JP2014005478A - Vapor deposition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vapor deposition apparatus that is a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus suitable for manufacture of an organic EL device and is also large in number of base materials which can be filmed per unit time.SOLUTION: A vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 includes a vacuum chamber 2, in which a substrate installation table 3, an evaporator 5 and a vapor chamber 6 are built. The vapor chamber 6 is constituted by integrating a crucible installation part 12, a vapor passage part 13, and thin film material ejection parts 25, 26 together, and functions as a passage, through which vapor of a thin film material passes. Filmed surfaces 32 of glass substrates 7a, 7b are positioned opposite to the thin film material ejection parts 25, 26 respectively, and the glass substrates 7a, 7b and the thin film material ejection parts 25, 26 face each other in parallel. Consequently, the vapor of the thin film material ejected from holes 27 of the thin film material ejection parts 25, 26 is blown equally to the entire surfaces of the glass substrates 7a, 7b and has its heat absorbed by the surfaces to be solidified, and thereby forming desired films on the surfaces of the glass substrates 7a, 7b simultaneously.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vapor deposition apparatus. The present invention is particularly suitable as a vapor deposition device used for manufacturing an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) device.

  In recent years, an organic EL device has attracted attention as a lighting device that replaces an incandescent lamp and a fluorescent lamp, and many studies have been made. In addition, an organic EL method is attracting attention as a method for changing to a liquid crystal method or a plasma method in a display member represented by a television.

Here, the organic EL device is obtained by laminating an organic EL element on a base material such as a glass substrate or a transparent resin film.
In addition, the organic EL element has two or more light-transmitting electrodes facing each other, and a light emitting layer made of an organic compound is laminated between the electrodes. The organic EL element emits light by the energy of recombination of electrically excited electrons and holes.
Since the organic EL device is a self-luminous device, a high-contrast image can be obtained when used as a display material. In addition, light of various wavelengths can be emitted by appropriately selecting the material of the light emitting layer. In addition, the thickness is extremely thin compared to incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps, and light is emitted in a planar shape, so there are few restrictions on the installation location.

A typical layer structure of the organic EL device is as shown in FIG. The organic EL device 200 shown in FIG. 31 has a configuration called a bottom emission type. A transparent electrode layer 202, a functional layer 203, and a back electrode layer 205 are laminated on a glass substrate 201, and these are sealed. The portion 206 is sealed.
The functional layer 203 is formed by stacking a plurality of thin films of organic compounds. A typical functional layer 203 has a layer structure as shown in FIG. 32, which includes a hole injection layer 210, a hole transport layer 211, a light emitting layer 212, and an electron transport layer 213.

The organic EL device is manufactured by sequentially forming the above-described layers on a glass substrate 201.
Of the above-described layers, the transparent electrode layer 202 is a transparent conductive film layer such as indium tin oxide (ITO), and is formed mainly by sputtering or CVD.
The functional layer 203 is formed by laminating a plurality of thin films of an organic compound as described above, and each thin film is formed by a vacuum deposition method.
The back electrode layer 205 is a metal thin film such as aluminum or silver, and is formed by a vacuum deposition method.

Thus, when manufacturing an organic EL device, a vacuum deposition method is frequently used. Here, the vacuum deposition method is a technique for forming a film using a vacuum deposition apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.
That is, the vacuum evaporation apparatus is constituted by a vacuum chamber and an evaporation apparatus that evaporates the thin film material. A vacuum chamber can install a glass substrate.
The evaporation apparatus is constituted by a heating apparatus using electric resistance or an electron beam, and a crucible for storing a thin film material.

In many cases, the glass substrate is installed in a horizontal posture on the ceiling side of the vacuum chamber. On the other hand, the crucible of the evaporator is installed at the lower part of the glass substrate.
Then, the thin film material in the crucible is heated by electric resistance or the like, evaporated and scattered upward and deposited on the lower surface of the glass substrate.

  Here, the vacuum deposition apparatus of the prior art forms a glass substrate one by one. In other words, the vacuum chamber of the conventional vacuum deposition apparatus can be provided with only one glass substrate and forms a film only on the lower surface side of the glass substrate.

JP 2006-274370 A

  Although the vacuum deposition apparatus of the prior art can form a film having a desired quality, there is a complaint that the productivity is low. In other words, as described above, the vacuum deposition apparatus of the prior art can set up only one glass substrate in the vacuum chamber, and forms the glass substrates one by one. The number of substrates is small and the productivity is low. In particular, since vacuum deposition is performed in a high vacuum atmosphere, it is necessary to return the pressure in the vacuum chamber to atmospheric pressure when the formed glass substrate is taken out. Then, it is necessary to install a new glass substrate in the vacuum chamber and again reduce the pressure in the vacuum chamber to adjust to a desired degree of vacuum. Therefore, not only the work time required for loading and unloading the glass substrate, but also before and after that, the work of returning the pressure in the vacuum chamber to atmospheric pressure and the work of reducing the vacuum chamber to a high vacuum state are essential. The total time required is long. In spite of this, the conventional vapor deposition apparatus can form only one substrate at a time, and has a low film forming ability per unit time.

  Accordingly, the present invention focuses on the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to develop a vapor deposition apparatus having a large number of substrates that can be formed per unit time.

  The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-described problem has a vacuum chamber in which a base material can be set and an evaporation device for evaporating a thin film material, the base material is set in the vacuum chamber, and the evaporation device In the vapor deposition apparatus for evaporating the thin film material evaporated by the above and depositing a film of a predetermined component on the base material, a plurality of base materials can be installed in the vacuum chamber, and a plurality of thin film material discharge portions are provided. The plurality of thin film material discharge portions are located at positions facing different substrates, and the evaporated thin film material is respectively supplied from the evaporation device to the plurality of thin film material discharge portions, and the thin film material is simultaneously discharged from the plurality of thin film material discharge portions. The vapor deposition apparatus is characterized in that a film can be simultaneously formed on each of the substrates at positions facing each other.

