JP2021145096A - Substrate carrier, film forming device, substrate carrier conveyance method, and film forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of improving efficiency when a substrate carrier is circulated in a film forming device that holds and conveys the substrate by the substrate carrier, and forms a film, separates the substrate carrier and the substrate after the film formation, and circulates the separated substrate carrier.SOLUTION: A substrate carrier 9 used to hold and convey a substrate in a first direction and in a second direction that intersects the first direction includes a plate-shaped member 30 that holds the substrate, a pair of first guided members 51a and 51b provided fixedly to the plate-shaped member 30 along the first direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member 30 in the second direction and supported by a first conveyance rotating body 15A, and a pair of second guided members 50a and 50b that are provided fixedly to the plate-shaped member 30 along the second direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member 30 in the first direction and supported by a second conveyance rotating body 15B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate carrier, a film forming apparatus, a film forming method, and a method for manufacturing an electronic device.

As a method for manufacturing an organic EL display, a mask film forming method for forming a film having a predetermined pattern by forming a film on a substrate through a mask having openings formed in a predetermined pattern is known. In the mask film forming method, after the mask and the substrate are aligned, the mask and the substrate are brought into close contact with each other to form a film. In order to form a film with high accuracy by the mask film forming method, it is important to align the mask and the substrate with high accuracy and to prevent the film blurring by bringing the mask and the substrate into close contact with each other.

In recent years, in order to increase the area of an organic EL display and improve production efficiency, it has been required to form a film using a large-sized substrate. Generally, when manufacturing an organic EL display, a thin plate such as glass or resin is often used as a substrate, and as the size of the substrate increases, the deflection when the substrate is held horizontally increases, and the substrate alone can be conveyed. It will be difficult.

Patent Document 1 describes that a substrate is held on a chuck plate (also referred to as a "substrate carrier") and the substrate is conveyed together with the chuck plate. As a result, even a large-area substrate having a large deflection can be conveyed. Then, Patent Document 1 describes that the substrate and the mask are coalesced to form a film while the substrate is held by the substrate carrier. In Patent Document 1, when a series of film formation on a substrate is completed, the substrate and the substrate carrier are separated, the separated substrate carrier is returned to the chuck chamber through the return line, and the returned substrate carrier is allowed to hold another substrate in the chuck chamber. To form a film.

Korean Publication No. 10-2018-0067031

Patent Document 1 describes that the substrate carrier after separating the substrate is circulated through the return line, but the specific method of circulating the substrate has not been studied.

Therefore, in the present invention, in a film forming apparatus in which a substrate is held by a substrate carrier and a film is formed while being conveyed, the substrate carrier and the substrate are separated after the film is formed, and the separated substrate carriers are circulated, the substrate carriers are circulated. The purpose is to improve efficiency.

In order to solve the above problems, the substrate carrier of the present invention is used.
A plurality of first transport rotating bodies arranged along the first direction and a plurality of second transport rotating bodies arranged along the second direction intersecting the first direction are provided, and a film is formed on the substrate. A substrate carrier used for holding a substrate and transporting it in the first direction and the second direction in the film forming apparatus to be performed.
A plate-shaped member that holds the substrate and
A pair of first guided members that are fixedly provided to the plate-shaped member along the first direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member in the second direction and supported by the first transport rotating body. ,
A pair of second guided members that are fixedly provided to the plate-shaped member along the second direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member in the first direction and supported by the second transport rotating body. ,
It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention, when a substrate carrier is held and conveyed by a substrate carrier to form a film, the substrate carrier and the substrate are separated after the film formation, and the separated substrate carrier is circulated, the substrate carrier is circulated. Efficiency can be improved.

Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the substrate carrier of the embodiment Schematic diagram showing the lower surface of the substrate carrier of the embodiment Schematic block diagram of the in-line manufacturing system for the organic EL panel of the embodiment The figure which shows the transport state of the substrate carrier and the mask of an embodiment. The figure which shows the transport state of the carrier of an embodiment Schematic diagram of the alignment mechanism of the embodiment Enlarged view of the carrier holding portion and the mask holding portion of the embodiment Perspective view of the alignment mechanism of the embodiment Schematic diagram when the amount of deflection of the carrier is small and there is a gap between the carrier and the mask. Schematic diagram of the carrier alignment state of the embodiment Perspective view showing an example of the rotation translation mechanism Plan view showing how the substrate and mask are held and an enlarged view of the mark Flow chart showing each step of the process in the embodiment Explanatory drawing of organic EL display device

[Embodiment 1]
Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail exemplarily based on examples with reference to the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, etc. of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to those unless otherwise specified. ..

A substrate carrier, a film forming apparatus, a film forming method, and a method for manufacturing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. In the following description, a mask wearing device or the like provided in a device for manufacturing an electronic device will be described as an example. Further, a case where a vacuum vapor deposition method is adopted as a film forming method for manufacturing an electronic device will be described as an example. However, the present invention is also applicable to the case where the sputtering method is adopted as the film forming method. Further, the mask mounting device and the like of the present invention can be applied to various devices that need to mount a mask on a substrate other than the device used in the film forming process, and particularly for a device for processing a large substrate. It is preferably applicable. As the substrate material applied to the present invention, in addition to glass, any material such as a semiconductor (for example, silicon), a film of a polymer material, and a metal can be selected. Further, as the substrate, for example, a silicon wafer or a substrate in which a film such as polyimide is laminated on a glass substrate can be adopted. When a plurality of layers are formed on the substrate, the layer including the layers already formed up to the previous step is also referred to as a "board". Further, when a plurality of identical or corresponding members are provided in the same drawing of various devices described below, subscripts such as a and b may be added in the drawings, but they are distinguished in the description. If it is not necessary to do so, the subscripts such as A, B, a, and b may be omitted.

(Career composition)
1 and 2 are perspective views showing the configuration of a substrate carrier 9 to which a rail as a guided member of the present invention is applied. The substrate carrier 9 is a flat plate-like structure having a rectangular shape in a plan view, and rail pairs (51a, 51b) are provided on both side surfaces of the substrate carrier 9 in the vicinity of two opposite sides of the four sides forming the outer peripheral edge of the rectangle. There is. The substrate carrier 9 is supported by the rail pairs (51a, 51b) being supported by the transfer rollers 15 as the transfer rotating bodies, which are arranged on both sides of the transfer path of the substrate carrier 9 along the transfer direction. With such a support configuration, the movement of the substrate carrier 9 in the transport direction is guided by the rotation of the transport roller 15. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a state in which the substrate carrier 9 is supported by the transport roller 15 in the vicinity of two opposite sides of the four sides forming the outer peripheral edge of the rectangle, and is separated from both supporting sides due to deformation due to its own weight. It shows how the part (the central part of the four sides in the direction along the two opposite sides that are not the supporting sides) is deformed so as to fall downward in the direction of gravity. FIG. 1 shows the state of the substrate carrier 9 when the substrate carrier 9 is viewed from diagonally above, and FIG. 2 shows the state of the substrate carrier 9 when the substrate carrier 9 is viewed from diagonally below. The illustration of the transport roller 15 is omitted. The configuration of the substrate carrier 9 will be described with reference to these figures.

