JP2010116591A - Vapor-deposition apparatus and method for manufacturing organic el display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vapor-deposition apparatus which can easily vapor-deposit a vapor-deposition material on a substrate having a larger size than a vapor-deposition mask, with the use of a mask having a high definition, and to provide a method for manufacturing an organic EL display device. <P>SOLUTION: The vapor-deposition apparatus includes: a vapor-deposition chamber 1; a vapor-deposition mask 2 having a smaller size than that of the film-formed region of the substrate; a vapor-deposition source 3 which deposits the vapor-deposition material on a region to be film-formed through the vapor-deposition mask; a transfer mechanism which moves a relative position between the substrate, and the vapor-deposition mask and the vapor-deposition source; and a control section 5. The control section 5 operates the transfer mechanism, moves the relative position between the substrate, and the vapor-deposition mask and the vapor-deposition source, step by step, and makes the region to be film-formed deposited with the vapor-deposition material while dividing the region into a plurality of areas. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vapor deposition apparatus and a method for manufacturing an organic EL display apparatus.

  In recent years, organic EL displays suitable for high image quality, video compatibility, and energy saving have begun to be mounted on high-function mobile phones equipped with TV functions and game functions. And the merit of the organic EL display device has attracted attention not only in the mobile phone business but also in other business fields such as a television receiver and a vehicle.

In an organic EL display device, a thin film transistor (TFT) array similar to that of a liquid crystal display device is generally formed on a glass substrate, and an organic film serving as a light emitting layer is laminated on the pixel electrode by vacuum deposition. Since this organic film has a weak point that it is sensitive to moisture, photolithography and etching processing as in the case of manufacturing a TFT array cannot be applied. Therefore, in order to form an organic film corresponding to each pixel of red, green, and blue, the actual situation is that there is only a method of vacuum vapor deposition using a vapor deposition mask in which an opening is provided only in the pixel to be formed. Yes (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-138369 A

  Recent mobile phones have been improved in definition, and the liquid crystal display device adopts Wide-VGA even in the 3-inch class, and the pixel pitch is reduced to about 25 μm. In order to achieve the same fineness in the organic EL display device, it is necessary to match the deposition mask, which has been drilled with a pitch of 25 μm, to the TFT array at about ± 1 μm. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of production cost, it is very important to increase the number of chamfers by increasing the size of the glass substrate. It is required to provide this deposition pattern accuracy with substrate sizes such as G3 size (550 × 670 mm) and G4 size (730 × 920 mm). However, it is very difficult to make a vapor deposition mask that corresponds to this large substrate size on a one-to-one basis without defects and without distortion, and the TFT array substrate itself may shrink during manufacturing, realizing the above required accuracy. It is extremely difficult to do.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the invention is to provide a vapor deposition apparatus and an organic EL display device manufacturing method capable of easily performing high-definition vapor deposition mask deposition on a substrate having a size larger than that of the vapor deposition mask. It is to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, a vapor deposition apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes:
A deposition chamber;
A vapor deposition mask located in the vapor deposition chamber, opposed to the film formation region of the substrate, and smaller in size than the film formation region;
A deposition source located in the deposition chamber, disposed on the opposite side of the substrate with respect to the deposition mask, and depositing a deposition material on the deposition region through the deposition mask;
A moving mechanism for moving relative positions of the substrate, the vapor deposition mask and the vapor deposition source;
A controller that operates the moving mechanism to move the relative position between the substrate and the vapor deposition mask and the vapor deposition source in a stepwise manner, and divides the film formation region into a plurality of vapor deposition regions;

In addition, a method for manufacturing an organic EL display device according to another aspect of the present invention includes:
A plurality of pixels having a film formation region, including a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor, arranged in a matrix in the film formation region, and a plurality of gate wirings connected to the plurality of pixels; Prepare a substrate on which multiple data lines are formed,
A vapor deposition mask having a size smaller than that of the film formation region is disposed opposite to the film formation region,
The relative position between the substrate and the vapor deposition mask is moved stepwise, the film formation region is divided into a plurality of portions, an organic material is vapor deposited, and an organic film is formed on each pixel.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the manufacturing method of the vapor deposition apparatus and organic electroluminescence display which can perform high-definition vapor deposition mask vapor deposition to the board | substrate larger than a vapor deposition mask easily can be provided.

