JP2010163637A - Film deposition apparatus and film deposition method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a film deposition apparatus capable of moving a vapor deposition head for blowing a film deposition material of an object to be processed between the film deposition position and the storage position. <P>SOLUTION: A six-layer continuous film deposition apparatus 10 comprises: a plurality of vapor deposition sources 155 with a film deposition material stored therein; a plurality of connection pipes 150 which are connected to the plurality of vapor deposition sources 155 to convey the film deposition material vaporized by the vapor deposition sources 155; a plurality of vapor deposition heads 125 which are connected to the plurality of connection pipes 150 respectively and arranged in the height direction while being separated from one another; and a processing chamber 100 for continuously executing the film deposition of the object to be processed therein with the film deposition material blown from the plurality of vapor deposition heads 125. The plurality of vapor deposition heads 125 are moved between the storage position and the film deposition position for blowing the film deposition material conveyed through the plurality of connection pipes 150 toward a substrate G. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus and a film forming method for forming an object to be processed, and more particularly to a film forming apparatus and a film forming method having a driving mechanism for forming an object to be processed.

  When manufacturing a flat panel display or the like, a vapor deposition method in which a substrate is formed by vaporized molecules of a film forming material is widely used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Among the devices manufactured using such a technique, the organic EL display, in particular, has excellent advantages such as self-emission, fast reaction speed, and low power consumption. For this reason, in the flat panel display manufacturing industry, there is an increasing demand for organic EL displays, and there is an increasing demand for larger size.

JP 2000-282219 A

  However, for example, in the vapor deposition apparatus of Patent Document 1, one vapor deposition source is housed in one processing container. Thus, when one processing container is required to form a single-layer film, a plurality of processing containers are required to form a multi-layer film on the object to be processed, which not only increases the footprint. However, there is a problem that the possibility that contaminants adhere to the object to be processed is increased during the conveyance of the object to be processed.

  On the other hand, in order to solve this problem, a plurality of vapor deposition sources are provided in one processing container, and film-forming molecules vaporized by the respective vapor deposition sources are attached to the object to be processed. A filming method is also conceivable. However, in this case, film forming molecules released from adjacent vapor deposition sources in the same processing container may be mixed into the film (cross-contamination), and the film quality may deteriorate.

  In particular, in the case of an organic EL display, there is an aspect that it is difficult to increase the size as compared with other displays. One of the reasons is that nano-level microfabrication is required for manufacturing an organic EL display. In addition, since the organic film is sensitive to substances such as moisture and carbon, if moisture or the like is present during the manufacture of the organic EL display, a non-emission point (dark spot) is generated in the organic EL element, or the emission characteristics of the organic EL element are reduced. It may deteriorate. For this reason, in the manufacture of an organic EL display, it is particularly necessary to prepare an environment in which almost no moisture is present. Therefore, it is desired to design a film forming apparatus that overcomes the above-described difficulties and is intended for mass production of large organic EL displays.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a film forming apparatus and a film forming method capable of moving a vapor deposition head that blows out a film forming material of an object to be processed between a film forming position and a storage position. To do.

  That is, in order to solve the above-described problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, a plurality of vapor deposition sources containing film forming materials and the vapor deposition sources connected to the plurality of vapor deposition sources, respectively, are vaporized. A plurality of connection pipes for transporting the deposited film forming material, a plurality of vapor deposition heads connected to the plurality of connection pipes and spaced apart from each other in the height direction, and a composition blown from each vapor deposition head. And a processing chamber in which the objects to be processed are formed one layer at a time using a film material. The respective vapor deposition heads move between the storage positions of the vapor deposition heads and the film forming positions, and the film forming materials passed through the connection pipes in order from the vapor deposition heads in the order moved to the film forming positions are processed objects. Blow out towards.

  Here, the vaporization includes not only a phenomenon in which a liquid turns into a gas but also a phenomenon in which a solid directly turns into a gas without going through a liquid state (that is, sublimation).

