JP2014031555A - Vacuum vapor deposition device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum vapor deposition device having a function for restraining temperature rise due to pressure rise of an evaporation section when an opening/closing valve is closed.SOLUTION: A vacuum vapor deposition device has: a film deposition chamber 2; a film deposition material emission section 12 for emitting film deposition steam 18a-18c to a substrate 6; and evaporation sections 10a-10c for evaporating film deposition materials 16a-16c. The evaporation sections 10a-10c have: evaporation spaces 29; and heating means 32. Opening/closing valves 40a-40c for film deposition are provided between the evaporation spaces 29 and the film deposition material emission section 12, and are opened to introduce the film deposition steam 18a-18c generated in the evaporation spaces 29 to the film deposition material emission section 12. The film deposition steam 18a-18c is emitted from the film deposition material emission section 12 to deposit a film on the substrate 6. A pressure relief flow passages 35 are provided to prevent pressure increase in the evaporation spaces 29. The pressure relief flow passages 35 are connected to phase conversion sections 20a-20c for liquefying or solidifying the vapor deposition steam 18a-18c.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum deposition apparatus. The present invention particularly relates to a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus that can be suitably used when manufacturing an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) apparatus.

  In recent years, organic EL devices have attracted attention as a lighting device that can replace incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps, and many studies have been made.

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 device 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. Further, since the thickness is extremely thin compared to incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps, and the light is emitted in a planar shape, there are few restrictions on the installation location.

The layer structure of a typical organic EL device is as shown in FIG. In the organic EL device 200 shown in FIG. 15, a transparent electrode layer 203, a functional layer 205, and a back electrode layer 206 are laminated on a glass substrate 202, and these are sealed by a sealing portion 207. . The organic EL device 200 has a so-called bottom emission type configuration in which light is extracted from the glass substrate 202 side.
The functional layer 205 is formed by stacking a plurality of thin films of organic compounds or conductive oxides. The layer structure of a typical functional layer 205 is as shown in FIG. 15, and the hole injection layer 208, the hole transport layer 210, the light emitting layer 211, the electron transport layer 212, and the electron injection layer 215 are sequentially arranged from the glass substrate 202 side. have.

The organic EL device 200 is manufactured by sequentially forming the above layers on the glass substrate 202.
Generally, among the above-described layers, the transparent electrode layer 203 is a layer formed of a transparent conductive film such as indium tin oxide (ITO), and is mainly formed by sputtering or chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A film is formed. As described above, the functional layer 205 is formed by laminating a plurality of thin films of organic compounds and conductive oxides, and each thin film is formed by a vacuum deposition method. The back electrode layer 206 is a metal thin film such as aluminum and is formed by a vacuum deposition method.

As described above, a general organic EL device is manufactured using a lot of vacuum deposition methods.
The vacuum deposition method is a technique for forming a film using a vacuum deposition apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.
The vacuum vapor deposition apparatus includes a film formation chamber for forming a film on a film formation target, an evaporation unit for evaporating a film forming material, and a vapor deposition pipe connecting the film formation chamber and the evaporation unit.
The film formation chamber includes a stage that fixes a glass substrate that is a film formation target, and a film formation material discharge unit that discharges vapor toward the glass substrate fixed to the stage. The evaporating section is constituted by a heating device and a crucible for containing a film forming material. The vapor deposition pipe is a pipe communicating with both the film forming material discharge section and the evaporation section.

JP 2012-97338 A

As described above, the organic EL device needs to form a plurality of layers with a vacuum vapor deposition device, and there is a demand for forming as many layers as possible in one deposition chamber.
As a vacuum vapor deposition device that satisfies this demand, a vacuum vapor deposition device in which a plurality of evaporation units are connected to a thin film material discharge unit (film formation material discharge unit), and an evaporation valve is provided with an opening / closing valve corresponding to each evaporation unit. It is done. In other words, it is conceivable to change the vapor thin film material (film formation material) by switching the on-off valve and form a plurality of films in one film formation chamber.