Hereinafter, a vapor deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A vapor deposition method using a vapor deposition apparatus will also be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vapor deposition apparatus includes a vapor deposition chamber 1, a vapor deposition mask 2, a vapor deposition source 3, a moving mechanism, and a control unit 5. The vapor deposition mask 2 is located in the vapor deposition chamber 1 and is disposed opposite to the film formation region of the substrate 10. The size of the vapor deposition mask 2 is smaller than the film formation region.

  The vapor deposition source 3 is located in the vapor deposition chamber 1 and is disposed on the opposite side of the substrate 10 with respect to the vapor deposition mask 2. The vapor deposition source 3 deposits a vapor deposition material on the film formation region through the vapor deposition mask 2. The moving mechanism moves the relative positions of the substrate 10, the vapor deposition mask 2 and the vapor deposition source 3. The control unit 5 operates a moving mechanism to move the relative positions of the substrate 10, the vapor deposition mask 2, and the vapor deposition source 3 in a stepped manner, and divides the film formation region into a plurality of vapor depositions.

  In this embodiment, the vapor deposition apparatus is configured to hold a deposition target substrate 10 in a vapor deposition chamber 1 with a film formation surface facing downward, and a vapor deposition mask 2 below it and further below that. A vapor deposition source 3 is arranged. Similarly to a general mask vapor deposition apparatus, the vapor deposition apparatus scatters vapor deposition material from the vapor deposition source 3 and performs vapor deposition on a desired region (film formation region) of the substrate 10 through the opening of the vapor deposition mask 2. Is formed.

  Since the size of the vapor deposition mask 2 is smaller than the film formation region, the vapor deposition process is not performed on the film formation region of the substrate 10 at a time. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the vapor deposition apparatus according to this embodiment is characterized in that the vapor deposition process is performed only on a partial area of the film formation area of the substrate 10. And the area | region to vapor-deposit is moved and the vapor deposition process of another area | region is implemented using the same vapor deposition mask 2. FIG.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 10, the substrate 10 is a glass substrate of 730 × 920 mm, and when performing mask deposition on this substrate, it is divided into two short sides and three long sides. Suppose that the vapor deposition process is performed in a total of 6 divisions. In this case, a small vapor deposition mask 2 that covers a film formation region of 365 × 306 mm is used, and the vapor deposition mask 2 is moved stepwise so that the film formation regions do not overlap. Then, the mask vapor deposition process for the entire surface of the 730 × 920 mm substrate 10 is completed in six repeated vapor deposition processes.

  As the number of divisions is increased, the vapor deposition mask 2 can be made smaller, the price of the vapor deposition mask 2 can be reduced, and the alignment between the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 can be easily performed and vapor deposition with high positional accuracy can be performed. As the number of divisions, 2 divisions, 4 divisions, 8 divisions, 9 divisions, 12 divisions, 16 divisions and the like are effective in addition to 6 divisions. More preferably, the control unit 5 may divide the film formation region into four or more and twelve or less and deposit them.

  An alignment mark is provided on the substrate 10 in advance. The vapor deposition mask 2 is also provided with alignment marks (positioning opening patterns). The vapor deposition apparatus further includes a position detection mechanism that detects the relative positions of the substrate 10, the vapor deposition mask 2, and the vapor deposition source 3 using these alignment marks. Based on the information detected by the position detection mechanism, the control unit 5 controls the relative positions of the substrate 10, the vapor deposition mask 2, and the vapor deposition source 3 so that the relative positions are matched each time it is moved stepwise.

  The relative alignment between the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 and the vapor deposition source 3 is performed in a state where the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 are not in contact with each other, and the substrate and the mask are brought into contact with each other after positioning. . That is, the control unit 5 controls the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 to be in a non-contact state when the relative position is moved, and controls the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 to be in a contact state when vapor deposition is performed.

  In moving the relative position of the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 in a stepped manner, the method of moving the vapor deposition mask 2 and the vapor deposition source 3 while fixing the substrate 10 as shown in FIG. As described above, there are two methods of moving the substrate 10 while fixing the vapor deposition mask 2 and the vapor deposition source 3.