  According to this, a plurality of vapor deposition heads are arranged side by side in the height direction of the processing chamber, and film formation is performed by moving each vapor deposition head in sequence to the position directly above the object to be processed. Thereby, the footprint of the whole film-forming apparatus can be reduced and a film-forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

  Moreover, according to this structure, the other vapor deposition head which does not participate in film-forming is accommodated in the accommodation position. As a result, the organic material can be prevented from adhering to other vapor deposition heads during film formation. Further, the order of film formation can be easily changed by controlling the order in which the deposition heads are taken in and out.

  Each vapor deposition head has a blowout port for blowing the film forming material on its lower surface, and after moving to the film forming position, the film forming material passed through each connecting pipe may be blown downward from the blower port. Good.

  According to this, a to-be-processed object can be formed into a film by the face-up system by the downflow film-forming molecule which blows off from the blowing outlet of each vapor deposition head. For this reason, it can be avoided that the substrate is bent and the transfer and film formation become difficult as in the case of the face-down method, and the transfer process and the film formation process matching the large-sized substrate can be realized.

  Each of the vapor deposition heads may be moved and stored from the film formation position to the storage position after film formation.

  The processing chamber has a storage section that divides the inside of the processing chamber into a film formation space and a storage space, and the storage positions of the plurality of vapor deposition heads are in the storage space in the storage section, The deposition position of the vapor deposition head may be in a deposition space outside the storage unit.

  Further, a stage on which the object to be processed is placed and an exhaust port for exhausting the processing chamber below the stage may be provided in the processing chamber.

  According to this, vapor deposition heads other than the vapor deposition head used for film-forming are accommodated in the accommodating part. Further, by driving the exhaust device during film formation, excess film formation molecules that have not been used for film formation are exhausted from the exhaust port. As a result, it is possible to prevent the remaining film forming molecules from adhering to other vapor deposition heads or inner walls of the processing chamber and causing contamination.

  The plurality of vapor deposition heads are disposed so that the vapor deposition heads facing each other are stepped while being spaced apart from each other in the height direction on both sides of the stage, and the vapor deposition heads are sequentially formed from the storage positions of the vapor deposition heads. The object to be processed may be continuously formed one layer at a time by moving to the film position.

  The plurality of vapor deposition heads are arranged on one side of the stage while being spaced apart from each other in the height direction, and each vapor deposition head sequentially moves from the storage position of each vapor deposition head to the film formation position, thereby further moving the object to be processed. Continuous film formation may be performed one by one.

  The stage may be moved up and down so that the opposing surfaces of the respective vapor deposition heads that have moved to the film forming position and the stage are spaced apart from each other at a constant interval.

  The stage may move in a direction that is horizontal to the ground plane of the processing chamber and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the outlet of the vapor deposition head during film formation.

  According to this, uniform film formation becomes possible regardless of the shape of the outlet of the vapor deposition head.

  When the stage moves in a horizontal direction with respect to the ground plane of the processing chamber, the film formation process may be performed in either the forward path or the return path, or the film formation process may be performed in both the forward path or the return path. May be executed.

  Each of the plurality of vapor deposition heads may be provided with an adhesion preventing plate that moves together with the vapor deposition head.

  In order to solve the above problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, the film-forming material vaporized in the plurality of vapor deposition sources is passed through a plurality of connection pipes coupled to the plurality of vapor deposition sources. A step of transferring, a step of sequentially moving a plurality of vapor deposition heads connected to the plurality of connection pipes from a storage position in a processing chamber to a film formation position, and a vapor deposition head moved to the film formation position in order to each connection pipe A step of blowing the passed film forming material toward the object to be processed, and a step of forming the object to be processed one layer at a time inside the processing chamber by the film forming material blown from each vapor deposition head. A film forming method is provided.

  According to this, a plurality of vapor deposition heads are arranged side by side in the height direction of the processing chamber, and film formation is performed by developing the respective vapor deposition heads directly above the object to be processed. Thereby, the footprint of the whole film-forming apparatus can be reduced and a film-forming apparatus can be reduced in size.

  After the film formation, the method may further include a step of moving the vapor deposition head from the film formation position to the storage position.

  The method may further include a step of raising and lowering the stage so that a facing surface between the vapor deposition head moved to the film formation position for the next film formation and the stage on which the target object is placed is spaced apart by a certain distance. Good.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the vapor deposition head that blows out the film forming material of the object to be processed can be moved between the film forming position and the storage position, the footprint can be reduced. .