  In the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of base materials can be installed in the vacuum chamber, and there is a thin film material discharge portion at a position facing each base material. And it is possible to discharge | release a thin film material simultaneously from each thin film material discharge | release part, and to form into a film simultaneously on each base material. Therefore, according to the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to form a film on a plurality of substrates at the same time, and the number of substrates that can be formed per unit time is large.

  The invention according to claim 2 has a film vapor transport path that communicates the evaporation apparatus and the thin film material discharge section, and a part or all of the film vapor transport path is branched, and a plurality of from the single evaporation apparatus. 2. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a thin film material is supplied to the thin film material discharge portion.

  The present invention discloses a specific structure of a vapor deposition apparatus.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the vapor deposition apparatus according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a throttling device that adjusts a flow rate of the thin film material discharged from the thin film material discharge portion.

  According to the present invention, the balance of the plurality of thin film material discharge portions can be adjusted. That is, the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention has a throttling device that adjusts the flow rate of the thin film material discharged from the thin film material discharge portion, so that the amount of the thin film material discharged from each thin film material discharge portion is adjusted to be equal. be able to.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum chamber, the film formation surfaces of the two base materials are erected in a facing direction, and a thin film material discharge portion is installed between the two base materials. A vapor deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

  In this invention, since the thin film material discharge | release part is installed between the two base materials, the space in a vacuum chamber can be utilized effectively and the whole shape of an apparatus can be reduced in size.

  Conversely, in the vacuum chamber, the film formation surfaces of the two substrates may be erected back to back, and the thin film material discharge portions may be installed on the outer sides of the two substrates, respectively ( Claim 5).

  The invention described in claim 6 has a plurality of evaporation devices, the evaporation devices evaporate different thin film materials, and the evaporation device that supplies the thin film material to the thin film material discharge portion can be switched. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vapor deposition apparatus is a vapor deposition apparatus.

  According to the present invention, it is possible not only to form a film on a substrate but also to stack a plurality of types of films.

  The invention described in claim 7 has a plurality of evaporation devices, the evaporation devices evaporate different thin film materials, and a plurality of thin film material discharge portions are provided at positions facing one substrate, The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of thin film material discharge portions communicate with different evaporation apparatuses.

  According to the present invention, it is possible not only to form a film on a substrate but also to stack a plurality of types of films.

  The invention according to claim 8 is provided with a plurality of a set of units each including an evaporation device and a plurality of thin film material discharge portions to which thin film material evaporated from the evaporation device is supplied. Item 8. The vapor deposition device according to any one of Items 1 to 7.

  With this configuration, the number of substrates that can be formed per unit time is further increased, and the production efficiency is further improved.

  Since the vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention can simultaneously form a film on a plurality of substrates, the number of substrates that can be formed per unit time is large and the productivity is high.

It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a top view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a front view of the thin film material discharge | release part employ | adopted with the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a top view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of 6th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 7th Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of 8th Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of the thin film material discharge | release part and glass substrate of the vacuum evaporation system of 9th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 10th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 11th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 12th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 13th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 14th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 15th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 16th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 17th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 18th Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 19th Embodiment of this invention. The vacuum evaporation system of 20th Embodiment of this invention is shown, (a) is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of a thin film material discharge | release part and a glass substrate, (b) is a conceptual diagram of a vacuum evaporation system. The vacuum evaporation system of 21st Embodiment of this invention is shown, (a) is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of a thin film material discharge | release part and a glass substrate, (b) is a conceptual diagram of a vacuum evaporation system. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 22nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the vacuum evaporation system of 23rd Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the conceptual diagram of the organic EL device which explains simply the layer composition of an integrated type organic EL device. It is sectional drawing of the board | substrate which shows each process of the manufacturing method of the organic electroluminescent apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the typical layer structure of an organic electroluminescent apparatus. It is sectional drawing which shows the typical layer structure of an organic EL element.

Embodiments of the present invention will be further described below.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum deposition apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention has a vacuum chamber 2, and a substrate mounting table 3, an evaporation device 5, and a vapor chamber 6 are built in the vacuum chamber 2. It is a thing.
The vacuum chamber 2 is a member having a wide space 8 in which glass substrates (base materials) 7a and 7b can be installed, similarly to the known one.
The vacuum chamber 2 is airtight. A vacuum pump 9 is connected to the vacuum chamber 2, and the inside can be maintained in a high vacuum atmosphere.

The substrate mounting base 3 is composed of a pedestal portion 30 and substrate holding walls 31a and 31b.
The substrate holding walls 31a and 31b are wall-like portions erected on the upper portion of the pedestal portion 30, and a substrate holder (not shown) is provided. A cooling pipe 33 is attached to the back surfaces of the substrate holding walls 31a and 31b. The cooling liquid circulates in the cooling pipe 33 to maintain the temperature of the substrate holding walls 31a and 31b at a constant temperature.

  The evaporator 5 includes a known crucible 10 and a vaporizing electric heater 11. The structure and function of the evaporation apparatus 5 are the same as those known in the art, and a thin film material can be put in the crucible 10, and the thin film material can be melted and vaporized by the electric heater 11.