  The vapor deposition apparatus of FIG. 1 has an advantage that the installation area of the vapor deposition chamber 1 can be reduced. However, since the vapor deposition source 3 must be moved together with the vapor deposition mask 2, the moving mechanism is complicated. On the other hand, in the vapor deposition apparatus of FIG. 11, although the installation area of the vapor deposition chamber 1 is increased by the amount of movement of the substrate 10, the moving mechanism 4 is simple and there is an advantage that the volume of the vapor deposition chamber 1 can be easily reduced. .

  In any of the vapor deposition apparatuses, since it is necessary not to form a film on an unnecessary portion of the substrate 10 during the movement, a shutter or valve that can be opened and closed is provided between the vapor deposition mask 2 and the vapor deposition source 3. ing.

  According to the vapor deposition apparatus and the vapor deposition method using the vapor deposition apparatus configured as described above, the cost of the vapor deposition mask 2 and the alignment accuracy between the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 are very advantageous. On the other hand, the problem is a decrease in productivity. In order to compensate for the decrease in productivity, it is necessary to increase the number of vapor deposition apparatuses to be processed in parallel, leading to an increase in apparatus cost.

  The following measures are taken for this issue. The first is to provide a vapor deposition material switching mechanism in the vapor deposition apparatus. Accordingly, different film types can be stacked in the same vapor deposition chamber 1 by switching the vapor deposition material.

  The second is to provide another vapor deposition mask and a vapor deposition mask switching mechanism in the vapor deposition apparatus. The other vapor deposition mask is located in the vapor deposition chamber 1 and is disposed opposite to the film formation region of the substrate 10. The other vapor deposition mask has an opening pattern different from that of the vapor deposition mask 2. The size of the other deposition mask is smaller than the deposition area of the substrate 10. The vapor deposition mask switching mechanism is located in the vapor deposition chamber 1 and arranges either the vapor deposition mask 2 or another vapor deposition mask so as to face the film formation region. By switching the mask, different vapor deposition patterns can be formed in one room.

  By combining these two, it is possible to process in one vapor deposition chamber 1 to form film types of different vapor deposition materials with different vapor deposition patterns. Conventionally, in mass-produced mask vapor deposition apparatuses, in-line type processes in which different film types and patterns are processed in different chambers are common sense, but as described above, a single chamber has a plurality of processes. If a plurality of similar vapor deposition apparatuses are installed and processed in parallel, the production capacity can be secured without extremely increasing the total number of vapor deposition chambers even if the processing time per vapor deposition chamber is extended. .

Even in the case of switching the deposition material, in the present invention where the deposition area per time is small, it is easy to ensure the required film thickness uniformity even if a plurality of deposition sources 3 are received. Since the volume is small, the residual gas can be quickly discharged and switched in a short time. Since the vapor deposition mask is small in size, it can be easily transferred along with the exchange of the vapor deposition mask, and the vapor deposition mask can be transported quickly even with a small robot. Needless to say, the vapor deposition mask stocker provided in the vapor deposition chamber 1 can be downsized. Thus, both the switching of the vapor deposition material and the switching of the vapor deposition mask can be an effective method only if there is a basic concept of the present invention in which vacuum vapor deposition is performed by dividing into small regions.
As described above, it is possible to obtain a vapor deposition apparatus and a vapor deposition method that can easily perform high-definition mask vapor deposition on the substrate 10 having a size larger than that of the vapor deposition mask 2.

  Next, an organic EL display device and a method for manufacturing the organic EL display device according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, a method for forming an organic film in which an organic material is deposited using the above-described deposition apparatus and deposition method will be described in particular.

  In the organic EL display device, first, a thin film transistor (TFT) array is formed on a substrate 10 (glass substrate). Specifically, a TFT made of a low-resistance silicon region (source / drain region) doped with polysilicon and B (boron) or P (phosphorus) as a semiconductor layer on a substrate 10, gate wiring, data wiring, A TFT array to which pixel electrodes are connected is formed.

  Thus, a plurality of pixels having a film formation region, including a TFT and a pixel electrode connected to the TFT, arranged in a matrix in the film formation region, and a plurality of gate wirings connected to the plurality of pixels A substrate 10 on which a plurality of data wirings are formed is prepared.

  Next, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) common baking and vapor deposition film formation are performed on these pixel electrodes, and then an organic film to be a light emitting layer is formed by vacuum vapor deposition. At this time, when forming an organic film corresponding to each of the R, G, and B pixels, vacuum deposition is performed using the high-definition deposition mask 2 in which openings are provided only in the pixels of each color desired to be formed.