The substrate carrier 9 includes a carrier face plate 30 which is a rectangular flat plate member, four rails 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b fixed to the side surface of the carrier face plate 30, and a chuck member 32. In the present embodiment, the case where the carrier face plate 30 included in the substrate carrier 9 is a rectangular member will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention includes two pairs of two opposite sides, each of which faces each other. It suffices if a pair of rails is provided corresponding to the two sides.

One rail 50a, 50b, 51a, 51b is provided for each of the four sides of the rectangular outer circumference of the carrier face plate 30, and the rails provided on the two opposite sides (rail 50a and rail 50b, rail 51a and rail) are provided. 51b) are paired and function as a guided portion when the substrate carrier 9 is conveyed.

Of the two pairs of rails, the pair of rails 51a and 51b is used to convey the substrate carrier 9 during film formation of the substrate 5, and the pair of rails 50a and 50b orthogonal to this is the pair of the substrate carrier 9. It is used in the transport path for changing the transport direction in the circulation transport path. That is, the pair of rails 51a and 51b, which are the first guided members, is supported and conveyed by the first conveying rotating body (described later) when being conveyed in the first direction, and the rails 50a, which are the second guided members, are conveyed. The pair of 50b is supported and transported by the second transport rotating body (described later) when transporting in the second direction. In the present embodiment, the case where the first direction and the second direction are orthogonal to each other will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the first direction and the second direction may be intersecting directions.

It is desirable that the material of the carrier face plate 30 is mainly aluminum or an aluminum alloy in order to reduce the weight of the entire substrate carrier 9. On the other hand, for the rails 50 and 51 of the substrate carrier 9 according to the present embodiment, it is preferable to use a material having a Young's modulus higher than that of the carrier face plate 30 such as stainless steel or rust-preventive plated high-rigidity steel as a main material. As a result, the vibration of the entire substrate carrier 9 generated during transportation is reduced, and the generation of particles and chips generated at the time of contact with the transport roller 15 is reduced.

Further, the surfaces of the rails 50 and 51 of the substrate carrier 9 according to the present embodiment are subjected to surface treatment such as DLC coating to increase the hardness, whereby the surface of the rails 50 and 51 in contact with the transfer roller 15 is subjected to surface treatment during transportation. The effect of suppressing wear and scraping and reducing the generation of particles can be obtained. As the surface treatment of the rails 50 and 51, another method such as quenching may be used.

The chuck member 32 is a member for holding the substrate 5 along the holding surface formed by the carrier face plate 30. In the present embodiment, a plurality of chuck members 32 are arranged inside a plurality of holes provided in the carrier face plate 30 as shown in FIG. An adhesive member is arranged on the portion of the chuck member 32 facing the substrate 5, and the substrate 5 can be held by the adhesive force. The chuck member 32 can also be called an adhesive pad. The chuck member 32 is preferably arranged according to the shape of the mask 6, and more preferably arranged corresponding to the crosspiece portion of the mask 6. As a result, it is possible to suppress the influence of the chuck member 32 coming into contact with the substrate 5 on the temperature distribution of the film formation area of the substrate 5. In the present embodiment, the chuck member 32 uses a member that holds the substrate 5 by adhesive force, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the chuck member 32 is a member that holds the substrate 5 by electrostatic force (static electricity). An electric chuck) can also be used.

The manufacturing system (deposition apparatus) according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a manufacturing system 300 that manufactures an organic EL panel (organic EL display device) in-line. The organic EL panel is generally manufactured through an organic light emitting element forming step of forming an organic light emitting element on a substrate and a sealing step of forming a protective layer on the formed organic light emitting layer. The manufacturing system 300 according to the embodiment mainly performs the organic light emitting element forming step.

As shown in FIG. 3, the manufacturing system 300 includes an alignment chamber 100 (mask mounting chamber), a plurality of film forming chambers 110, a turning chamber 111, a transport chamber 112, a mask separation chamber 113, and a substrate separation chamber 114. It also has a substrate loading chamber 117 (board mounting chamber), a transport chamber 118, and a transport chamber 115. The manufacturing system 300 further has a transport means described later, and the substrate carrier 9 is transported by the transport means along a predetermined transport path through each chamber of the manufacturing system 300. Specifically, in the configuration of FIG. 3, the substrate carrier 9 has an alignment chamber 100 (mask mounting chamber), a plurality of film forming chambers 110a, a turning chamber 111a, a transport chamber 112, a turning chamber 111b, and a plurality of film forming chambers. The 110b, the mask separation chamber 113, the substrate separation chamber 114, the substrate charging chamber 117, and the transfer chamber 115 are conveyed in this order through each chamber, and then return to the alignment chamber 100 again. In this way, the substrate carrier 9 is circulated and conveyed along a predetermined transfer path (circulation transfer path). The manufacturing system 300 in the present embodiment further includes a mask charging chamber 90 and a mask conveying chamber 116. The functions of each chamber will be described below.

While the substrate carrier 9 is circulated and transported along the circulation transport path, the mask 6 is loaded into the circulation transport path from the mask charging chamber 90 and carried out from the mask transport chamber 116. Further, the undeposited substrate 5 is charged from the substrate charging chamber 117 onto the circulation transport path, and the film is formed while being held by the substrate carrier 9, and then the film-deposited substrate 5 is transferred from the substrate separation chamber 114. It is carried out. The undeposited substrate 5 carried into the substrate loading chamber 117 is held by the substrate carrier 9 in the substrate loading chamber 117, and is carried into the alignment chamber 100 via the transport chamber 118 and the transport chamber 115.