The vapor chamber 6 functions as a passage through which the vapor of the thin film material passes, and the crucible installation portion 12, the vapor passage portion 13, and the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are integrated.
That is, the crucible installation part 12 of the vapor chamber 6 is located at the lowest position and has a relatively wide space, and the above-described evaporator 5 is installed therein. A shutter (not shown) is provided on the upper portion of the crucible installation portion 12, and when the substrate is replaced, the shutter can be fully closed to prevent the vapor of the thin film material from entering the vapor passage portion 13.
The steam passage 13 is located above the crucible installation part 12 and forms a steam passage space (film vapor transport path) 15 communicating with the crucible installation part 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vapor passage portion 13 employed in the present embodiment is a plate having a rectangular outer shape, and there are large-area planar portions 20 and 21 on the front side and the back side. The flat portions 20 and 21 are both rectangular.
The side wall portions 22 and 23 and the top wall portion 24 that connect the flat surface portions 20 and 21 have a smaller area than the above-described flat surface portions 20 and 21.
In the present embodiment, the steam passage space 15 is surrounded by the flat surface portions 20 and 21, the side wall portions 22 and 23, and the top wall portion 24, and this steam passage space 15 communicates with the crucible installation portion 12 as shown in FIG. 1. Yes.

In the present embodiment, the flat portions 20 and 21 of the vapor passage portion 13 function as the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26. That is, the flat portions 20 and 21 are provided with a large number of holes 27 as shown in FIGS. The size of the hole 27 is uniform, or the one arranged on the upper side is larger than the one arranged on the lower side.
The thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 employ a raw material supply system called an area source among those skilled in the art, and discharge the vaporized thin film material from each hole 27 as will be described later.

  In the present embodiment, the electric heaters 35, 36, and 37 for heat insulation are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the steam chamber 6.

As described above, the vacuum deposition apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes the substrate mounting table 3, the evaporation apparatus 5, and the vapor chamber 6 in the vacuum chamber 2, and the vapor chamber 6 is the center of the vacuum chamber 2. Installed in the department.
That is, as shown in the layout of FIG. 1, the crucible installation portion 12 of the vapor chamber 6 is located below the vacuum chamber 2, and the vapor passage portion 13 of the vapor chamber 6 is erected near the central axis of the vacuum chamber 2. Accordingly, the flat portions 20 and 21 (thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26) of the vapor passage portion 13 are arranged to face outward from the vicinity of the center of the vacuum chamber 2, and the holes 27 of the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are formed. , Both open from the vicinity of the center toward the outside.

  In addition, a substrate installation table 3 is provided at a position covering the crucible installation part 12 of the vapor chamber 6. Therefore, in the state where the glass substrates 7 a and 7 b are not present, the substrate holding walls 31 a and 31 b of the substrate mounting table 3 face the vapor passage portion 13 of the vapor chamber 6.

  In the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the glass substrates 7 a and 7 b are placed on the substrate mounting table 3. That is, the glass substrates 7 a and 7 b are installed vertically on the pedestal 30 of the substrate installation table 3. One surface of the glass substrates 7a and 7b is in contact with the substrate holding walls 31a and 31b of the substrate mounting table 3, and the glass substrates 7a and 7b are fixed to the substrate mounting table 3 with a substrate holder (not shown).

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the other surfaces 32 of the glass substrates 7a and 7b are at positions facing the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26, respectively. The glass substrates 7a and 7b and the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are They will face each other in parallel. In the present embodiment, the surfaces of the glass substrates 7 a and 7 b that face the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are the film formation surfaces 32.
The sizes of the glass substrates 7a and 7b are substantially equal to the thin film material emitting portions 25 and 26.

  Further, considering the positional relationship with the glass substrates 7a and 7b as the center, the film formation surfaces 32 of the glass substrates 7a and 7b are erected in a direction facing each other, and steam is formed between the two glass substrates 7a and 7b. There is a vapor passage 13 of the chamber 6. And since the thin film material discharge | release parts 25 and 26 are formed in the vapor | steam passage part 13 of the vapor | steam chamber 6, the thin film material discharge | release parts 25 and 26 are installed between the two glass base materials 7a and 7b.

In this state, the vapor of the thin film material is discharged from the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26, and the vapor is applied to the film formation surfaces 32 of the glass substrates 7a and 7b to form films on the glass substrates 7a and 7b.
That is, a desired thin film material is put in the crucible 10, the thin film material is melted by the electric heater 11 for vaporization, and further the thin film material is vaporized.
The vaporized thin film material enters the vapor passage space 15 of the vapor passage portion 13 from the crucible installation portion 12 of the vapor chamber 6, and is discharged toward the glass substrates 7a and 7b from the holes 27 provided in the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26. Is done.
Here, in the present embodiment, the electric heaters 35, 36, and 37 for heat insulation are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the vapor chamber 6, and the vapor passage space 15 in the vapor chamber 6 is maintained at a considerably high temperature. Therefore, the thin film material vaporized in the crucible 10 is discharged from the holes 27 provided in the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 while maintaining the vaporized state.

In the present embodiment, the holes 27 provided in the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are distributed with a planar spread. The thin film material discharge part 25 faces the glass substrate 7a, and the thin film material discharge part 26 faces the glass substrate 7b. Further, the sizes of the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are substantially equal to those of the glass substrates 7a and 7b, and both face each other in parallel.
Furthermore, since the substrate holding walls 31a and 31b of the substrate mounting table 3 are in contact with the outer surfaces of the glass substrates 7a and 7b, and the substrate holding walls 31a and 31b have a cooling function, the temperature of the glass substrates 7a and 7b. Is maintained at a low temperature.