It is a schematic diagram of the longitudinal cross-section of the 6-layer continuous film-forming apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an internal block diagram of the vapor deposition head which concerns on 1st and 2nd embodiment. It is an internal block diagram of the vapor deposition source which concerns on 1st and 2nd embodiment. 4A and 4B are views for explaining the operation of the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIGS. 5A and 5B are views for explaining the operation of the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the film | membrane structure formed into a film by the 6 layer continuous film-forming apparatus which concerns on 1st and 2nd embodiment. It is the figure which attached the adhesion prevention board to the vapor deposition head which concerns on 1st and 2nd embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the longitudinal cross-section of the 6-layer continuous film-forming apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is 1-1 sectional drawing of FIG. It is an example of the conventional film-forming apparatus.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the constituent elements having the same configuration and function, and redundant description is omitted.

The description will be given in the following order.
<First Embodiment>
1. Overall configuration of 1.6 layer continuous film forming apparatus 2. Internal structure of vapor deposition head Internal structure of the evaporation source

4). 4. Film forming operation Comparison with Conventional Device <Second Embodiment>
6. Overall configuration of 6.6 layer continuous film forming apparatus Stage movement

<First Embodiment>
First, the overall configuration of the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment.

[Overall configuration of 6-layer continuous film formation system]
The six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 has a processing chamber 100. A stage 105 on which the substrate G is placed is disposed at the center of the bottom surface of the processing chamber 100. Below the stage 105, a motor 110, a ball bearing screw 115 and a guide 120 are provided. The power of the motor 110 is transmitted to a ball bearing screw 115 threaded on the screw. The ball bearing screw 115 converts the rotational motion of the motor 110 into linear motion. As a result, the stage 105 moves up and down while being supported by the four guides 120.

  Three vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are arranged on both sides of the stage 105, respectively. On the lower surfaces of the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f, there are provided blowout ports (see the blowout port Op in FIG. 2) for blowing vaporized molecules of the organic material downward toward the substrate G.

  The vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f penetrate the both side walls of the processing chamber 100, respectively. The vapor deposition heads 125 a, 125 c, and 125 e are arranged horizontally and spaced apart from each other in the height direction of the processing chamber 100. Similarly, the vapor deposition heads 125b, 125d, and 125f are arranged horizontally in a state of facing the vapor deposition heads 125a, 125c, and 125e while being separated from each other in the height direction of the processing chamber 100. The vapor deposition heads 125a, 125c, and 125e and the vapor deposition heads 125b, 125d, and 125f are fixed in a stepped manner so that the vapor deposition heads 125a, 125b, 125c, 125d, 125e, and 125f are in the higher order in this order.

  The processing chamber 100 includes storage units 130a and 130b that divide the inside of the processing chamber 100 into a film formation space PS and a storage space CS. The storage unit 130a stores the vapor deposition heads 125a, 125c, and 125e. The storage unit 130b stores 125b, 125d, and 125f. The storage units 130a and 130b are provided with valves V in the vicinity of the tips of the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f. By opening and closing the valve V, the respective vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f can be taken in and out between the storage space CS and the film formation space PS.

  The processing chamber 100 is provided with an exhaust port 135 for exhausting the inside of the processing chamber 100 at a position below the stage 105 and between the storage units 130 a and 130 b and the stage 105. A turbo molecular pump (TMP) 140 and a dry pump (DRY: Dry Pump) 145 are connected to the exhaust port 135. The inside of the processing chamber 100 is roughed by a dry pump 145 and evacuated by a turbomolecular pump 140. As a result, the processing chamber is maintained at a desired degree of vacuum. Further, by driving the turbomolecular pump 140 and the dry pump 145 during film formation, organic molecules that have not been used for film formation are guided below the stage 105 and exhausted from the exhaust port 135. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the deposition material from adhering to the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f, the inner wall of the processing chamber 100, and the like, and causing contamination.