However, when switching from one film-forming material to another film-forming material, if the on-off valve is closed, the vapor pressure in the evaporation unit temporarily increases, and the temperature in the evaporation unit may increase excessively.
Also, when the on-off valve is closed when the film formation on the substrate is completed, the vapor pressure in the evaporation unit temporarily increases, and the temperature in the evaporation unit may excessively increase.
Since the thin film constituting the organic EL device is mostly an organic material, its endurance range against heat is narrow, and if the temperature in the evaporation section rises excessively in this way, the organic material will deteriorate and deteriorate. There was a problem.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the vacuum evaporation system provided with the function which suppresses the temperature rise resulting from the pressure rise of the evaporation part at the time of closing an on-off valve.

  The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-mentioned problems is a film forming chamber that can be decompressed and in which a base material can be installed, and a film forming material discharge that discharges vapor of the film forming material to the base material And an evaporation section for evaporating the film forming material, and the evaporation section includes an evaporation space in which the film forming material is disposed, and a heating means for heating the film forming material. There is a main on-off valve between the material discharge section, the main on-off valve is opened, the vapor generated in the evaporation space is introduced into the film formation material discharge section, and the vapor of the film formation material is discharged from the film formation material discharge section. In a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus that discharges and forms a film on a substrate, a pressure relief path that prevents a pressure increase in the evaporation space is provided, and the pressure relief path is connected to a phase conversion unit that liquefies or solidifies vapor. Is a vacuum deposition apparatus characterized by

According to the structure of this invention, the pressure relief path is connected to the phase change part which liquefies or solidifies a vapor | steam. In other words, the vapor pressure in the evaporation portion is temporarily increased by utilizing the change in the vapor state of the film forming material, thereby preventing the film forming material from becoming excessively high in temperature.
More specifically, the vapor of the film forming material becomes a liquid or a solid at the phase conversion unit located downstream of the pressure relief path. Since the vapor pressure drops due to the state change, even if the vapor pressure in the evaporation portion temporarily rises, the temperature rise enough to change the film forming material does not occur.
Further, the pressure in the evaporation section is stabilized by the pressure relief path, so that it is stabilized.

  The invention according to claim 2 is that the pressure relief path starts from a part where only the gas in the evaporation section exists, and the end of the pressure relief path is connected to a part where a solid phase or a liquid phase exists. The vacuum evaporation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a vacuum evaporation apparatus.

  According to the present invention, only gas is present in the pressure relief path. That is, since there is no solid or liquid film forming material in the pressure relief path, the film deposition material does not clog the pressure relief path.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, an auxiliary on-off valve is provided in the pressure relief path, and the auxiliary on-off valve is opened at a time before and after the main on-off valve is closed, and then closed. It is a vacuum evaporation system of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, the auxiliary on-off valve is opened at the time before and after the main on-off valve is closed, and then closed. That is, since the auxiliary on-off valve is opened only when the pressure in the evaporation section rises, the pressure in the evaporation section can be released.

  The invention according to claim 4 has a main discharge port that communicates with the film forming material discharge portion and discharges vapor from the evaporation space, and a flow passage area of the pressure relief path is smaller than an opening area of the main discharge port, The vacuum vapor deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pressure relief path is connected to a portion having a lower pressure than the evaporation space.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, since the pressure relief passage is a passage having a narrow passage area, the film forming material passing through the pressure relief passage is small. That is, a large amount of the film forming material does not leak from the pressure relief path.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pressure relief path is connected to the film forming chamber.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, since the film forming chamber has a lower pressure than the evaporation unit, the pressure in the evaporation unit can be reduced.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the pressure relief path is connected to a portion having a temperature lower than the evaporation space.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, since the pressure relief path is connected to a portion having a temperature lower than that of the evaporation space, the vapor can be solidified in the phase conversion unit. Therefore, the film does not adhere to an unnecessary place such as in the middle of the pressure relief path. Therefore, the pressure relief path is not easily clogged.

  According to the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to suppress an increase in temperature due to an increase in pressure in the evaporation section when the on-off valve is closed.

It is an operation principle figure of the vacuum evaporation system concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the film-forming material discharge | release part of the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a perspective view of the connection site | part of the film-forming piping and bypass piping of the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a conceptual diagram of the main-body part of the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the main-body part of FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of the main-body part of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a time chart in the film-forming procedure using the vacuum evaporation system of FIG. It is a schematic diagram of the layer structure of a general organic EL device. It is a conceptual diagram of the evaporation part in other embodiment.