  Therefore, the vapor | steam of the thin film material discharge | released from the hole 27 of the thin film material discharge | release parts 25 and 26 is sprayed uniformly on the whole surface of glass substrate 7a, 7b, heat is taken on the surface of glass substrate 7a, 7b, and it solidifies. . As a result, desired film formation is simultaneously performed on the surfaces of the glass substrates 7a and 7b.

  The formed glass substrates 7a and 7b are taken out from the vacuum chamber 2, and become an organic EL device or the like through a desired post-processing.

  Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the embodiments described below, the same members as those in the previous embodiments or members that exhibit the same functions are denoted by the same numbers as in the previous embodiments, and redundant description is omitted.

  In the above-described embodiment (first embodiment), the steam passage portion 13 of the steam chamber 6 is exemplified as a rectangular plate. That is, in the above-described embodiment, the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are rectangular and flat. However, the present invention is not limited to this shape, and may have a cylindrical thin-film material discharge portion 41, such as a vapor chamber 40 shown in FIGS. Embodiment). In the vapor chamber 40 shown in FIG. 5, the thin film material discharge | release part 41 is a curved surface and is a cylindrical surface more correctly.

  Moreover, you may employ | adopt the triangular steam chamber 43 as shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 8 (3rd Embodiment). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the vapor chamber 43 has thin film material discharge portions 45, 46, 47 in three directions, and the glass substrates 7 a, 7 b, 7 c face the thin film material discharge portions 45, 46, 47. 3 units can be installed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the vapor chamber 48 having a square shape in the plan view as shown in FIG. 9 may be used (fourth embodiment), and may be a polygon such as a pentagon or a hexagon.

In the previous embodiment, the film was formed with the glass substrates 7a and 7b fixed. However, as shown in FIG. 10, the glass substrates 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7d were rotated around the vapor chamber 40. (5th Embodiment).
Conversely, as shown in FIG. 11, the vapor chamber 40 side may be rotated (sixth embodiment).
10 and 11, the vapor chamber 40 having the cylindrical thin film material discharge portion 41 has been described as an example. However, other shapes of vapor chambers may be used as a matter of course.

  In the previous embodiment, the portion where the crucible 10 is installed, the flow path through which the vapor of the thin film material passes (vapor passage portion 13), and the portions constituting the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are integrated to form the vapor chamber 6 and did. That is, in the previous embodiment, the configuration in which the portion where the crucible 10 is installed, the flow path through which the thin film material passes, and the portions forming the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are integrally integrated. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and these may be clearly divided.

For example, like a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 12 (seventh embodiment), the crucible installation part 51, the vapor passage part 52, and the thin film material discharge parts 53 and 55 are clearly separated.
In the vacuum evaporation apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 12, the crucible installation part 51 is a wide space in which the crucible 10 can be installed.
Moreover, the thin film material discharge | release parts 53 and 55 have a large area facing glass substrate 7a, 7b. The thin film material discharge portions 53 and 55 are provided with a large number of holes 27 as in the previous embodiment.
And the crucible installation part 51 and the thin film material discharge | release parts 53 and 55 are connected by the film | membrane vapor | steam transport path 61. FIG. The film vapor transport path 61 is a pipe, and is bifurcated in the middle and connected to the thin film material discharge portions 53 and 55. That is, the membrane vapor transport path 61 is constituted by the main pipe 56 and the two branch pipes 57 and 58. The two branch pipes 57 and 58 have flow rate adjusting valves (throttle devices) 60a and 60b, respectively. The flow rate adjusting valves 60a and 60b function as a throttle device that adjusts the flow rate of the thin film material.

  In the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 50 of this embodiment, the crucible 10 is installed in the crucible installation part 51. Then, the vapor of the thin film material vaporized in the crucible enters the branch pipes 57 and 58 from the main pipe 56 of the film vapor transport path 61, and is discharged to the glass substrates 7a and 7b through the thin film material discharge portions 53 and 55.

In the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 50 of this embodiment, since the flow rate adjusting valves (throttle devices) 60a and 60b are provided in the film vapor transport path 61, the thin film material discharged from the left and right thin film material discharge portions 53 and 55 The balance can be adjusted.
For example, when the vapor of the thin film material discharged from one thin film material discharge unit 53 is excessive as compared with the other thin film material discharge unit 55, the flow rate adjustment of the branch pipe 57 reaching the thin film material discharge unit 53 is performed. The valve (throttle device) 60a is throttled or the other flow rate adjustment valve (throttle device) 60b is opened. As a result, the amounts and pressures of the thin film materials released from the two thin film material discharge portions 53 and 55 become equal, and the thicknesses of the films formed on the two glass substrates 7a and 7b are uniform.

In the previous embodiment, the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 each having a large number of holes 27 are exemplified. That is, in the previous embodiment, all adopt a raw material supply method called an area source, and a large number of holes 27 are distributed in a plane, but other raw material supply methods are adopted. Also good.
FIG. 13 (eighth embodiment) employs a raw material supply system called a point source, in which the raw material is discharged from one opening.
That is, in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 70 shown in FIG. 13, the two tubes 72 and 73 protrude from the crucible installation part 71. The two pipes 72 and 73 are both bent at the tip in the horizontal direction, and the openings 75 and 76 face the glass substrates 7a and 7b.
In this embodiment, the openings 75 and 76 of the tubes 72 and 73 function as a thin film material discharge portion.