The substrate loading chamber 117 and the substrate separation chamber 114 have a reversing mechanism (not shown) that reverses the orientation of the holding surface of the substrate carrier 9 from upward in the vertical direction to downward in the vertical direction, or from downward in the vertical direction to upward in the vertical direction. It is equipped. The substrate 5 is carried into the substrate charging chamber 117 in which the substrate carrier 9 is arranged with the holding surface facing vertically upward, and is carried into the substrate charging chamber 117 with the film-deposited surface facing vertically upward to hold the substrate carrier 9. It is placed on a surface and held by a substrate carrier 9. After that, the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 is inverted by an inversion mechanism (not shown), and the film-deposited surface of the substrate 5 faces downward in the vertical direction. On the other hand, when the substrate carrier 9 is carried in from the mask separation chamber 113 to the substrate separation chamber 114, the substrate carrier 9 is carried in with the film-forming surface of the substrate 5 facing downward in the vertical direction. After carrying in, the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 is inverted by an inversion mechanism (not shown), and the film-formed surface of the substrate 5 faces upward in the vertical direction. After that, the substrate 5 is carried out from the substrate separation chamber 114 with the surface to be filmed facing upward in the vertical direction.

When the inverted substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 loaded in the substrate loading chamber 117 is carried into the alignment chamber 100, the mask 6 is carried from the mask loading chamber 90 into the alignment chamber 100 in accordance with this. NS. An alignment device 1 is mounted in the alignment chamber 100 (mask mounting chamber), and the substrate 5 and the mask 6 held by the substrate carrier 9 according to the present embodiment are aligned with each other with high accuracy and are mounted on the mask 6. The carrier 9 (board 5) is placed on the carrier, and then the carrier 9 (board 5) is transferred to the transfer roller 15 (transfer means), and the transfer is started for the next process. The substrate 5, the mask 6, and the substrate carrier 9 are conveyed along the transfer path without changing their orientations. That is, even if the extending direction of the transport path changes, the transport method changes only the traveling direction without changing the direction of each. A plurality of transport rollers 15 as transport means are arranged along the transport direction on both sides of the transport path, and the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are transported by rotating by the driving force of an AC servomotor (not shown). It is configured to do. In the transport path, a pair of transport rollers 15A (15Aa, 15Ab) as a first transport rotating body for transporting in the first direction and a second transport for transporting in the second direction are provided according to the transport direction. A pair of transport rollers 15B (15Ba, 15Bb) as a rotating body, and / or both are provided.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which both ends of the mask 6 on which the substrate carrier 9 is placed after the alignment is completed in the width direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the lower surface thereof are supported by the transport rollers 15 in the transport direction. It is a schematic diagram of time. Since the mask 6 on which the substrate carrier 9 is mounted is in a state where only both ends in the width direction are supported by the transport rollers 15, the mask 6 has a downward convex shape so that the central portion in the width direction falls downward together with the substrate carrier 9 due to its own weight. It becomes a state of bending and deforming. In this state, the transfer roller 15 guides the movement in the transfer direction, and the substrate 5 is formed by passing over the vapor deposition source 7 in the film forming chamber 110. Since the rail 51 in the transport direction of the present invention passes over a plurality of transport rollers 15 during film formation, the substrate carrier 9 itself is vibrated by the influence of vibration at that time, and the positions of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are changed. There is a concern that it will induce a gap. Therefore, it is desirable that the rail 51 in the film forming direction has as high rigidity as possible. On the other hand, the rail 50 of the present invention in the direction orthogonal to the film forming direction has low rigidity from the viewpoint of ensuring the adhesion between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 and the alignment accuracy, as will be described later. That is, it is preferable that the rigidity is relatively lower than that of the rail 51.

In FIG. 3, in the film forming chamber 110a in the first stage of the transport path, the substrate 5 adsorbed on the carried-in substrate carrier 9 passes over the vapor deposition source 7, so that the mask 6 is formed on the film-forming surface of the substrate 5. A surface other than the part blocked by the film is formed. The substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 turn 90 ° in the traveling direction in the turning chamber 111a, pass through the turning chamber 111b (further turn 90 ° in the traveling direction), and pass through the turning chamber 111b (further 90 ° in the traveling direction), and the film forming chamber in the subsequent stage of the transport path. It is thrown into 110b. In each turning chamber 111, a pair of transfer rollers 15A (15Aa, 15Ab) as a first transfer rotating body for transporting the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 in the first direction and a pair (15Aa, 15Ab) for transporting the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 in the second direction. A pair (15Ba, 15Bb) of transfer rollers 15B as a second transfer rotating body is provided. By making the heights of the first transport rotating body and the second transport rotating body different, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are replaced, and only the traveling direction is changed without changing the orientation of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6. It is configured in. Specifically, with the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 supported by the first transport rotating body, the second transport rotating body rises from the bottom to the top and moves to a position higher than the first transport rotating body. As a result, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 can be replaced by being supported by the second transport rotating body.

After the film formation is completed, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are conveyed to the mask separation chamber 113, and the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 is separated from the mask 6 in the mask separation chamber 113. The substrate carrier 9 separated from the mask 6 is conveyed to the substrate separation chamber 114, and in the substrate separation chamber 114, the substrate 5 for which the film formation is completed is separated from the substrate carrier 9 and recovered from the circulation transfer path. In the substrate separation chamber 114, the substrate carrier 9 is inverted as described above. On the other hand, the mask 6 separated from the substrate carrier 9 goes straight as it is and is conveyed to the mask unloading chamber 116 via the conveying chamber 118. A new substrate 5 is charged and adsorbed to the carrier 9 in the substrate charging chamber 117. The substrate carrier 9 is also inverted in the substrate charging chamber 117 as described above. The substrate carrier 9 is transported to the alignment chamber 100 again via the transport chamber 118 and the transport chamber 115. Then, in the alignment chamber 100, the mask 6 is aligned and placed on the mask 6 conveyed from the charging chamber 90. The transport chamber 118 is provided with a pair of transport rollers having different transport directions (orthogonal) in two upper and lower stages. The plurality of lower transport roller pairs arranged in the first direction are used when the mask 6 separated by the mask separation chamber 113 is transported from the mask separation chamber 113 to the mask transport chamber 116. The plurality of upper transfer roller pairs arranged in the second direction are used when the substrate carrier 9 carried in from the substrate loading chamber 117 is conveyed to the transfer chamber 115.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the substrate carrier 9 alone is placed on the transport roller 15. The substrate carrier 9 is placed on the transfer roller 15 via the rail 51 and the rail 50. The rail 51 is mounted on the transport roller 15A as the first transport rotating body for transporting in the first direction described above, and the rail 50 serves as the second transport rotating body for transporting in the second direction described above. It is placed on the transport roller 15B of. As described above, the substrate carrier 9 includes a process of separating the substrate 5 from the substrate carrier 9, a process of holding the substrate 5 in the substrate carrier 9, a process of transporting the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 and charging the substrate carrier 9 into the alignment chamber 100, and the like. It is necessary to be able to carry a single unit in both the film forming direction and the direction orthogonal to the film forming direction. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, the rail 50, which is the second transported member for transporting in the second direction, and the rail 51, which is the first transported member for transporting in the first direction, are arranged on the substrate carrier 9. By doing so, the substrate carrier 9 can be conveyed in the first direction and the second direction, and efficient transfer becomes possible. Further, by using a member having high wear resistance as the first transported member and the second transported member, the wear resistance at the contact portion with the transport roller 15 is ensured, and from the contact portion between the transport roller 15 and the substrate carrier 9. Dust generation can be reduced. As a result, particles and chips can be prevented from scattering in the line, and adhesion to the substrate 5 and the substrate carrier 9 can be prevented in the film forming apparatus. As a result, the substrate carrier 9 can be conveyed in the first direction and the second direction while suppressing a decrease in the yield at the time of film formation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view for showing the overall configuration of the alignment mechanism portion of the in-line vapor deposition apparatus of the present embodiment.