  The ends of the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are connected to the connection pipes 150a to 150f, respectively. The connecting pipes 150a to 150f are further connected to vapor deposition sources 155a to 155f, respectively. The organic molecules A, B, C, D, E, and F, which are mixed gas or single gas, are vaporized in the vapor deposition sources 155a to 155f and then output, and are conveyed through the connection pipes 150a to 150f by the carrier gas, It blows off from vapor deposition head 125a-125f, respectively. The connecting pipes 150a to 150f are provided with flow rate adjusting valves VA, VB, VC, VD, VE, and VF, and by adjusting the opening degree of the flow rate adjusting valves VA, VB, VC, VD, VE, and VF. The flow rates of the organic molecules A, B, C, D, E, and F conveyed to the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f can be adjusted.

[Internal configuration of evaporation head]
Next, the internal configuration of the vapor deposition head will be described. Since the internal configurations of the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are all the same, description of the internal configuration of the other vapor deposition heads 125b to 125f will be omitted by describing the internal configuration of the vapor deposition head 125a shown in FIG.

  The vapor deposition head 125a has a blowing body 125a1, a ball bearing screw 125a2, and a bellows 125a3. The blowout body 125a1 is hollow and has a blowout opening Op on its lower surface. Thereby, organic molecules are blown out from the blowout opening Op. The blowout port Op may be opened in a rectangular shape, may have one or two or more slit shapes, and may be closed by a porous material. The ball bearing screw 125a2 is threaded on the screw, passes through the processing chamber 100, and is fitted to the end of the blowout body 125a1.

  A motor 160 is attached to the screw 125a2. The power of the motor 160 is transmitted to a ball bearing screw 125a2 threaded on the screw. Thereby, when the screw 125a2 rotates, the rotational motion is converted into a linear motion of the blowing body 125a1 by a nut (not shown). As a result, the balloon main body 125a1 moves in the forward direction (rightward on the paper surface) or backward (leftward on the paper surface).

  A gas introduction port ho passes through the screw 125a2, and communicates with an internal passage (not shown) of the connecting pipe 150a and an internal space S of the blowout body 125a1. As a result, the film-forming molecules vaporized by the vapor deposition source 155a are adjusted in the flow rate by the flow rate adjusting valve VA and pass through the internal passage of the connecting pipe 150a and the gas introduction port ho into the internal space S of the blowing body 125a1. It flies and is blown out from the outlet Op.

  The bellows 125a3 is provided between the blowing body 125a1 and the side wall of the processing chamber 100. That is, one end of the bellows 125a3 is fixed to the end of the blowout body 125a1, and the other end of the bellows 125a3 is fixed to the side wall at the outer periphery of the through hole provided in the side wall of the processing chamber 100. The bellows 125a3 blocks the vacuum space inside the processing chamber and the atmospheric space outside the processing chamber, and expands and contracts according to the horizontal movement of the blowout body 125a1.

  The ball bearing screw 115 in FIG. 1 and the ball bearing screw 125a2 in FIG. 2 are examples of actuators for moving the stage 105 and the vapor deposition head 125a up and down and back and forth. Other examples of the actuator that operates the stage 105 and the vapor deposition head 125a include a jack screw and a hydraulic drive mechanism.

[Internal configuration of evaporation source]
Next, the internal configuration of the vapor deposition source will be described. Since the internal configurations of the vapor deposition sources 155a to 155f are all the same, explanation of the internal configurations of the other vapor deposition sources 155b to 155f will be omitted by describing the internal configuration of the vapor deposition source 155a shown in FIG.

  Three crucibles 155a1, 155a2, and 155a3 are built in the vapor deposition source 155a. The crucibles 155a1, 155a2, and 155a3 contain organic materials A1, A2, and A3, respectively. A heater he is embedded in the bottom of the crucibles 155a1, 155a2, 155a3. Each heater he is connected to a heater source 200. The inside of the vapor deposition source 155a is exhausted by an exhaust device (not shown) connected to the exhaust port 155a4 and maintained in a desired vacuum state.

  When the crucibles 155a1, 155a2, and 155a3 are heated by the electric power output from the heater source 200, the organic materials A1, A2, and A3 in the crucibles 155a1, 155a2, and 155a3 are vaporized to become organic molecules, which are evaporation sources. Fly in 155a. The organic molecules are conveyed through the internal passage of the connecting pipe 150a by a carrier gas supplied from a gas supply source (not shown). During transportation, the molecules of the organic materials A1, A2, and A3 are mixed to become a mixed gas A. As described above, the mixed gas A is blown out toward the substrate G from the blowout port Op of the vapor deposition head 125a. Vaporization includes not only a phenomenon in which a liquid changes into a gas but also a phenomenon in which a solid changes directly into a gas without passing through a liquid state (that is, sublimation).