  Below, the vacuum evaporation system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated in detail, referring drawings.

  The vacuum evaporation apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment of this invention is equipped with the film-forming chamber 2 and the some evaporation parts 10a, 10b, 10c like FIG. 1, These are connected by the connection part 3. FIG. .

The film forming chamber 2 has airtightness, and is provided with a decompression unit 7 and a shutter 14. The decompression means 7 is a member that maintains the space in the film forming chamber 2 in a vacuum state, and is a known decompression pump.
The “vacuum state” referred to here refers to a state having a degree of vacuum of 10 ⁻³ Pa or less. The lower the degree of vacuum, the better. The specific degree of vacuum of this embodiment is in the range of 1 × 10 ⁻³ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁹ Pa, and preferably in the range of 1 × 10 ⁻⁵ to 1 × 10 ⁻⁹ Pa.

The film forming chamber 2 is provided with a substrate transfer device 5 for transferring the substrate 6, and a carry-in port and a carry-out port (not shown) are provided on the wall surface of the film forming chamber 2.
The substrate transport device 5 is a device that transports the substrate 6 (base material), and has a function of moving the substrate 6 in and out of the film forming chamber 2 and fixing the substrate 6 at the film forming position. That is, the substrate transfer device 5 transfers the substrate 6 to a predetermined film formation position, loads the substrate 6 into the film formation chamber 2 from the outside of the film formation chamber 2 via the carry-in port, It is possible to carry in the substrate 6 to the outside of the film forming chamber 2 from the inside of 2 through the carry-out port.

  The shutter 14 is a movable shutter, and can take a closed posture that hides the spray hole 17 of the film forming material discharge unit 12 and an open posture that opens the spray hole 17 of the film forming material discharge unit 12. .

The evaporation units 10a to 10c are portions for evaporating the film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c as shown in FIG. 1 and include an evaporation chamber 30, a crucible 31, and heating means 32 and 33.
The evaporation chamber 30 communicates with the film forming chamber 2 via a film forming pipe 8 described later, and is a separate casing from the film forming chamber 2.
The evaporation chamber 30 includes an evaporation space 29 that converts the solid or liquid film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c into gaseous film forming vapors 18a, 18b, and 18c.
In the following description, in order to distinguish the properties of the film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c, the film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c that have become vapor are expressed as film forming vapors 18a, 18b, and 18c.

The crucible 31 is a container that accommodates desired film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c.
The heating means 32 is a member that heats the crucible 31, and the heating means 33 is a member that heats the entire evaporation chamber 30. Both the heating means 32 and 33 use known heaters.

The film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c are, for example, desired film forming materials for forming the organic EL device described above.
As the properties of the film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c, powder, pellet-like solid, semi-kneaded fluid, liquid, or the like can be used. That is, the film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c are liquid, powdery, and granular substances. In the present embodiment, powder film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c are used.

Next, the connection unit 3 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the connecting portion 3 includes a film-forming pipe 8, bypass pipes 11 a to 11 c that characterize the present invention, and a heating unit 15.
The film-forming pipe 8 is a pipe that connects each of the evaporation sections 10a to 10c and the film-forming material discharge section 12, and the film-forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c (film-forming vapors 18a, 18b, 18c) is a pipe through which it passes.
Specifically, the film-forming pipe 8 is formed of a main pipe 25 and a plurality of branch pipes 26 a to 26 c connected to the main pipe 25, and the main pipe 25 and the film-forming material discharge unit 12 are connected to each other. Corresponding evaporation units 10a to 10c are connected to the branch pipes 26a to 26c, respectively.
Further, a part of the film forming pipe 8 enters the film forming chamber 2. That is, the end of the main pipe line 25 is connected to the film forming material discharge part 12 inside the film forming chamber 2, and the respective ends of the branch pipe lines 26 a to 26 c are outside the film forming chamber 2. Corresponding evaporators 10a to 10c are connected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the film forming material discharge portion 12 has a rectangular spray surface and has a plurality of spray holes 17. The spray holes 17 are evenly distributed on the spray surface, and the distances between the adjacent spray holes 17 and 17 (the distance between the centers of the spray holes 17) are equal to each other.
The film forming material discharge unit 12 can discharge the film forming vapors 18 a, 18 b and 18 c supplied from the main pipe line 25 of the film forming pipe 8 from the spray hole 17.