The vapor deposition apparatus generally includes a chamber 4 and an alignment apparatus 1 that holds the substrate 5 and the mask 6 held in the substrate carrier portion 9 and performs relative alignment. The chamber pressure can be adjusted by a chamber pressure control unit (not shown) provided with a vacuum pump and a chamber pressure gauge, and the evaporation source 7 containing the vapor deposition material 71 (deposition material) inside the chamber 4. (Film deposition source) can be arranged, whereby a reduced film deposition space 2 is formed inside the chamber. In the film forming space 2, the vaporized material flies from the evaporation source 7 toward the substrate 5, and a film is formed on the substrate. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the mask 6 has a structure in which a mask foil 6b having a thickness of about several μm to several tens of μm is welded and fixed to the frame-shaped mask frame 6a. The mask frame 6a supports the mask foil 6b in a state of being pulled in the surface direction (X direction and Y direction described later) so that the mask foil 6b does not bend. The mask foil 6b is formed with openings according to a desired film formation pattern. When a glass substrate or a substrate on which a resin film such as polyimide is formed is used as the substrate 5, an iron alloy can be used as the main material of the mask frame 6a and the mask foil 6b, and nickel is used. It is preferable to use a ferroalloy containing the mixture. Specific examples of the iron alloy containing nickel include an Invar material containing 34% by mass or more and 38% by mass or less of nickel, a super Invar material containing 30% by mass or more and 34% by mass or less of nickel and further cobalt, 38% by mass. Examples thereof include low thermal expansion Fe—Ni based plating alloys containing nickel of 54% by mass or less.

In the illustrated example, the configuration of the depot-up formed in a state where the film-forming surface of the substrate faces downward in the direction of gravity at the time of film-forming will be described. However, a depot down configuration may be used in which the film is formed with the film forming surface of the substrate facing upward in the direction of gravity at the time of film formation. Further, a side depot configuration may be used in which the substrate is erected vertically and the film formation surface is substantially parallel to the direction of gravity. That is, in the present invention, when the substrate held by the carrier and the mask are relatively close to each other, drooping or bending occurs in at least one member of the substrate carrier and the mask, and the substrate is aligned with high accuracy in other states. It can be suitably used when it is required to do so.

The chamber 4 has an upper partition wall 4a (top plate), a side wall 4b, and a bottom wall 4c. In addition to the decompression atmosphere described above, the inside of the chamber may be maintained in a vacuum atmosphere or an atmosphere of an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. The term "vacuum" as used herein refers to a state in a space filled with a gas having a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure, and typically in a space filled with a gas having a pressure lower than 1 atm (1013 hPa). The state of.

The evaporation source 7 may include, for example, a material accommodating portion such as a crucible for accommodating the vapor-deposited material and a heating means such as a sheath heater for heating the vapor-deposited material. Further, by providing a mechanism for moving the material accommodating portion in a plane substantially parallel to the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 and a mechanism for moving the entire evaporation source 7, the position of the injection port for injecting the vaporized material can be set in the chamber 4. The film may be displaced relative to the substrate 5 to make the film formation on the substrate 5 uniform.

The alignment device 1 is roughly mounted on the upper partition wall 3a of the chamber 4 and drives the substrate carrier 9, and is an alignment mechanism for relatively aligning the positions of the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6. 60 (alignment means) is included. The alignment device 1 includes a carrier support portion 8 (board carrier support portion) for holding the substrate carrier 9, a mask cradle 16 (mask support portion) for holding the mask 6, and a transfer roller 15 (conveyor means). doing.

The alignment mechanism 60 is provided on the outside of the chamber 4 and moves at least one of the substrate carrier support portion and the mask support portion to change the relative positional relationship between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6. In the present embodiment, the alignment mechanism 60 moves the carrier support portion 8 which is the substrate carrier support portion. The alignment mechanism 60 generally includes a rotation translation mechanism 11 (in-plane moving means), a Z elevating base 13, and a Z elevating slider 10.

The rotation translation mechanism 11 is connected to the upper partition wall 4a of the chamber 4 and drives the Z elevating base 13 in the X direction, the Y direction, and the θ direction (collectively referred to as the XY θ direction). The Z elevating base 13 is connected to the rotation translation mechanism 11 and serves as a base when the substrate carrier 9 moves in the Z direction. The Z elevating slider 10 is a member that can move in the Z direction along the Z guide 18. The Z elevating slider is connected to the substrate carrier support portion 8 via the substrate holding shaft 12.

In such a configuration, when the XYθ drive (drive in the XYθ direction) in a plane substantially parallel to the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 by the rotation translation mechanism 11, the Z elevating base 13, the Z elevating slider 10, and the substrate holding shaft are used. 12 moves as a unit and transmits a driving force to the carrier support portion 8. Then, the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 is moved in a plane substantially parallel to the substrate 5 and the mask 6. Although the mask 6 and the substrate 5 are bent by gravity as described later, the plane substantially parallel to the substrate 5 and the mask 6 referred to here is the substrate 5 and the mask 6 in an ideal state in which no bending occurs. Refers to a plane that is almost parallel to. For example, in a configuration in which the substrate 5 and the mask 6 are arranged horizontally, such as depot up and depot down, the rotation translation mechanism 11 moves the substrate 5 in a horizontal plane. Further, when the Z elevating slider 10 is driven in the Z direction with respect to the Z elevating base 13 by the Z guide 18, the driving force is applied to the substrate holding shaft 12 (in this embodiment, the four substrate holding shafts 12a and 12b, 12c and 12d are provided. In FIG. 8, the shaft 12d is hidden by the substrate 5 and the mask 6 and is not shown), and is transmitted to the carrier support portion 8. Then, the distance (separation or approach) of the substrate 5 with respect to the mask 6 is changed. That is, the Z elevating base 13, the Z elevating base 13 and the Z guide 18 function as distance changing means for the positioning means.