  The crucible contains only organic materials necessary for film formation. For example, when a film is formed with a single gas, a specific organic material is stored in one crucible, and nothing is stored in the other crucible.

[Deposition operation]
Next, the operation of six-layer continuous film formation will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A is a schematic diagram of a longitudinal section of the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 during film formation with the organic material A, and FIG. 4B is a plan view of FIG. 4A. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of a longitudinal section of the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 when the stage 105 is raised, and FIG. 5B is a six-layer continuous film formation at the time of film formation with the organic material B. 2 is a schematic diagram of a vertical cross section of the device 10. FIG.

  First, a film forming operation using the organic material A will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the inside of the processing chamber 100 is maintained at a desired degree of vacuum before film formation. Further, the distance between the vapor deposition head 125a and the stage 105 during film formation is a predetermined gap Ga by driving the motor 110 to raise and lower the stage 105.

  In this state, the valve Vin shown in FIG. 4B is opened and closed, and the substrate G is placed on the stage 105 while maintaining airtightness in the processing chamber. Next, the motor 160 is driven to move the vapor deposition head 125a in the forward direction. Thereby, the vapor deposition head 125a moves from the storage position of the storage space CS to the film formation position of the film formation space PS.

  After the movement, the flow rate adjustment valve VA of FIG. 1 is opened. Thus, the organic molecules A1, A2, and A3 of FIG. 3 vaporized by the vapor deposition source 155a are transported to the vapor deposition head 125a through the internal passage of the connecting pipe 150a and temporarily stay in the buffer space S in the head. The air is blown out downward from the air outlet Op. As a result, the film formation process is performed on the substrate G by the organic material A blown from the vapor deposition head 125a, and the first layer hole injection by the organic material A is applied to the ITO surface of the glass substrate G as shown in FIG. A layer is formed.

  Next, the motor 160 is driven, and the vapor deposition head 125a is moved backward as shown in FIG. Thereby, the vapor deposition head 125a moves from the film formation position of the film formation space PS to the storage position of the storage space CS, and is stored inside the storage portion 130a. Next, the motor 110 is driven, and then the stage 105 is raised so that the gap Ga between the height of the vapor deposition head 125b used for film formation and the stage 105 becomes a constant gap Ga. Thus, after raising the stage 105 to a desired position, as shown in FIG.5 (b), the vapor deposition head 125b is moved ahead. Thereby, the vapor deposition head 125b moves from the storage position of the storage space CS to the film formation position of the film formation space PS. The gap between the vapor deposition head 125b and the stage 105 is controlled to the gap Ga. After the movement, a film forming process is performed on the substrate G by the organic material B blown from the vapor deposition head 125b. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, a second hole transport layer of the organic material B is formed on the first hole injection layer. The movement of the vapor deposition head, the film formation, and the raising / lowering of the stage described above are repeated for the vapor deposition heads 125c to 125f, and then the valve Vout is opened and closed to carry out the substrate G after the film formation.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, on the ITO of the substrate G, the first hole injection layer of the organic material A, the second hole transport layer of the organic material B, and the third layer of the organic material C are sequentially formed. The blue light emitting layer, the fourth green light emitting layer made of the organic material D, the fifth red light emitting layer made of the organic material E, and the sixth electron transport layer made of the organic material F are formed. Among these, the blue light emitting layer, the green light emitting layer, and the red light emitting layer of the third to fifth layers are light emitting layers that emit light by recombination of holes and electrons. The metal layer on the first to sixth organic layers may be formed by sputtering or may be formed by vapor deposition.

  Thereby, an organic EL element having a structure in which the organic layer is sandwiched between the anode (anode) and the cathode (cathode) is formed on the substrate. When a voltage is applied to the anode and cathode of the organic EL element, holes (holes) are injected into the organic layer from the anode, and electrons are injected into the organic layer from the cathode. The injected holes and electrons recombine in the organic layer, and light emission occurs at this time.