The heating means 15 is a member capable of heating the film forming pipe 8 and is a known heater.
That is, the heating means 15 is attached to all of the main pipeline 25 and the branch pipelines 26a, 26b, and 26c.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the branch pipes 26 a to 26 c are respectively provided between the main pipe 25 and the evaporators 10 a to 10 c, and in order from the evaporators 10 a to 10 c, the bypass pipes 11 a to 11 c and the film forming on-off valves 40 a to 40 c. Is connected. In other words, the bypass pipes 11a to 11c are connected to the middle flow of the branch pipes 26a to 26c in the flow direction of the film forming vapors 18a, 18b, and 18c at the time of film formation, and the film forming on-off valve is further downstream. 40a-40c is connected.

  The film opening / closing valve 40 functions as a throttle device. Specifically, the film-opening / closing valve 40 is a heat-resistant fixed or movable throttle opening / closing valve, and can be automatically opened / closed in this embodiment. Moreover, what can adjust an opening degree may be used.

The bypass pipes 11a to 11c, which characterize the present invention, are pipes that connect the film formation chamber 2 and the evaporation parts 10a to 10c via the phase conversion units 20a to 20c, and the film formation pipes 8 (branch pipes 26a to 26a to 26c) is a flow path for relieving the pressure in the evaporation units 10a to 10c when the film forming on / off valves 40a to 40c are opened and closed.
As shown in FIG. 1, the bypass pipes 11 a to 11 c are a pressure relief flow path 35 that connects the film forming pipe 8 and the phase converters 20 a to 20 c, and a suction pipe that connects the phase converters 20 a to 20 c and the film forming chamber 2. It is formed from the flow path 36.
The bypass pipes 11a to 11c are connected in the middle of the film forming pipe 8, and the flow path inner diameter R1 of the bypass pipe 11a (11b, 11c) shown in FIG. Is smaller than The flow path inner diameter R1 of the bypass pipe 11a (11b, 11c) is preferably 1/10 to 1/2 of the flow path inner diameter R2 of the film forming pipe 8, and is preferably 1/10 to 1/5. Particularly preferred. Further, the flow passage area of the bypass pipe 11a (11b, 11c) is smaller than the sum of the opening areas of the spray holes 17 (see FIG. 2) of the film forming material discharge section 12.

  As described above, the phase conversion units 20a to 20c are provided between the film formation chamber 2 and the evaporation units 10a to 10c.

In the middle of the pressure relief passage 35, bypass on-off valves 41a to 41c are provided.
The bypass on-off valves 41a to 41c are valves that restrict the flow of gas from the film forming pipe 8 to the phase conversion units 20a to 20c, and known electromagnetic valves or the like can be used.

The phase conversion units 20a to 20c are portions that liquefy or solidify the vapors (film deposition vapors 18a, 18b, and 18c) of the film deposition materials 16a, 16b, and 16c. That is, it has a function of changing properties by phase conversion.
Specifically, the phase conversion units 20a to 20c are each a main body unit 21 through which gaseous film-forming vapors 18a, 18b, and 18c pass and undergo phase conversion into a solid or liquid state as shown in FIGS. And an open pipe 37 that communicates with the main body 21 and can suck air from the outside, and a suction pipe 38 that communicates with the main body 21 and can suck gas from the main body 21.

The shape of the main body portion 21 will be specifically described. The main body portion 21 is formed of a housing portion 45 and a lid portion 46 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the housing portion 45 and the lid portion 46 are integrated. As a result, the conversion space 47 sealed from the outside air is formed. The conversion space 47 is a space for converting the properties of the film-forming vapors 18a, 18b, and 18c passing through the space.
The casing 45 and the lid 46 are integrated by a known temporary fastening element 49 such as a bolt as shown in FIG. 4 during normal use. The housing part 45 can be attached to and detached from the lid part 46 by removing the temporary fastening element 49.
The casing 45 is a cylindrical casing, and is formed of a bottom surface 50, a peripheral wall 51, and a flange 52 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and around the bottom 50 and the peripheral wall 51. The cooling means 53 (refer FIG. 1) is attached to.