As shown in the illustrated example, by arranging the positioning mechanism 60 including many moving parts outside the film forming space, it is possible to suppress dust generation in the film forming space or in the space for alignment. As a result, it is possible to prevent the mask and the substrate from being contaminated by dust generation and the film formation accuracy from being lowered. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which the alignment mechanism 60 moves the substrate 5 in the XYθ direction and the Z direction has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the alignment mechanism 60 may move the mask 6. Both the substrate 5 and the mask 6 may be moved. That is, the alignment mechanism 60 is a mechanism for moving at least one of the substrate 5 and the mask 6, whereby the relative positions of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 can be aligned.

The substrate carrier 9 has a carrier face plate 30 (face plate member), a seating block 31 (seat member), and a chuck member 32.

The carrier face plate 30 is a plate-shaped member made of metal or the like, and is a member that constitutes a holding surface for holding the substrate 5. The carrier face plate 30 has a certain degree of rigidity (at least a rigidity higher than that of the substrate 5), and by holding the substrate 5 along the holding surface, bending of the substrate 5 can be suppressed.

A plurality of seating blocks 31 are arranged outside the substrate holding area of the holding surface of the carrier face plate 30 so as to project from the holding surface. The seating block 31 is provided so as to project toward the mask 6 with respect to the substrate 5 while the substrate 5 is held by the substrate carrier 9. The substrate carrier 9 is seated on the outer peripheral frame of the mask frame 6a via the seating block 31 through an alignment operation.

The chuck member 32 has a chuck surface that comes into contact with the substrate 5 and chucks the substrate 5. The chuck surface of the chuck member 32 of the present embodiment is an adhesive surface made of an adhesive member, and holds the substrate 5 by the adhesive force. Therefore, the chuck member 32 of the present embodiment can also be called an adhesive pad. In the present embodiment, each of the plurality of chuck members 32 has a chuck surface (adhesive surface) inside the plurality of holes provided in the carrier face plate 30 as a holding surface of the carrier face plate 30. They are arranged so that they are flush with each other (so that they are located on the same plane). Thereby, by chucking the substrate 5 by each of the plurality of chuck members 32, the substrate 5 can be held along the holding surface of the carrier face plate 30. The plurality of chuck members 32 may be arranged so that their respective chuck surfaces protrude from the holding surface of the carrier face plate 30 by a predetermined distance. The chuck member 32 is preferably arranged according to the shape of the mask 6, and is arranged corresponding to the crosspiece portion of the mask 6 (the boundary portion for partitioning the film-forming region of the substrate 5). Is more preferable. As a result, it is possible to suppress the influence of the chuck member 32 coming into contact with the substrate 5 on the temperature distribution of the film formation area of the substrate 5. In the present embodiment, the chuck member 32 uses a member that holds the substrate 5 by adhesive force, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the chuck member 32 is a member that holds the substrate 5 by electrostatic force (static electricity). An electric chuck) can also be used.

The substrate carrier 9 further has a magnetic adsorption means (not shown) for magnetically adsorbing the mask 6 via the held substrate 5. As the magnetic adsorption means, a magnet plate provided with a permanent magnet, an electromagnet, or a permanent magnet can be used. Further, the magnetic adsorption means may be provided so as to be relatively movable with respect to the carrier face plate 30. More specifically, the magnetic adsorption means may be provided so that the distance between the magnetic attraction means and the carrier face plate 30 can be changed.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the mask and the carrier holding portion, which will be used to explain the detailed portion. The substrate carrier portion 9 can be aligned with the mask 6 via the carrier support portion 8. The carrier support portion 8 is composed of a carrier receiving claw 42 and a carrier receiving surface 41. By placing a rail 51 on the side surface of the substrate carrier 9 on the carrier receiving surface 41, the entire substrate carrier 9 is supported and the mask 6 is used. The alignment operation is performed on the.

The mask frame 6a is supported by the mask cradle 16 via the mask pad 33 forming the mask receiving surface. It is desirable that the mask pad 33 has a high coefficient of friction so that the mask position does not shift due to vibration generated during alignment. For example, it is conceivable that the metal is in contact with each other and the surface is embossed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the rectangular substrate carrier 9 and the rectangular mask 6 are moved in the transport direction (first direction) of the transport roller 15A by the carrier support portion 8 and the mask support portion (mask cradle 16). Each is supported along. That is, in the substrate carrier 9, one set of sides of the two opposing sets of sides is arranged substantially parallel to the transport direction (first direction) of the transport roller 15A, and the substrate carrier 9 corresponding to the one set of sides. The rail 51, which is the first conveyed member arranged on the peripheral edge of the rail 51, is supported by the carrier support portion 8 arranged to face the rail 51. Further, in the mask 6, one set of sides of the two opposing sets of sides is arranged substantially parallel to the transport direction (first direction) of the transport roller 15A, and the peripheral edge of the mask 6 corresponding to the one set of sides. The portion is supported by a mask support portion arranged so as to face the portion. The facing sides supported by the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 may be long sides or short sides of each. Further, even when the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are square, the configuration may be such that the peripheral edge portion of one of the two sets of sides is supported.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing one form of the alignment mechanism. The mask cradle 16 is guided (up and down) up and down along the elevating platform guide 34 mounted on the mask pedestal base 19. Further, a transport roller 15A is arranged at the lower side of the mask 6 in the transport direction, and the mask 6 is delivered to the transport roller 15A by lowering the mask cradle 16.

The substrate holding shaft 12 is provided over the outside and the inside of the chamber 4 through a through hole provided in the upper partition wall 4a of the chamber 4. In the film forming space, a carrier support portion 8 is provided below the substrate holding shaft 12, and the substrate 5 which is a film to be formed can be held via the substrate carrier 9.