[Comparison with conventional equipment]
A conventional film forming apparatus and the film forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be compared. For example, in the conventional film forming apparatus 90 shown in FIG. 10, the vapor deposition heads 905 a to 905 f are vertically placed on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 900 at equal intervals. The substrate G is electrostatically attracted to the stage 910 by a face-down method, and slides on the ceiling surface by the sliding mechanism 915. On the stage 910, a bellows 920 functioning as an adhesion preventing plate is mounted so as to isolate the ceiling surface and the vapor deposition heads 905a to 905f. According to this, six-layer continuous film formation is performed while the stage 910 moves on the vapor deposition heads 905a to 905f.

  In the conventional film forming apparatus 90, problems remain in the following points. First, since the vapor deposition heads are vertically arranged at equal intervals, the foot space is wide, which hinders the downsizing of the film forming apparatus 90. Second, since the substrate G is mounted face down, the substrate G is bent, which is disadvantageous particularly for transporting a large substrate and film formation.

  Third, since the respective vapor deposition heads 905a to 905f are deferred even during film formation, there is a possibility that cross contamination due to different organic molecules blown out from adjacent vapor deposition heads may occur. As a result, unnecessary organic molecules are mixed into the other film, and the film quality may be deteriorated. In addition, since deposits on the bellows 920 and the inner wall of the processing chamber are formed from various film forming materials, they are more easily peeled off than a single material and may cause contamination. In order to avoid a decrease in yield due to contamination, the bellows 920 needs to be replaced every day in the conventional film forming apparatus 90.

  On the other hand, according to the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, first, the six vapor deposition heads 125 a to 125 f are arranged in parallel while being separated in the height direction of the processing chamber 100. Then, the deposition heads 125a to 125f are sequentially moved directly above the substrate to perform film formation. According to this, the footprint of the whole film-forming apparatus can be reduced and the 6-layer continuous film-forming apparatus 10 can be reduced in size. As a result, the exhaust time can be shortened, the throughput can be improved, and the productivity can be increased. Further, loss of exhaust energy can be reduced.

  Secondly, according to the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to each embodiment, since the substrate G can be processed by the face-up method, the substrate is bent and transported as in the case of the face-down method. It can be avoided that film formation becomes difficult. Therefore, it is possible to realize a transfer process and a film forming process that match a large substrate.

  3rdly, according to the 6 layer continuous film-forming apparatus 10 which concerns on each this embodiment, the other vapor deposition heads 125b-125f are accommodated in accommodating part 130a, 130b. Further, by driving the turbomolecular pump 140 and the dry pump 145 during film formation, the organic material A that has not been used for film formation is exhausted from the exhaust port 135. As a result, it is possible to prevent the remaining organic material A from adhering to the other vapor deposition heads 125b to 125f and the inner wall of the processing chamber 100 and causing contamination.

  Fourth, the order of film formation can be easily changed by controlling the order in which the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are put in and out. For example, if each of the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f is moved to the film formation position in the order of the vapor deposition head 125a → 125f, a laminated film is formed in the order of the organic material A → F. If 125f is moved to the film forming position, a laminated film is formed in the order of the organic material F → A. Further, according to the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to each embodiment, the organic layer and the metal layer in FIG. 6 and a sealing layer (not shown) for sealing these layers can be continuously formed. It becomes the composition that matches the mass production system.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, by covering the periphery of the vapor deposition head 125 a with the deposition preventing plate 310, it is possible to prevent the organic material from adhering to the vapor deposition head 125 a. An opening 310a is provided in the lower surface of the deposition preventing plate 310, and a heater 310b is embedded in the wall. The opening 310a is opened in substantially the same shape at substantially the same position as the blowout opening Op of the vapor deposition head 125a, so that it does not hinder organic molecules from being blown out from the vapor deposition head 125a. Yes. In addition, the adhesion plate 310 is heated by applying electric power to the heater 310b, thereby preventing the organic molecules from adhering to the inner wall of the vapor deposition head 125a in relation to the adhesion coefficient of the organic molecules. . As a result, the material use efficiency is increased. In particular, since organic materials are expensive, costs can be reduced.