FIG. 14 (Ninth Embodiment) employs a raw material supply system called a linear source, and discharges the raw material from the opening row 77 arranged vertically. In this embodiment, the opening row 77 functions as a thin film material discharge portion.
When the configuration of FIG. 14 is adopted, it is necessary to move the glass substrates 7 a and 7 b relative to the opening row 77. For example, what is necessary is just to reciprocate about 1-3 times about one film-forming operation.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the film formation surfaces 32 of the glass substrates 7a and 7b are arranged to face each other, and the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 are provided on the inside thereof to form a film on the glass substrates 7a and 7b. Although it was a structure, you may form into a film on an outer surface conversely.
In the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 78 shown in FIG. 15 (10th Embodiment), the vapor | steam chamber 80 was provided with two rows of vapor | steam passage parts 81a and 81b, and also both were separated widely. Moreover, the hole 27 was provided in the inner surface side of the vapor | steam passage parts 81a and 81b. And glass substrate 7a, 7b was provided between vapor | steam passage parts 81a, 81b.
The vacuum deposition apparatus 78 of the present embodiment is an example in which the film formation surfaces 32 of the glass substrates 7a and 7b are erected back to back, and the thin film material discharge portions 82 and 83 are installed outside the two glass substrates 7a and 7b, respectively. It is.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the evaporator 5 such as the crucible 10 is disposed in the vacuum chamber 2, but the evaporator 5 may be installed outside the vacuum chamber 2.
In the vacuum evaporation apparatus 79 shown in FIG. 16 (11th Embodiment), the evaporation apparatus 5 is arrange | positioned out of the vacuum chamber 2. FIG. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
Moreover, also in the vacuum evaporation apparatus 85 shown in FIG. 17 (12th Embodiment), the evaporator 86 is arrange | positioned out of the vacuum chamber 2. FIG. In the vacuum evaporation apparatus 85, two thin film material discharge | release parts 90 and 91 are installed in the vacuum chamber 2, and these are connected to the pipe lines 87a and 87b. Further, flow rate adjusting valves (throttle devices) 60a and 60b are provided in the pipe lines 87a and 87b.

All of the embodiments described above have only one evaporator 5, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and may have a plurality of evaporators 93. A vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 95 shown in FIG. 18 (13th embodiment) includes four evaporation apparatuses 93a, 93b, 93c, and 93d.
The four evaporators 93a, 93b, 93c, and 93d are all outside the vacuum chamber 2. In the vacuum chamber 2, a member corresponding to the vapor passage portion 13 of the vapor chamber 6 is provided. The four evaporators 93 a, 93 b, 93 c, 93 d and the steam passage 13 in the vacuum chamber 2 are connected by a pipe 88.
The pipe line 88 includes a manifold 96 having four introduction-side ports and one discharge-side port, and the discharge-side port is connected to the vapor passage portion 13 in the vacuum chamber 2.

On the other hand, the four introduction-side ports are connected to the respective evaporators 93a, 93b, 93c, and 93d via on-off valves 97a, 97b, 97c, and 97d, respectively.
The on-off valves 97a, 97b, 97c, and 97d employed in the present embodiment can be fully closed.

In the vacuum evaporation apparatus 95 of this embodiment, different types of thin film materials are put into the crucibles 10 of the respective evaporation apparatuses 93a, 93b, 93c, and 93d.
In the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 95 of this embodiment, the thin film material introduced into the vapor passage part 13 can be changed by switching the on-off valves 97a, 97b, 97c, and 97d.

Similar to the steam chamber 6 in the above-described embodiment, also in this embodiment, a heat retaining electric heater (not shown) is attached to a portion corresponding to the steam chamber. Furthermore, the temperature-retaining electric heater can be individually set for the evaporators 93 a, 93 b, 93 c, 93 d, the pipe line 88, and the steam passage 13.
According to the vacuum deposition apparatus 95 of the present embodiment, different types of thin films can be sequentially formed by introducing different types of thin film materials into the crucible 10 of the evaporators 93a, 93b, 93c, and 93d. At this time, the temperature of the pipe 88 and the steam passage 13 can be set as follows.
That is, for the evaporators 93a, 93b, 93c, 93d, the temperature of the electric heater for heat retention is set for each evaporator according to the type of thin film material to be input (for example, the boiling point of the thin film material plus about 10 ° C.). On the other hand, for the pipe 88 and the steam passage 13, the highest temperature among the temperatures set by the evaporators 93 a, 93 b, 93 c, 93 d is selected as the set temperature of the electric heater for heat insulation. As a result, the temperatures of the pipe 88 and the steam passage 13 are maintained at a temperature sufficiently higher than the boiling point of each thin film material, so that any thin film material is solidified in the pipe 88 or the steam passage 13. There is no end to it. According to this configuration, it is not necessary to change the temperature of the pipe line 88 or the vapor passage portion 13 when the evaporator is switched (when the thin film material is switched).
In order to prevent the mutual contamination of the thin film materials, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is passed through the pipe 88 and the vapor passage portion 13 when the evaporation apparatus is switched to remove the remaining thin film material.

When the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 95 of this embodiment is used, a plurality of films can be formed with one vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 95.
For example, the hole injection layer 210, the hole transport layer 211, the light emitting layer 212, and the electron transport layer 213 described above can be formed in one vacuum chamber 2.

  A vacuum deposition apparatus 98 (fourteenth embodiment) shown in FIG. 19 is a further development of the configuration of the vacuum deposition apparatus 95 of FIG. The vacuum deposition apparatus 98 includes a plurality of sets of units each including an evaporation apparatus 93a, 93b, 93c, 93d, a conduit 88, a manifold 96, a vapor passage section 13, and thin film material discharge sections 25, 26. According to this embodiment, productivity can be further improved. In this embodiment, the evaporators 93 a, 93 b, 93 c, 93 d are installed outside the vacuum chamber 2, but may be arranged inside the vacuum chamber 2.