The through hole is designed to be sufficiently large with respect to the outer diameter of the substrate holding shaft 12 so that the substrate holding shaft 12 and the upper partition wall 4a do not interfere with each other. Further, the section of the substrate holding shaft 12 from the through hole to the fixed portion to the Z elevating slider 10 (the portion above the through hole) is covered by the bellows 40 fixed to the Z elevating slider 10 and the upper partition wall 4a. .. As a result, the substrate holding shaft 12 is covered with a closed space communicating with the chamber 4, so that the entire substrate holding shaft 12 can be kept in the same state as the film forming space 2 (for example, in a vacuum state). It is preferable to use a bellows 40 having flexibility in the Z direction and the XY direction. As a result, the resistance force generated when the bellows 40 is displaced by the operation of the alignment device 1 can be sufficiently reduced, and the load at the time of position adjustment can be reduced.

The mask receiving portion is installed on the surface of the upper partition wall 4a on the side of the film forming space 2 inside the chamber 4, and can support the mask 6. For example, a mask used for manufacturing an organic EL panel has a structure in which a mask foil 6b having an opening corresponding to a film forming pattern is fixed in a state of being stretched on a highly rigid mask frame 6b. With this configuration, the mask receiving portion can be held in a state where the bending of the mask foil 6b is reduced.

Various operations by the alignment device 1 (alignment by the rotation translation mechanism, elevating and lowering of the Z elevating slider 10 by the distance changing means, substrate holding by the carrier support portion 8, vapor deposition by the evaporation source 7, and the like) are controlled by the control unit 70. The control unit 70 can be configured by, for example, a computer having a processor, memory, storage, I / O, and the like. In this case, the function of the control unit 70 is realized by the processor executing the program stored in the memory or the storage. As the computer, a general-purpose personal computer may be used, or a built-in computer or a PLC (programmable logical controller) may be used. Alternatively, a part or all of the functions of the control unit 70 may be configured by a circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA. A control unit 70 may be provided for each thin-film deposition device, or one control unit 70 may control a plurality of thin-film deposition devices.

Next, the details of the alignment mechanism 60 of the alignment device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing one form of the alignment mechanism. The guides that guide the Z elevating slider 10 in the vertical Z direction include a plurality of (here, four) Z guides 18a to 18d, and are fixed to the side surface of the Z elevating base 13. A ball screw 27 for transmitting a driving force is arranged in the center of the Z elevating slider, and the power transmitted from the motor 26 fixed to the Z elevating base 13 is transmitted to the Z elevating slider 10 via the ball screw 27.

The motor 26 has a built-in rotation encoder (not shown), and the position of the Z elevating slider 10 in the Z direction can be indirectly measured by the rotation speed of the encoder. By controlling the drive of the motor 26 with an external controller, the Z elevating slider 10 can be precisely positioned in the Z direction. The elevating mechanism of the Z elevating slider 10 is not limited to the ball screw 27 and the rotary encoder, and any mechanism such as a combination of a linear motor and a linear encoder can be adopted.

In the configuration of FIG. 11, the rotation translation mechanism 11 has a plurality of drive units 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d at the four corners of the base. The drive units 21a to 21d are arranged by rotating the drive units arranged in the adjacent corners by 90 degrees around the Z axis so that the directions in which the driving force is generated differ by 90 degrees at each of the four corners. There is.

Each drive unit 21 includes a drive unit motor 25 that generates a driving force. Each drive unit 21 is further orthogonal to the first guide 22 that slides in the first direction by transmitting the force of the drive unit motor 25 via the drive unit ball screw 46 and the first direction in the XY plane. It includes a second guide 23 that slides in the second direction. Further, a rotary bearing 24 that can rotate around the Z axis is provided. For example, the drive unit 21d has a first guide 22 that slides in the X direction, a second guide 23 that slides in the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction, and a rotary bearing 24. The force is transmitted to the first guide 22 via the drive unit ball screw 46. The other drive units 21a, 21b, and 21c also have the same configuration as the drive unit 21d, except that the orientations of the other drive units 21a, 21b, and 21c differ from each other by 90 degrees.

The drive unit motor 25 has a built-in rotary encoder (not shown), and can measure the displacement amount of the first guide 22. By controlling the drive of the drive unit motor 25 in each drive unit 21 by the control unit 70, it is possible to precisely control the position of the Z elevating base 13 in the XYθz direction.

For example, when moving the Z elevating base 13 in the + X direction, a force for sliding in the + X direction is generated in each of the drive unit 21a and the drive unit 21d by the drive unit motor 25, and the force is transmitted to the Z elevating base 13. good. Further, when moving in the + Y direction, it is preferable that the drive unit motor 25 generates a force for sliding in the + Y direction in each of the drive unit 21b and the drive unit 21c, and the force is transmitted to the Z elevating base 13.

When rotating the Z elevating base 13 by + θ around the rotation axis parallel to the Z axis (rotating by θz clockwise), the drive units 21a and 21d arranged diagonally are used to rotate the Z elevating base 13 by + θz around the Z axis. It is preferable to generate the force required for this purpose and transmit the force to the Z elevating base 13. Alternatively, the drive unit 21b and the drive unit 21c may be used to transmit the force required for rotation to the Z elevating base 13.

Next, an imaging device for simultaneously measuring the positions of the alignment marks in order to detect the positions of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, on the outer surface of the upper partition wall 4a, position acquisition for acquiring the positions of the alignment mark (mask mark) on the mask 6 and the alignment mark (board mark) on the substrate 5 is acquired. An imaging device 14 (14a, 14b, 14c, 14d) which is a means is arranged. The upper partition wall 4a is provided with a through hole for imaging on the optical axis of the camera so that the position of the alignment mark arranged inside the chamber 4 can be measured by the imaging device 14. Window glass 17 (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d) or the like is provided in the through hole for imaging in order to maintain the air pressure inside the chamber. Further, by providing an illumination (not shown) inside or near the image pickup apparatus 14 and irradiating the vicinity of the alignment mark of the substrate and the mask with light, accurate mark image measurement is possible. In FIG. 6, the image pickup device 14d and the window glasses 17c and 17d are hidden by other members and are not shown.

A method of measuring the positions of the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 using the image pickup apparatus 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 (a) to 12 (c).

FIG. 12A is a top view of the substrate 5 on the carrier face plate 30 held by the carrier support portion 8. For the sake of explanation, the carrier face plate 30 is shown by a dotted line so as to be transparent. Substrate marks 37a, 37b, 37c, and 37d that can be measured by the image pickup apparatus 14 are formed on the substrate 5 at the four corners of the substrate 5. The substrate 5 is measured by simultaneously measuring the substrate marks 37a to 37d with four imaging devices 14a to 14d, and calculating the translation amount and the rotation amount of the substrate 5 from the positional relationship of the four central positions of the substrate marks 37a to 37d. The position information of can be acquired. The carrier face plate 30 has a through hole, and the position of the substrate mark 37 can be measured from above by the imaging device 14.