  First, vapor deposition corresponding to the R pixel is performed, and this vapor deposition is performed for each small region obtained by dividing the size of the entire surface of the substrate 10 into four or six. After aligning the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 for each region, the vapor deposition mask 2 is brought into contact with the substrate 10, the shutter is opened to form a desired film thickness, and the shutter is closed to complete the film formation. Thereafter, the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 are separated and moved to the next region. The above process is repeated for the number of divisions to complete the R pixel deposition process.

  Subsequently, although vapor deposition is performed according to the G pixel, in this example, the same vapor deposition apparatus (deposition chamber 1) is continuously processed without changing the vapor deposition apparatus. The vapor deposition mask 2 is automatically exchanged for the vapor deposition mask 2 corresponding to the G pixel, the organic material is switched to the material corresponding to the G pixel, and the same division vapor deposition processing as that for the R pixel is repeated.

  Next, the vapor deposition mask 2 and the organic material corresponding to the B pixel are switched, and the division vapor deposition process is repeated in the same manner. As described above, after the vapor deposition mask 2 smaller in size than the film formation region is disposed opposite the film formation region, the relative position between the substrate 10 and the vapor deposition mask 2 is moved stepwise, The organic material is vapor-deposited into a plurality of parts, and an organic film is formed on each pixel. By such a series of operations, the formation of the organic film corresponding to the R, G, and B pixels is completed in the single vapor deposition chamber 1.

  Furthermore, as a modification of this method, by changing the deposition target pixel and switching the organic material using the same deposition mask 2 without changing the deposition mask 2 according to each pixel of R, G, B It is also effective to continuously form different organic films. Since only the organic material has to be changed by shifting the pixels, the number of the vapor deposition masks 2 can be reduced to 1/3, which is effective for cost reduction.

  Next, as a more specific example, a method for manufacturing an organic EL display device for a mobile phone will be taken up. As shown in FIG. 12, when the size of the substrate 10 that is a glass substrate is 730 × 920 mm when considered as 3 inches diagonal and Wide-VGA, for example, 16 rows of short sides × 11 rows of long sides = 176 faces become. The substrate 10 has a film formation region R1, and the film formation region R1 has 176 effective regions R2 for forming 176 organic EL display devices.

  In order to divide this into six, one set of 8 columns of short sides × 4 rows of long sides = 32 planes. Since the long side is not divisible by the number of divisions, it becomes a half end, and thus a device is required so that a film is not deposited on unnecessary portions. By providing the vapor deposition apparatus with a cover that covers the excessive portion of the vapor deposition mask opening, the vapor deposition process can be performed on the entire film formation region R1 with the single vapor deposition mask 2. In addition, since the cover which covers the vapor deposition mask opening part of this surplus part may make the vapor deposition mask 2 dirty and cause a malfunction in vapor deposition if it is made to contact directly with the opening part which corresponds to a pixel pattern, it is a non-film-forming part between chips. Only the vapor deposition mask 2 and the cover are brought into contact with each other, and the pixel pattern portion is not contacted.

  As described above, in a small-sized organic EL display device such as for a mobile phone, the film forming process is divided in units of the effective area R2, and is not divided in the middle of the effective area R2. On the other hand, for example, in a large-sized organic EL display device of 20 inch class, divided film formation such as dividing the effective region R2 itself into four is performed.

  Such a division process of mask vapor deposition is particularly effective when the size of the substrate 10 is large and the pixel definition is high. In the above, an example of application with the substrate 10 having a size of 730 × 920 mm and an area of 0.67 square meters was taken up. However, in general, the substrate 10 having an area of 0.50 square meters or more should be accurately aligned unless this method is adopted. Is difficult. As for the definition, taking a 3 inch diagonal, Wide-VGA as an example, the definition is 310 ppi and the interval between adjacent pixels is about 27 μm. In the high-definition organic EL display device having a definition of 200 ppi or more, the method of the present invention is necessary.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