As shown in FIG. 6, the peripheral wall portion 51 is erected upward from the edge of the bottom surface portion 50, and the flange portion 52 is outside from the front end in the protruding direction of the peripheral wall portion 51 (direction away from the conversion space 47). ) Protrudes toward.
The cooling means 53 is a member that cools the conversion space 47 as shown in FIG. 1, and a heat exchanger having a known refrigeration cycle can be employed. Also, a known cooling jacket or a simple fin may be used.

  The lid 46 is a disk-like member, and is connected to a pressure relief channel 35, a suction channel 36, an open pipe 37, and a suction pipe 38 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Further, when attached to the housing part 45 as shown in FIG. 6, the surface contact with the flange part 52 of the housing part 45 is possible.

The open pipe 37 is a pipe that opens the conversion space 47 in the main body 21 to the atmosphere during maintenance such as cleaning of the phase conversion sections 20a to 20c. In the middle of the open pipe 37 as shown in FIG. An open valve 43 is provided. The air release valve 43 is a known on-off valve, and an electromagnetic valve or the like can be adopted.
The suction pipe 38 is a pipe that evacuates the main body 21 after maintenance or the like, and is a pipe that connects the main body 21 and the decompression means 55 as shown in FIG. The suction pipe 38 is provided with a pressure reducing on / off valve 44 between the main body 21 and the pressure reducing means 55.
The decompression means 55 is a member that puts the inside of the main body 21 into a vacuum state, and is a known decompression pump. The decompression on-off valve 44 is a known on-off valve, and an electromagnetic valve or the like can be employed.

  The positional relationship of each member in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 of this embodiment is demonstrated.

When attention is paid to the film forming chamber 2, a decompression means 7 is arranged near the corner of the film forming chamber 2 as shown in FIG. The suction flow path 36 of the bypass pipe 11 is connected in the vicinity of the decompression means 7.
The main pipeline 25 is inserted into and out of the film forming chamber 2, and a part thereof is erected with respect to the inner wall surface of the film forming chamber 2. Specifically, a part of the main pipeline 25 protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 6 during film formation.
A film forming material discharge portion 12 is disposed at an end portion of the main pipeline 25 in the protruding direction. The film forming material discharge portion 12 is arranged so as to be parallel to the substrate 6 during film formation. Specifically, the spray surface (surface on which the spray holes 17 are provided) of the film forming material discharge unit 12 is parallel to the surface of the substrate 6 during film formation.
The substrate transfer device 5 is arranged at a position away from the spray surface of the film forming material discharge unit 12 by a predetermined distance in the spray direction.
The shutter 14 is provided between the substrate transport device 5 and the spray surface of the film forming material discharge unit 12.

  As described above, the heating means 15 is attached around the film-forming pipe 8. Specifically, the heating means 15 is attached to both the main pipeline 25 and the branch pipeline 26. The main conduit 25 and the branch conduit 26 are heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the vaporization temperature of the film forming material 16 during film formation. Therefore, even if the gaseous film-forming vapors 18 a to 18 c pass through the film-forming pipe 8, the state does not change, and it is possible to flow to the film-forming material discharge part 12 in the gaseous state. Therefore, it can be suppressed that the film forming vapors 18a to 18c are solidified on the inner surface of the film forming pipe 8 and the film forming material 16 is fixed.

  Focusing on the evaporation units 10a to 10c, as shown in FIG. 1, the branch pipes 26a to 26c of the film forming pipe 8 are connected to the upper part of the evaporation chamber 30, and a crucible 31 is arranged below the connection part. Has been. The crucible 31 is filled with film forming materials 16a to 16c, respectively. A heating means 32 is provided around the crucible 31. That is, the film forming materials 16a to 16c can be heated by the heating means 32 to be vaporized or sublimated. A heating means 33 is also provided around the evaporation chamber 30 and is maintained at a temperature slightly higher than the vaporization temperature of the film forming materials 16a to 16c during film formation.