FIG. 12B is a view of the mask frame 6a viewed from above. Mask marks 38a, 38b, 38c, and 38d that can be measured by an imaging device are formed at the four corners. The mask marks 38a to 38d are simultaneously measured by four imaging devices 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d, and the translation amount, rotation amount, and the like of the mask 6 are determined from the positional relationship of the four central positions of the mask marks 38a to 38d. The position information of the mask 6 can be calculated and acquired.

FIG. 12C is a diagram schematically showing the field of view 44 of the captured image when one of the four sets of the mask mark 38 and the substrate mark 37 is measured by the imaging device 14. In this example, since the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 are measured at the same time in the field of view 44 of the image pickup apparatus 14, it is possible to measure the relative positions of the mark centers. The mark center coordinates can be obtained by using an image processing device (not shown) based on the image obtained by the measurement of the image pickup device 14. Although the mask mark 38 and the substrate mark 37 have a quadrangular or round shape, the shape of the mark is not limited to this. For example, it is preferable to use a shape having symmetry, such as a cross mark or a cross shape, which makes it easy to calculate the center position.

When highly accurate alignment is required, a high-magnification CCD camera having a high resolution on the order of several μm is used as the image pickup apparatus 14. Since the field of view of such a high-magnification CCD camera is as narrow as several mm, if the position shift when the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the carrier receiving claw 41 is large, the substrate mark 37 will be out of the field of view for measurement. It becomes impossible. Therefore, as the image pickup apparatus 14, it is preferable to install a low-magnification CCD camera having a wide field of view in addition to the high-magnification CCD camera. In that case, after performing rough alignment (rough alignment) using a low-magnification CCD camera so that the mask mark 38 and the substrate mark 37 fit in the field of view of the high-magnification CCD camera at the same time, the mask mark is used with the high-magnification CCD camera. The positions of 38 and the substrate mark 37 are measured, and highly accurate alignment (fine alignment) is performed.

By using a high-magnification CCD camera as the image pickup apparatus 14, the relative positions of the mask frame 6a and the substrate 5 can be adjusted with an accuracy within an error of several μm. However, the image pickup device 14 is not limited to the CCD camera, and may be, for example, a digital camera including a CMOS sensor as an image pickup element. In addition, even if a high-magnification camera and a low-magnification camera are not installed separately, a single camera can be used to measure high-magnification and low-magnification by using a camera that can exchange high-magnification lenses and low-magnification lenses and a zoom lens. May be possible.

From the position information of the mask frame 6a and the position information of the substrate 5 acquired by the image pickup apparatus 14, the relative position information between the mask frame 6a and the substrate 5 can be acquired. This relative position information is fed back to the control unit 70 of the alignment device, and the drive amount of each drive unit such as the elevating slider 10, the rotation translation mechanism 11, and the carrier support unit 8 is controlled.

(Board carrier and rail configuration)
The substrate carrier 9 of the present embodiment and the rail shape and configuration suitable for applying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the substrate carrier 9a according to the first embodiment of the present embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the substrate carrier 9b according to the second embodiment of the present embodiment.

The substrate carrier 9a of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is conveyed in the second direction with the rail 52 as the first guided member supported when the substrate carrier 9a is conveyed by the transfer roller 15A for conveying in the first direction. It has a rail 53 as a second guided member that is supported when being transported by the transport roller 15B for the purpose. As a result, the substrate carrier 9a of Example 1 can be transported in both the first direction and the second direction while suppressing dust generation during transportation and suppressing a decrease in yield during film formation. In the first embodiment, the rail 52 as the first guided member and the rail 53 of the second guided member both have a shape in consideration of rigidity so as to reduce vibration during transportation, and have the same cross section. A shaped rail is used. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9B, each has a thick rail shape having a "U" cross section. The reason for the "U" -shaped cross section is that the head of the bolt 54 is dug to prevent the head of the bolt 54 from protruding when the bolt is fastened to the side surface of the carrier face plate 30.

Similarly to the first embodiment, the substrate carrier 9b of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 10 also has a rail 51 as a first guided member supported when the substrate carrier 9b is transported by the transport roller 15A for transporting in the first direction. It has a rail 50 as a second guided member that is supported when it is transported by a transport roller 15B for transporting in the second direction. As a result, the substrate carrier 9b of the second embodiment can also be conveyed in both the first direction and the second direction while suppressing dust generation during transportation and suppressing a decrease in yield during film formation. On the other hand, the substrate carrier 9b of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the rail 51 as the first guided member and the rail 50 as the second guided member are rails having different cross-sectional shapes. That is, the rail 51 as the first guided member has a configuration in which the cross section is similar to that of the rail 52 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 9 and emphasizes the rigidity of the "U" shape, but the second guided member. As shown in FIG. 10B, the rail 50 as a member has an "L" -shaped cross section. As a result, the cross-sectional area of the rail 50 as the second guided member is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the rail 51 as the first guided member, and the rail 50 has a moment of inertia of area than the rail 51. It's getting smaller. In the second embodiment, both the rail 51 and the rail 50 are stainless steel rails.

FIG. 9A shows a state (separation state) in which the substrate carrier 9a and the mask 6 are separately held by the alignment mechanism at the time of alignment. The substrate carrier 9a is aligned with the mask 6 in a state of being supported on the carrier receiving surface 41 via a rail 52 as a first guided member. In the substrate carrier 9a of the first embodiment, since both the first guided member and the second guided member have high rigidity, as shown in FIG. 9A, the amount of deflection of the substrate carrier 9a due to the rigidity of the rail 52. Is suppressed. As a result, even after the substrate carrier 9a is placed on the mask 6, a gap ds is generated with respect to the mask frame 6a.