In the vacuum deposition apparatus 95 shown in FIG. 18, only one vapor passage 13 is provided in the vacuum chamber 2, and a plurality of types of film materials are emitted from the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 included in the vapor passage 13. . That is, in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 95 shown in FIG. 18, the thin film material supplied from the evaporation apparatuses 93a, 93b, 93c, and 93d is discharged using the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26 in common.
However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, as in a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 98 shown in FIG. 20 (fifteenth embodiment), a plurality of systems of thin film material discharge portions 89a, 89b, 94a, 94b, 99a, 99b may be provided, and independent film vapor transport paths 84a, 84b, 84c may be provided for the thin film material discharge portions 89a, 89b, 94a, 94b, 99a, 99b of each system. Also in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 98 of this embodiment, on-off valves 97a, 97b, and 97c are provided in the film vapor transport paths 84a, 84b, and 84c, respectively, and the on-off valves 97a, 97b, and 97c are switched, thereby The thin film material introduced into can be changed. Further, co-evaporation can be performed by simultaneously opening two or more of the on-off valves 97a, 97b, and 97c.

The fifteenth embodiment (FIG. 20) can be further developed to provide a plurality of systems of thin film material discharge portions and to provide a plurality of evaporation devices or film vapor transport paths for one thin film material discharge portion.
In the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 125 shown in FIG. 21 (sixteenth embodiment), a plurality of film vapor discharge portions 89a, 89b, 94a, 94b, 99a, 99b are provided in the vacuum chamber 2, and independent film vapor transport is performed for each system. Paths 84A, 84B, 84C are provided. There are a plurality of film vapor discharge portions 89a, 89b, 94a, 94b, 99a, 99b, respectively, and a plurality of film vapor discharge portions of the same system facing the film formation surfaces of the glass substrates 7a, 7b are provided on the glass substrates 7a, 7b. It is uniformly distributed with respect to the film formation surface.
In the present embodiment, nine evaporators are provided, and the evaporators 93a, 93b, 93c constitute one system and are connected to the film vapor transport path 84A. Further, the evaporators 93d, 93e, 93f constitute one system and are connected to the film vapor transport path 84B. Further, the evaporators 93g, 93h, 93i constitute one system and are connected to the film vapor transport path 84C. The evaporators 93a to 93i are provided with on / off valves 97a to 97i, respectively, and the thin film material introduced into the vacuum chamber 2 can be changed by switching the on / off valves 97a to 97i.
The evaporator 125 is suitable for performing co-evaporation. For example, the evaporation devices 93a to 93c are charged with the thin film materials A to C, the evaporation devices 93d to 93f are loaded with the thin film materials D to F, and the evaporation devices 93g to 93i are loaded with the thin film materials G to I, respectively. Then, the thin film materials A to C can be co-deposited from the evaporators 93a to 93c through the film vapor transport path 84A. Similarly, the thin film materials D to F can be co-deposited from the evaporators 93d to 93f through the film vapor transport path 84B. Similarly, the thin film materials G to I can be co-deposited from the evaporators 93g to 93i through the film vapor transport path 84C.
The configuration of this embodiment is suitable for the area source method.

The vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 126 of FIG. 22 (17th Embodiment) changes the branch pattern of the film | membrane vapor | steam transport paths 84A and 84C.
The vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 127 of FIG. 23 (18th Embodiment) changes the branch pattern of the film | membrane vapor | steam transport paths 84A, 84B, 84C.

  According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 21 to 23, co-evaporation can be performed in order for each system, and the number of chambers required for film formation can be reduced. 21 to FIG. 23 are provided with a plurality of a set of units including the evaporators 93a to 93i, the membrane vapor transport paths 84A to 84C, and the membrane vapor discharge portions 89a, 89b, 94a, 94b, 99a, 99b, The vapor discharge parts 89a, 89b, 94a, 94b, 99a, 99b may be installed in the same vacuum chamber 2.

Other embodiments will be further described.
In the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 128 shown in FIG. 24 (19th embodiment), two evaporation apparatuses 93 a and 93 b are installed outside the vacuum chamber 2. Similarly to FIG. 17 (the twelfth embodiment), two thin film material discharge portions 90 and 91 are installed in the vacuum chamber 2. In the present embodiment, a pipe is branched from the evaporation device 93a so that the evaporated thin film material can be supplied to both of the thin film material discharge portions 90 and 91. The evaporator 93a and the thin film material discharge part 90 are connected via the on-off valve 97a. The evaporator 93a and the thin film material discharge part 91 are connected via an on-off valve 97a ′. The same applies to the evaporator 94b, and the evaporated thin film material can be supplied to both the thin film material discharge portions 90 and 91. Similarly, the evaporator 93b and the thin film material discharge unit 90 are connected via an on-off valve 97b. The evaporator 93b and the thin film material discharge part 91 are connected via an on-off valve 97b ′.
This embodiment is suitable for performing co-evaporation.

  The vacuum deposition apparatus 130 shown in FIGS. 25 (a) and 25 (b) (20th embodiment) is based on the linear source system shown in FIG. 14 (9th embodiment). It is a combination. That is, the vacuum deposition apparatus 130 discharges the raw material from the vertically arranged opening row 77, and the opening row 77 functions as a thin film material discharge portion. The vacuum deposition apparatus 130 has three evaporation apparatuses 93a, 93b, and 93c, and the evaporated thin film material is supplied to the vapor passage space 15 through the on-off valves 97a, 97b, and 97c, respectively. The evaporators 93a, 93b, and 93c may be installed in the vacuum chamber or may be installed outside the vacuum chamber. In addition, illustration of a vacuum chamber is abbreviate | omitted in FIG.25 (b).