Schematic which shows the vapor deposition apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the outline of the vapor deposition method using the said vapor deposition apparatus. The figure which shows the outline of the vapor deposition method using the said vapor deposition apparatus following FIG. The figure which shows the outline of the vapor deposition method using the said vapor deposition apparatus following FIG. It is the schematic which shows the specific example of the said vapor deposition method, and is a figure which shows a board | substrate, a vapor deposition mask, and a vapor deposition source especially. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of the above-described vapor deposition method following FIG. 5, in particular, a diagram illustrating a substrate, a vapor deposition mask, and a vapor deposition source. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of the above-described vapor deposition method following FIG. 6, in particular, a diagram illustrating a substrate, a vapor deposition mask, and a vapor deposition source. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of the above-described vapor deposition method following FIG. 7, in particular, a diagram illustrating a substrate, a vapor deposition mask, and a vapor deposition source. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of the vapor deposition method subsequent to FIG. 8, in particular, a diagram illustrating a substrate, a vapor deposition mask, and a vapor deposition source. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of the above-described vapor deposition method following FIG. 9, in particular, a diagram illustrating a substrate, a vapor deposition mask, and a vapor deposition source. Schematic which shows the modification of the vapor deposition apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows the specific example of the board | substrate used for manufacture of the organic electroluminescence display which concerns on other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Deposition chamber, 2 ... Deposition mask, 3 ... Deposition source, 4 ... Movement mechanism, 5 ... Control part, 10 ... Substrate, R1 ... Film-forming area | region, R2 ... Effective area | region.

Claims (11)

A deposition chamber;
A vapor deposition mask located in the vapor deposition chamber, opposed to the film formation region of the substrate, and smaller in size than the film formation region;
A deposition source located in the deposition chamber, disposed on the opposite side of the substrate with respect to the deposition mask, and depositing a deposition material on the deposition region through the deposition mask;
A moving mechanism for moving relative positions of the substrate, the vapor deposition mask and the vapor deposition source;
Vapor deposition comprising: a control unit that operates the moving mechanism, moves the relative position of the substrate, the vapor deposition mask, and the vapor deposition source in a stepwise manner, and divides the film formation region into a plurality of vapor depositions. apparatus.   The said control part is a vapor deposition apparatus of Claim 1 which divides | segments the said film-forming area | region into 4 or more and 12 or less and vapor-deposits. Using an alignment mark provided in advance on the vapor deposition mask and an alignment mark provided on the substrate, further comprising a position detection mechanism for detecting a relative position between the substrate and the vapor deposition mask and the vapor deposition source,
The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit adjusts the relative position every time the relative position is moved stepwise based on information detected by the position detection mechanism.   2. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the substrate and the vapor deposition mask to be in a non-contact state when the relative position is moved, and causes the substrate and the vapor deposition mask to be in a contact state when the vapor deposition is performed. .   The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an openable and closable shutter provided between the vapor deposition mask and a vapor deposition source, which is located in the vapor deposition chamber.   The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a valve located in the vapor deposition chamber and provided between the vapor deposition mask and a vapor deposition source.   The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vapor deposition material switching mechanism that is located in the vapor deposition chamber and switches the vapor deposition material. Another vapor deposition mask located in the vapor deposition chamber, disposed opposite to the film formation region of the substrate, having an opening pattern different from the vapor deposition mask, and having a smaller size than the film formation region;
The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a vapor deposition mask switching mechanism located in the vapor deposition chamber and configured to dispose either the vapor deposition mask or another vapor deposition mask so as to face the film formation region. A plurality of pixels having a film formation region, including a thin film transistor and a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor, arranged in a matrix in the film formation region, and a plurality of gate wirings connected to the plurality of pixels; Prepare a substrate on which multiple data lines are formed,
A vapor deposition mask having a size smaller than that of the film formation region is disposed opposite to the film formation region,
A method for manufacturing an organic EL display device, wherein a relative position between the substrate and the vapor deposition mask is moved stepwise, an organic material is vapor-deposited by dividing the film formation region into a plurality of regions, and an organic film is formed on each pixel .   A different organic film is continuously formed by changing the deposition target pixel and switching the organic material using the same deposition mask without changing the deposition mask according to red, green, and blue pixels. Item 10. A method for producing an organic EL display device according to Item 9. In the method of manufacturing an organic EL display device, the film formation region has a plurality of effective regions for forming a plurality of organic EL display devices.
The method for manufacturing an organic EL display device according to claim 9, wherein when the organic material is vapor-deposited, the vapor deposition mask is overlaid on the plurality of effective regions.

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