  The deposition preventing plate 310 moves between the deposition position and the storage position integrally with the vapor deposition head 125a. Therefore, the organic material A blown out from the vapor deposition head 125a adheres to the deposition preventing plate 310, and the other organic materials blown out from the other vapor deposition heads 125b to 125f hardly adhere. When the same organic material adheres, the adhesion between the adhering materials is high compared to the case where different organic materials adhere, and is difficult to peel off. Thus, in this embodiment, the replacement cycle of the deposition preventing plate can be lengthened. As a result, maintenance can be facilitated and cost reduction can be achieved.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 shows a longitudinal sectional view of a six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 9 shows a 1-1 section of FIG.

[Overall configuration of 6-layer continuous film formation system]
In the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are disposed on both sides of the stage 105, whereas the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus according to the second embodiment. 10, six vapor deposition heads 125 a to 125 f are disposed on one side of the stage 105 while being separated in the height direction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, only one storage portion 130 c that stores the vapor deposition heads 125 a to 125 f is provided on one side of the processing chamber 100.

  Also in the present embodiment, the film forming operation is the same as that in the first embodiment, and the respective vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are arranged in the order of the vapor deposition heads 125a → 125f from the storage position of the storage space CS to the film formation position of the film formation space PS. The organic film is continuously formed on the substrate G by six layers. In addition, the height of the stage 105 is also raised and lowered in the same manner as in the first embodiment, whereby the gap Ga between the stage 105 and the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f is managed to be constant during film formation.

[Stage movement]
In addition, in the present embodiment, the stage 105 slides in the horizontal direction with respect to the ground plane of the processing chamber 100. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, a large number of rollers 300 are arranged on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 100, and the stage 105 slides along with the support 305 that supports the stage 105 as the rollers 300 rotate during film formation. Move. The sliding direction is preferably a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the outlet (opening) formed on the lower surface of the vapor deposition head 125a. Here, the stage 105 slides in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the vapor deposition head 125a. According to this, even if the blowout port of the vapor deposition head 125a is formed in a slit shape or a rectangular shape at the center of the lower surface of the vapor deposition head 125a as shown in FIG. 9, the substrate G is below the opening. Since it moves at a certain speed, a uniform film can be formed on the substrate G.

  When the stage 105 moves in a horizontal direction with respect to the ground plane of the processing chamber 100, the film forming process may be executed only during movement in either the forward path or the backward path. Further, the film forming process may be executed in both the forward path and the return path. If the film forming process can be performed in either the forward path or the return path, throughput can be improved and productivity can be further increased.

  According to the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment, all of the six vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are arranged side by side in the height direction of the processing chamber 100, and the vapor deposition heads 125a to 125f are sequentially placed directly on the substrate. The film is formed by developing the film. According to this, the footprint of the entire film forming apparatus can be further reduced as compared with the first embodiment in which the deposition heads 125a to 125f are arranged in the height direction three by three.

  As described above, according to the six-layer continuous film forming apparatus 10 according to each embodiment, the footprint of the apparatus can be reduced and the apparatus can be downsized. Further, by adopting the face-up method for placing the substrate G, it is possible to obtain a configuration advantageous for transporting a large substrate and film formation. As a result, cost reduction during mass production can be achieved.

  In the above embodiment, the operations of the respective units are related to each other, and can be replaced as a series of operations in consideration of the relationship between each other. And by replacing in this way, embodiment of the said 6 layer continuous film-forming apparatus 10 can be made into embodiment of the 6-layer continuous film-forming method.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, the film formation apparatus according to the present invention may not be an apparatus that realizes six-layer continuous film formation as long as it is an apparatus that performs film formation processing on an object to be processed. That is, for example, in the film forming apparatus according to the present invention, the number of vapor deposition sources and vapor deposition heads is not limited to six and may be any number as long as it is two or more.

  In addition, the vapor deposition head may be moved up and down as well as moved forward and backward in the horizontal direction with respect to the ground plane. This eliminates the need for a mechanism for raising and lowering the stage.

  As the film forming material of the film forming apparatus according to the present invention, a powdery (solid) organic material can be used. A liquid organic metal is mainly used as a film forming material, and the vaporized film forming material is decomposed on a heated object to be processed, so that a thin film is grown on the object to be processed. MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition): It can also be used for organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. The film forming material of the film forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to an organic material, and may be, for example, a film forming material for an electrode such as silver or a film forming material for a sealing film.