Hereinafter, the manufacturing procedure of the organic EL device using the vacuum deposition apparatus 1 of the present invention will be described. Prior to the description of the manufacturing procedure, the state of each part of the vacuum deposition apparatus 1 at the start of film formation will be described.
The film forming chamber 2 is always depressurized by the depressurizing means 7 and is in an ultra-high vacuum state. Here, the “ultra-high vacuum state” represents a state where the degree of vacuum is 10 ⁻⁵ Pa or less.
The film forming on / off valves 40a to 40c, the bypass on / off valves 41a to 41c, the atmosphere opening valve 43, and the pressure reducing opening / closing valve 44 are all closed as shown in FIG. Both 42c are in an open state. The crucibles 31 of the respective evaporation units 10a to 10c are filled with desired film forming materials 16a to 16c.
Since the film forming chamber side opening / closing valves 42 a to 42 c are in an open state, the inside of the main body 21 is in an ultra-high vacuum state substantially equivalent to that of the film forming chamber 2. That is, the internal pressure of the phase conversion units 20a to 20c is lower than the internal pressure of the evaporation units 10a to 10c.

The conversion space 47 of the phase conversion units 20a to 20c is cooled by the cooling unit 53, and is considerably lower than the vaporization temperature in the evaporation units 10a to 10c of the film forming materials 16a to 16c.
Specifically, although it depends on the internal pressure in the evaporation units 10a to 10c, the film forming materials 16a to 16c are set to a temperature of about (evaporation temperature-50 degrees Celsius) in the evaporation units 10a to 10c. .
To give specific numerical values, the temperature in the conversion space 47 under a vacuum atmosphere is about 25 degrees Celsius (normal temperature) below the vaporization temperature.

Hereinafter, the film forming procedure will be described. The substrate 6 is carried into the film forming chamber 2 by the substrate transfer device 5 and fixed so that the substrate 6 faces the ejection surface of the film forming material discharge unit 12.
In this embodiment, a transparent conductive film or the like is formed in advance on the substrate by a known method such as sputtering in a separate process, and the substrate 6 in this state is carried into the vacuum evaporation apparatus 1.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, the film formation surface of the substrate 6 is covered by the shutter 14, and the film formation on-off valve 40a of the evaporation section 10a is opened (preliminary operation).
At this time, the film forming materials 16a, 16b, and 16c (film forming vapors 18a, 18b, and 18c) vaporized or sublimated from the crucible 31 pass through the film forming pipe 8 and reach the film forming material discharge section 12, and the shutter 14 Sprayed on.
At this time, both the film forming on-off valves 40b and 40c of the evaporation units 10b and 10c are kept closed.

Thereafter, when a predetermined time A elapses from the preliminary operation shown in FIG. 14, the shutter 14 is set in the open posture, and the gaseous film forming vapor 18a is sprayed from the film forming material discharge unit 12 to the substrate 6 as shown in FIG. (Deposition started).
The predetermined time A is preferably 1 to 10 seconds.

When the film forming material 16a is formed on the substrate 6 to a desired film thickness (deposition complete), the shutter 14 is closed with respect to the formed substrate 6, and the pressure stabilization operation which is a feature of the present invention is performed. Go and switch the evaporation units 10a to 10c to be used.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, the bypass on-off valve 41a is opened while the film forming on-off valve 40a is in the open state, and when a predetermined time B has elapsed from the end of film formation shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, the on-off valve 40a for film formation is closed.
At this time, as described above, the internal pressure of the phase conversion unit 20a is the same as the internal pressure of the film forming chamber 2, and the internal pressure of the phase conversion unit 20a is lower than the internal pressure of the evaporation chamber 30. A part of the vapor deposition vapor 18a in the gas state 30 flows from the evaporation space 29 to the phase converter 20a via the pressure relief passage 35, and the internal pressure of the evaporation chamber 30 decreases. Therefore, the pressure difference between the film formation chamber 2 and the evaporation chamber 30 is reduced. Therefore, even if the film formation on-off valve 40a is closed, the vapor pressure of the evaporation space 29 in the evaporation chamber 30 does not rise temporarily, and the temperature of the evaporation space 29 in the evaporation chamber 30 may rise excessively. Absent. This is the function of the pressure stabilization operation.
The predetermined time B is preferably 1 to 10 seconds.
Further, in the phase conversion unit 20a, since the inside of the conversion space 47 is lower than the vaporization temperature of the film forming material 16a, the property of the gaseous film forming vapor 18a changes, and solidifies or liquefies. It collects in the housing part 45 of 20a.

