the claims.

It is a top block diagram which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the board | substrate coating device which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a side block diagram which shows schematic structure of the principal part of the board | substrate coating device which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of a standby pod. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the cross section of a part of board | substrate shown in FIG. (A) is a schematic perspective view of the nozzle movement mechanism part of a present Example, (b) is the schematic plan view which looked at the nozzle movement mechanism part from the top, (c) is a support shaft of a support member and a holding member It is a schematic plan view which shows the state rotated around. It is a schematic diagram explaining the movement path | route from the standby position of the nozzle in a present Example. It is a schematic diagram explaining the movement path | route in the application | coating process of the nozzle in a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

S substrate 1 stage 2 stage moving mechanism unit 4 coating processing unit 4a, 4b, 4c nozzle 41a discharge port 8 nozzle moving mechanism unit 9 control unit 10a, 10b, 10c organic EL material 50 standby pod 51a, 51b, 51c opening 57 tank 58 Suction machine 56a, 56b On-off valve 61, 62 Mask plate 71, 72 Drain tray V Internal space

Claims (6)

A substrate coating apparatus for applying a chemical solution to a substrate,
A stage on which a substrate to which a chemical solution is applied is placed;
A chemical solution supply nozzle that discharges a chemical solution that is configured to be movable over a supply position that is above the substrate placed on the stage and a standby position that is distant to the side of the substrate;
A standby pod that is disposed at the standby position and waits when the chemical supply nozzle moves to the standby position;
A drain tray disposed between the standby pod and the stage; and
With
The chemical supply nozzle starts to discharge the chemical liquid to the standby pod at the standby position, and then moves from the standby position to the supply position via the drain tray while continuing to discharge the chemical liquid to the substrate. A substrate coating apparatus that performs the coating process. The substrate coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The substrate coating apparatus, wherein the standby pod is separated from the chemical solution supply nozzle when the chemical solution supply nozzle moves from the standby position to the supply position. The substrate coating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
The substrate coating apparatus, wherein after the standby pod is separated from the chemical solution supply nozzle, the chemical solution supply nozzle is moved horizontally from the standby position to perform a coating process. In the board | substrate coating device in any one of Claims 1-3,
After the coating process is completed, the chemical solution supply nozzle moves to the standby position through the drain tray and is stored in the standby pod. In the board | substrate coating device in any one of Claims 1-4,
The substrate coating apparatus, wherein the chemical solution is an organic EL material. In the board | substrate coating device in any one of Claims 1-5,
A substrate coating apparatus, further comprising a mask plate disposed across the upper end of the stage and the upper portion of the drainage tray located on the stage side.

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