On the other hand, in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 131 shown in FIGS. 26 (a) and 26 (b) (21st embodiment), the thin film material discharge portions 133a, 133b, and 133c are provided for the respective evaporation apparatuses 93a, 93b, and 93c. . That is, in the present embodiment, the inside of the vapor chamber 6 is partitioned into three small rooms 135a, 135b, and 135c corresponding to the three thin film material discharge portions 133a, 133b, and 133c. Each small room 135a, 135b, 135c becomes an independent steam passage.
According to the present embodiment, different thin film materials can be simultaneously discharged from the thin film material discharge portions 133a, 133b, and 133c to perform co-evaporation. Also, different types of thin film materials can be sequentially discharged from the thin film material discharge portions 133a, 133b, and 133c to stack a plurality of types of thin films.
The evaporators 93a, 93b, and 93c may be installed in the vacuum chamber or may be installed outside the vacuum chamber. FIG. 26B shows the configuration of the evaporator 93a as a representative example, but the evaporators 93b and 93c have exactly the same configuration. In FIG. 26B, the vacuum chamber is not shown.

  In the example of the linear source system shown in FIGS. 14, 25, and 26, the steam chamber 6 is vertically long and the opening rows 77 are arranged in the vertical direction, but the steam chamber 6 is horizontally long and the opening rows 77 are horizontally arranged. You may arrange in a direction. In this case, the glass substrates 7 a and 7 b are moved relative to the opening row 77 in the vertical direction.

In the above-described embodiment, the vapor chamber 6 is basically placed on the floor, but the present invention is not limited to this. Like the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 140 shown in FIG. 27 (Twenty-second Embodiment), the vapor chamber 6 may be suspended from the ceiling. In the vacuum deposition apparatus 140, the evaporation apparatus 5 is installed outside the vacuum chamber 2, and the evaporated thin film material is supplied from the ceiling side of the vacuum chamber 2 to the thin film material discharge portions 25 and 26.
Also in this embodiment, a plurality of evaporators can be provided for one steam chamber 6.
Further, as shown in FIG. 28 (23rd embodiment), a plurality of units each including a plurality of evaporators 93a, 93b, 93c and thin film material discharge portions 25, 26 (steam chamber 6) are provided in the vacuum chamber 2. Can be installed.

Next, the structure of an organic EL device that is desirably manufactured by the above-described vacuum evaporation apparatus 1 and the like, and the manufacturing method thereof will be described.
The organic EL device 100 exemplified below is an integrated organic EL device. The integrated organic EL device 100 is obtained by electrically connecting organic EL elements formed in a strip shape (hereinafter referred to as “unit EL elements”) in series.
The layer configuration of the integrated organic EL device 100 is as shown in FIG. 29, which is the same as the organic EL device 200 (FIG. 31) having the basic configuration described above. The EL element is divided into strip-shaped unit EL elements.
That is, in the integrated organic EL device 100, the transparent electrode layer 102, the functional layer 103, and the back electrode layer 104 are sequentially laminated on the glass substrate 101, and grooves 110, 111, 112, and 113 are formed in each layer. Has been.
More specifically, the first groove 110 is formed in the transparent electrode layer 102, and the transparent electrode layer 102 is divided into a plurality of parts. The functional layer 103 is formed with a second groove 111, and the functional layer 103 is divided into a plurality of parts. Further, a part of the back electrode layer 104 enters the second groove 111, and the transparent electrode layer 102 is formed at the bottom of the groove. Is in contact with.
Further, the third groove 112 of the functional layer 103 and the fourth groove 113 provided in the back electrode layer 104 communicate with each other to form a deep common groove 115 as a whole.

The integrated organic EL device 100 includes a first groove 110 provided in the transparent electrode layer 102 and a functional layer 103 (specifically, a hole injection layer 210, a hole transport layer 211, a light emitting layer 212, and an electron transport layer). 213) and the common groove 115 provided in the back electrode layer 104 divides each thin layer to form independent unit EL elements 120a, 120b,. As described above, a part of the back electrode layer 104 enters the second groove 111, a part of the back electrode layer 104 is in contact with the transparent electrode layer 102, and one unit EL element 120a is adjacent. The unit EL element 120b is electrically connected in series.
That is, an externally supplied current flows from the transparent electrode layer 102 side through the functional layer 103 toward the back electrode layer 104 side, but a part of the back electrode layer 104 passes through the second groove 111 and passes through the transparent electrode layer 102. Flows to the transparent electrode layer 102 of the adjacent unit EL element 120b through the first unit EL element 120a. As described above, in the integrated organic EL device 100, all the unit elements are electrically connected in series, and all the unit elements emit light.

When the integrated organic EL device 100 is manufactured, the transparent electrode layer 102 is formed on the light-transmitting substrate 101 such as glass as the first step as shown in FIG.
For the transparent electrode layer 102, indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO), or the like is used. The transparent electrode layer 102 is formed on the substrate 101 by sputtering or CVD.

  Subsequently, a first laser scribe process is performed, and the first groove 110 is formed by laser scribe on the transparent electrode layer 102 as shown in FIG.

Next, the substrate 101 is put into a vacuum evaporation apparatus, and a hole injection layer 210, a hole transport layer 211, a light emitting layer 212, and an electron transport layer 213 are sequentially deposited, and as shown in FIG. Layer 103 is formed.
Note that the vacuum deposition apparatus 1 of this embodiment can also be used when forming the functional layer 103. In particular, if a configuration including a plurality of evaporation devices 93a, 93b, 93c, and 93d, such as the vacuum evaporation device 95 shown in FIG. 18 and the vacuum evaporation device 98 shown in FIG. The layer 210, the hole transport layer 211, the light-emitting layer 212, and the electron transport layer 213 can be formed using a single vacuum deposition apparatus.