  After that, when a predetermined time C has elapsed from the pressure stabilization operation shown in FIG. 14, the bypass on-off valve 41 is closed again as shown in FIG. 12, and the evaporation unit 10b as shown in FIG. The film-opening / closing valve 40b is opened (evaporator switching).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 13, the deposition vapor 18 b vaporized or sublimated from the crucible 31 of the evaporation section 10 b passes through the deposition pipe 8, reaches the deposition material discharge section 12, and is sprayed on the shutter 14. Further, the film forming on-off valves 40a and 40c of the evaporation units 10a and 10c are kept closed.
The predetermined time C is preferably 1 second to 10 seconds.

  Thereafter, when a predetermined time (corresponding to the predetermined time A) elapses again from the preliminary operation, the shutter 14 is brought into the open posture, and the gaseous film forming vapor 18b is sprayed from the film forming material discharge unit 12 to the substrate 6.

In this way, the evaporation units 10 a to 10 c are switched, and the same process as described above is repeated to form a film on the substrate 6. Then, when the desired film forming materials 16 a to 16 c are formed, the substrate transfer device 5 carries the substrate 6 out of the film forming chamber 2.
The above is the film forming procedure when the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 is used.

By the way, when the vacuum evaporation apparatus 1 of this embodiment is used over a long period of time as described above, solid or liquid film forming materials 16a to 16c are formed in the casing 45 of the phase conversion units 20a to 20c. Accumulate. Therefore, at the time of maintenance, the casing 45 of the phase conversion units 20a to 20c is removed from the lid 46 and cleaned.
The attachment / detachment method at this time will be described. The phase conversion unit 20a connected to the evaporation unit 10a will be described, and the phase conversion units 20b and 20c connected to the other evaporation units 10b and 10c are the same and will not be described.

  First, the film forming on / off valves 40a to 40c, the bypass on / off valves 41a to 41c, the film forming chamber side on / off valves 42a to 42c, and the pressure reducing on / off valve 44 are closed, and the atmosphere opening valve 43 is opened. At this time, outside air is sucked into the conversion space 47 in the main body portion 21 from the outside, and the conversion space 47 and the external pressure become the same pressure. Therefore, the attractive force into the conversion space 47 is small, and the casing 45 can be easily detached from the lid 46.

Thereafter, the temporary fastening element 49 is removed, the housing part 45 is removed from the lid part 46, and the inside of the housing part 45 is cleaned.
At this time, since the bypass opening / closing valves 41a to 41c and the film forming chamber side opening / closing valves 42a to 42c are closed, the film forming chamber 2 and the evaporation unit 10 are not exposed to the atmosphere.
Then, after the cleaning of the housing part 45 is finished, the flange part 52 of the housing part 45 is attached to the lid part 46 so as to be integrated with the temporary fastening element 49. At this time, a conversion space 47 is formed.

Thereafter, the atmospheric release valve 43 is closed while maintaining the closed state of the film forming on / off valves 40a to 40c, the bypass on / off valves 41a to 41c, and the film forming chamber side on / off valves 42a to 42c, and the pressure reducing on / off valve 44 is further closed. Open. That is, the air in the conversion space 47 is sucked by the decompression means 55 and the conversion space 47 is evacuated.
When the conversion space 47 is in a vacuum state, the film formation chamber side opening / closing valve 42a is opened, and the pressure reducing opening / closing valve 44 is closed.
As described above, since the film forming chamber 2 and the evaporation unit 10a are not exposed to the air in both the removal operation and the attachment operation, the phase conversion unit is maintained while maintaining the atmosphere of the film forming chamber 2 and the evaporation unit 10a. 20a can be washed.

  According to the vacuum deposition apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, a plurality of layers can be formed in one film forming chamber 2.