10 6-layer continuous film forming apparatus 100 processing chamber 105 stage 110, 160 motor 115, 125a2 screw 120 guide 125a, 125b, 125c, 125d, 125e, 125f deposition head 125a1 blowing body 125a3 bellows 130a, 130b, 130c storage unit 135, 155a4 Exhaust port 140 Turbo molecular pump 145 Dry pump 150a, 150b, 150c, 150d, 150e, 150f Connecting pipe 155, 155a, 155b, 155c, 155d, 155e, 155f Deposition source 155a1, 155a2, 155a3 Crucible 200 Heater source 300 Roller 310 Protection plate Storage space CS
Deposition space PS
Gap Ga

Claims (14)

A plurality of vapor deposition sources containing film-forming materials;
A plurality of connecting pipes connected to the plurality of vapor deposition sources, respectively, for transporting a film forming material vaporized by the plurality of vapor deposition sources;
A plurality of vapor deposition heads respectively connected to the plurality of connection pipes and spaced apart in the height direction;
And a processing chamber for forming a film to be processed one layer at a time with a film forming material blown from each vapor deposition head,
The respective vapor deposition heads move between the storage positions of the vapor deposition heads and the film forming positions, and the film forming materials passed through the connecting pipes in order from the vapor deposition heads in the order of movement to the film forming positions. Deposition equipment that blows out toward the surface.   Each said vapor deposition head has a blower outlet which blows off film-forming material in the lower surface, and after moving to the said film-forming position, blows down the film-forming material passed through each said connecting pipe downward from the said blower outlet. 1. The film forming apparatus described in 1.   The film deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the vapor deposition heads is moved from the film formation position to the storage position after film formation. The processing chamber has a storage section that divides the inside of the processing chamber into a film formation space and a storage space,
A storage position of the plurality of vapor deposition heads is in a storage space in the storage unit,
The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein film forming positions of the plurality of vapor deposition heads are in a film forming space outside the storage unit.   The process chamber according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a stage on which the object to be processed is placed and an exhaust port for exhausting the process chamber below the stage are provided in the process chamber. Membrane device.   The plurality of vapor deposition heads are arranged so that the vapor deposition heads facing each other are stepped while being separated from each other in the height direction on both sides of the stage, and the vapor deposition heads are sequentially arranged from the storage positions of the vapor deposition heads. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be processed is continuously formed one by one by moving to the film forming position.   The plurality of vapor deposition heads are arranged on one side of the stage while being spaced apart from each other in the height direction, and the respective vapor deposition heads sequentially move from a storage position of each vapor deposition head to a film formation position, thereby The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the film is continuously formed layer by layer.   8. The film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the stage moves up and down so that the facing surfaces of the respective vapor deposition heads moved to the film forming position and the stage are separated from each other at a constant interval.   9. The stage according to claim 5, wherein the stage moves in a direction horizontal to the ground plane of the processing chamber and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the outlet of the vapor deposition head during film formation. Film forming apparatus.   10. The film forming process according to claim 9, wherein when the stage moves in the horizontal direction, the film forming process is performed on either the forward path or the return path, or the film forming process is performed on both the forward path and the return path. processing.   The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an adhesion preventing plate that moves together with the vapor deposition head is attached to each of the plurality of vapor deposition heads. Transporting the film-forming material vaporized in the plurality of vapor deposition sources through a plurality of connection pipes coupled to the plurality of vapor deposition sources;
Sequentially moving a plurality of vapor deposition heads connected to the plurality of connection pipes from a storage position in a processing chamber to a film formation position;
Blowing the film-forming material passed through each connecting pipe in order from the vapor deposition head moved to the film-forming position toward the object to be processed;
Forming a film to be processed one layer at a time inside the processing chamber using a film forming material blown from each vapor deposition head.   The film forming method according to claim 12, further comprising a step of moving each vapor deposition head from the film formation position to the storage position after film formation. 13. The method further includes raising and lowering the stage so that a facing surface between the vapor deposition head moved to a film formation position for the next film formation and a stage on which the object to be processed is placed is separated at a constant interval. Alternatively, the film forming method according to claim 13.

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