  Then, a second laser scribing process is performed on the substrate 101 taken out from the vacuum deposition apparatus, and a second groove 111 is formed in the functional layer 103 as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, the substrate 101 is inserted into a vacuum deposition apparatus, and a back electrode layer 104 made of a metal material such as aluminum (Al) or silver (Ag) is formed on the functional layer 103 as shown in FIG. To do.
The vacuum evaporation apparatus 1 of this invention can be used also about the process of forming the back surface electrode layer 104.

  Subsequently, a third laser scribing process is performed to form a common groove 115 in both the back electrode layer 104 and the functional layer 103 as shown in FIG.

  Further, the operation of forming the power supply electrode (not shown), forming the separation groove (not shown) on the outside, removing the back electrode layer 104 etc. on the outer portion of the separation groove, and sealing with the sealing portion are performed. An EL device (photoelectric conversion device) is completed.

1 Vacuum deposition equipment (vapor deposition equipment)
2 Vacuum chamber 3 Substrate installation table 5 Evaporator 6 Vapor chamber 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d Glass substrate (base material)
9 Vacuum pump 10 Crucible 11 Vaporizing electric heater 12 Crucible installation part 13 Steam passage part 15 Steam passage space (membrane vapor transport path)
25, 26 Thin film material discharge part 27 Hole 31a, 31b Substrate holding wall 32 Film formation surface 40 Vapor chamber 41 Thin film material discharge part 43 Vapor chamber 45, 46, 47 Thin film material discharge part 48 Vapor chamber 50 Vacuum deposition apparatus (deposition apparatus) )
51 crucible installation part 52 vapor passage part 53 thin film material discharge part 55 thin film material discharge part 56 main pipe lines 57, 58 branch pipe lines 60a, 60b flow rate adjusting valve (throttle device)
61 Film vapor transport path 70 Vacuum deposition equipment (deposition equipment)
71 crucible installation part 72,73 pipe 75,76 opening (thin film material discharge | release part)
77 Opening row (thin film material discharge part)
78 Vacuum deposition equipment (vapor deposition equipment)
79 Vacuum deposition equipment (deposition equipment)
80 Vapor chamber 81a, 81b Vapor passage part 82, 83 Thin film material discharge | emission part 84a, 84b, 84c Film vapor | steam transport path 84A, 84B, 84C Film vapor transport path 85 Vacuum deposition apparatus (deposition apparatus)
86 Evaporators 87a, 87b Pipes 88 Pipes 89a, 89b Thin film material discharge parts 94a, 94b Thin film material discharge parts 99a, 99b Thin film material discharge parts 90, 91 Thin film material discharge parts 93a, 93b, 93c, 93d, 93e, 93f , 93g, 93h, 93i Evaporator 95 Vacuum evaporation device (evaporation device)
96 Manifold 97a, 97b, 97c, 97d, 97e, 97f, 97g, 97h, 97i On-off valve 97a ', 97b' on-off valve 98 Vacuum deposition apparatus (deposition apparatus)
99a, 99b Thin film material emitting unit 100 Organic EL device 125 Vacuum vapor deposition device (vapor deposition device)
126 Vacuum deposition equipment (vapor deposition equipment)
127 Vacuum deposition equipment (vapor deposition equipment)
128 Vacuum deposition equipment (deposition equipment)
130 Vacuum deposition equipment (vapor deposition equipment)
131 Vacuum deposition equipment (vapor deposition equipment)
140 Vacuum deposition equipment (deposition equipment)

Claims (8)

  A vacuum chamber in which the base material can be installed; and an evaporation device for evaporating the thin film material. The base material is installed in the vacuum chamber, and the thin film material evaporated by the evaporation device is evaporated to form a predetermined component in the base material. In a vapor deposition apparatus for depositing a film, a plurality of base materials can be installed in a vacuum chamber, and have a plurality of thin film material discharge portions, wherein the plurality of thin film material discharge portions are at positions facing different base materials, The evaporated thin film materials are respectively supplied from the evaporation apparatus to the plurality of thin film material discharge portions, and the thin film materials are simultaneously discharged from the plurality of thin film material discharge portions, so that it is possible to simultaneously form films on the respective substrates at opposite positions. The vapor deposition apparatus characterized by being.   It has a membrane vapor transport path that connects the evaporator and the thin film material discharge section, and a part or all of the film vapor transport path is branched to supply the thin film material from one evaporator to a plurality of thin film material discharge sections. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a throttling device that adjusts a flow rate of the thin film material discharged from the thin film material discharge unit.   In the vacuum chamber, the film formation surfaces of the two substrates are erected in a facing direction, and a thin film material discharge portion is installed between the two substrates. The vapor deposition apparatus in any one of.   The film forming surfaces of two substrates are erected back to back in the vacuum chamber, and thin film material discharge portions are respectively installed outside the two substrates. The vapor deposition apparatus in any one.   6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of evaporation devices, wherein the evaporation devices evaporate different thin film materials, and the evaporation device that supplies the thin film material to the thin film material discharge portion can be switched. The vapor deposition apparatus in any one.   It has a plurality of evaporation devices, and the evaporation devices evaporate different thin film materials. A plurality of thin film material discharge portions are provided at positions facing one substrate, and the plurality of thin film material discharge portions are different. The vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vapor deposition apparatus communicates with an evaporation apparatus.   8. The apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of a set of units each including an evaporation device and a plurality of thin film material discharge portions to which the thin film material evaporated from the evaporation device is supplied. Vapor deposition equipment.

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