  According to the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 1 of this embodiment, since part of the film-forming vapors 18a to 18c in the evaporation space 29 escapes to the phase converters 20a to 20c by the pressure relief flow path 35, the film-forming on-off valves 40a, It is possible to suppress an increase in temperature caused by an increase in pressure in the evaporation units 10a, 10b, and 10c when 40b and 40c are closed. Therefore, deterioration of the film forming materials 16a to 16c in the crucible 31 can be suppressed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where three evaporation units are built in has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of evaporation units is not limited. Four or more may be incorporated, or one or two may be incorporated.

  In the above-described embodiment, one film is formed for one evaporation section, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one film is formed for a plurality of evaporation sections such as co-evaporation. May be formed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the film is formed by a so-called area source method in which the spray holes 17 are spread and distributed on the surface. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a linear spray hole is provided. The film may be formed by a technique called a line source.

  In the embodiment described above, the pressure relief flow path 35, the suction flow path 36, the open pipe 37, and the suction pipe 38 are directly attached to the lid portion 46. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and branches at the manifold. May be connected.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pressure stabilization operation is performed when switching the evaporation units 10a to 10c to be used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the pressure stabilization operation may be performed during film formation. Good. At this time, since the flow path inner diameter R1 of the bypass pipe 11a (11b, 11c) is smaller than the flow path inner diameter R2 of the film formation pipe 8, most of the film formation vapor 18a (18b, 18c) is transferred to the film formation pipe 8. Since it flows, it is difficult to interfere with film formation.

  In the above embodiment, the cooling space 53 controls the conversion space 47 of the phase conversion units 20a to 20c to a predetermined temperature. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the conversion space of the phase conversion units 20a to 20c. Only the part corresponding to 47 may be provided with a heating means, and the temperature of the conversion space 47 of the phase conversion units 20a to 20c may be lowered by natural cooling (heat radiation).

  In the embodiment described above, the crucible 31 is provided in the evaporation chamber 30, the film forming material 16 is filled in the crucible 31, and the heating means 32 is heated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and FIG. As described above, the film forming material 16 may be directly introduced into the evaporation chamber 30 and heated by the heating means 33.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum evaporation apparatus 2 Deposition chamber 6 Substrate (base material)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 Film-forming piping 10 Evaporating part 11 Bypass piping 12 Film-forming material discharge | release part 15, 32, 33 Heating means 16a, 16b, 16c Film-forming material 17 Spray hole (main discharge port)
18a, 18b, 18c Deposition vapor (steam)
20 phase conversion part 29 evaporation space 35 pressure relief flow path (pressure relief path)
40 On-off valve for film formation (main on-off valve)
41 Bypass valve (auxiliary valve)

Claims (6)

A deposition chamber that can be decompressed and in which the substrate can be placed; a deposition material discharge portion that discharges vapor of the deposition material to the substrate; and an evaporation portion that evaporates the deposition material, The evaporation section has an evaporation space in which the film forming material is disposed and a heating means for heating the film forming material, and there is a main on-off valve between the evaporation space and the film forming material discharge section. In a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus that opens the film and introduces the vapor generated in the evaporation space into the film forming material discharge part, releases the vapor of the film forming material from the film forming material discharge part, and forms a film on the substrate.
A vacuum deposition apparatus comprising a pressure relief path for preventing an increase in pressure in the evaporation space, and the pressure relief path is connected to a phase conversion unit for liquefying or solidifying the vapor.   2. The pressure relief path according to claim 1, wherein the pressure relief path starts from a portion where only the gas in the evaporation portion exists, and the end of the pressure relief path is connected to a portion where a solid phase or a liquid phase exists. Vacuum deposition equipment.   The pressure relief passage is provided with an auxiliary on-off valve, and the auxiliary on-off valve is opened before and after the main on-off valve is closed, and then closed. The vacuum evaporation apparatus as described. There is a main outlet that communicates with the film forming material discharge part and discharges vapor from the evaporation space.
The flow passage area of the pressure relief path is smaller than the opening area of the main outlet,
The vacuum deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pressure relief path is connected to a portion having a lower pressure than the evaporation space.   The vacuum deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure relief path is connected to the film forming chamber.   The vacuum vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure relief path is connected to a portion having a temperature lower than that of the evaporation space.

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