When the substrate carrier 9a of the first embodiment is aligned with the mask 6 and then placed on the mask 6, when the substrate carrier 9a is seated on the mask frame 6a, the carrier receiving claw 42 of the substrate carrier 9a is used first. The region extending along the supported portion (rail 52) and the region extending along the portion supported by the mask supporting portion of the mask 6 come into contact with each other. When the sides come into contact with each other, the entire side should come into contact at once if the two sides in contact have the same shape and are in an ideal state where the two sides come into close contact with each other while maintaining parallelism. However, in reality, contact starts from a part of the side due to the influence of various disturbances. In this case, the start point of the contact changes every time due to the influence of various disturbances, and the start point of the contact is randomly determined without being fixed to one place. Further, not only the contact start location in one side is randomly determined, but also which of the two opposing sides starts contact first is undefined due to the influence of various disturbances. As a result, the reproducibility of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 when seated is reduced. Further, if either one of the two opposing sides starts contact first, an eccentric load is applied to the one that starts contact first, so that the reaction force at the time of seating of the substrate carrier 9a causes the carrier receiving surface 41. It is transmitted to the alignment mechanism 60 side via the mechanism, and further disturbances such as posture fluctuation and positional deviation of the mechanism may occur.

On the other hand, in the second embodiment, since the rigidity of the rail 50 as the second guided member is lowered as described above, when only the rail 51 as the first guided member is held, the rail 50 bends in the supported state of the carrier. The amount is larger than the deflection amount state of Example 1 shown in FIG. Therefore, if the amount of deflection of the rail 50a at this time is larger than the amount of deflection of the mask frame 6a, the portion where the substrate carrier 9b is seated with respect to the mask 6 (mask frame 6a) at the time of alignment is the central portion, and the contact start location. Will be in the same place every time, and you will be able to sit stably. In addition, the amount of lateral displacement of the substrate carrier 9b with respect to the mask 6 when seated is also reduced, so that the alignment accuracy is improved. Further, the contact progresses symmetrically from the center of the substrate carrier 9b to the outside, and the carrier receiving surface 41 is evenly loaded on the left and right, so that the posture fluctuation and the misalignment of the alignment mechanism 60 due to the eccentric load are reduced. Will be done.

Further, the gap ds between the substrate carrier 9b and the mask 6 is hardly generated because the carrier 9b and the mask 6 are in good contact with each other when seated, and is finally conveyed without a gap as shown in FIG. , Filmed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the organic material from wrapping around during film formation, which has the effect of improving the yield of organic EL panel production.

Here, in more detail, the deflection of the substrate carrier 9 supported by the carrier support portion 8 and the mask 6 supported by the mask support portion will be examined. As described above, the substrate carrier 9 (holding the substrate 5) supported by the carrier support portion 8 has a shape bent in a parabolic shape that is convex downward in the direction of gravity in a cross section perpendicular to the transfer direction of the transfer roller 15. .. Further, the mask 6 supported by the mask support portion also has a shape bent in a parabolic shape that is convex downward in the direction of gravity in a cross section perpendicular to the transport direction of the transport roller 15. In the present specification, the carrier weight deflection amount dc and the mask weight deflection amount dm are defined as the amounts for quantitatively handling the degree of bending of the substrate carrier 9 and the degree of bending of the mask 6.

In the present specification, the carrier weight deflection amount dc is the height along a certain plane (virtual plane) when the carrier support portion 8 tries to support the substrate carrier 9 along a certain plane (virtual plane). Refers to the difference (absolute value) between the reference height and the height of the part bent by its own weight. For example, when the carrier support portion 8 tries to support the substrate carrier 9 horizontally, the reference height and the most flexed portion (the height of the virtual plane) of the substrate carrier 9 are used as a reference from the height of the carrier receiving surface 41. The height of the lower surface of the substrate carrier 9 (typically, the height of the lower surface of the substrate carrier 9 corresponding to the intermediate portion between the carrier support portions 8 arranged to face each other) of the portion where the change in height is the largest. ) Is the difference (absolute value) from the carrier's own weight deflection amount dc. That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, the height of the end portion of the lower surface of the substrate carrier 9 supported by the carrier support portion 8 with the least change in height is defined as the height of the virtual plane. The difference (absolute value) from the height of the virtual plane to the height of the central portion where the change in height is the largest is defined as the carrier weight deflection amount dc. The carrier weight deflection amount dc may be defined based on the upper surface of the substrate carrier 9 instead of the lower surface. In this case, the height of the virtual plane may be obtained based on the height of the carrier receiving surface 41 and the thickness (height) of the substrate carrier 9. That is, paying attention to the portion of the substrate carrier 9 that comes into contact with the carrier receiving surface 41, the height of the carrier receiving surface 41 plus the thickness of the substrate carrier 9 may be the height of the virtual plane.

Further, in the present specification, the mask self-weight deflection amount dm is the height along a certain plane (virtual plane) when the mask support portion tries to support the mask 6 along a certain plane (the height of the virtual plane). Refers to the difference (absolute value) between the reference height and the height of the part bent by its own weight. For example, when the mask 6 is to be supported horizontally by the mask support portion, the reference height and the largest flexure of the mask 6 are made based on the height of the upper surface of the portion of the mask 6 in contact with the mask receiving surface 33. Mask 6 corresponding to the height of the upper surface of the mask 6 (typically, the intermediate portion between the mask supports arranged to face each other) of the mask 6 (the portion where the height change from the height of the virtual plane is the largest). The difference (absolute value) from the height of the upper surface of the mask is the amount of deflection of the mask itself dm. That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, the height of the end portion of the upper surface of the mask 6 supported by the mask support portion with the least change in height is defined as the height of the virtual plane, and this virtual plane is defined as the height of the virtual plane. The difference (absolute value) from the height of the mask to the height of the central portion where the change in height is the largest is defined as the mask weight deflection amount dm. The height of the virtual plane may be obtained based on the height of the mask receiving surface 33 and the thickness (height) of the mask 6. That is, it may be assumed that the inclination at the end of the mask 6 at the time of bending is so small that it can be ignored, and the height at the end of the mask 6 is substantially the same as the thickness of the mask 6. Further, the mask self-weight deflection amount dm may be defined with reference to the lower surface instead of the upper surface of the mask 6, and in this case, the height of the mask receiving surface 33 may be used as the reference height.

Here, since the substrate carrier 9 is for suppressing the bending of the substrate 5 and facilitating the transfer, for that purpose, the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9 should be as high as possible so as not to bend as much as possible. Is preferable. On the other hand, since the mask 6 uses a mask frame 6b having high rigidity so that the mask foil 6a does not bend as described above, it is less likely to bend as compared with the substrate 5. Conventionally, since the length of one side of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 was at most about 1.5 m, the deflection of the mask 6 was negligible, but the length of one side of the 8th generation and the 10th generation is 2 m. When the substrate 5 and the mask 6 that greatly exceed the above are used, the deflection of the mask 6 cannot be ignored. Further, as in the present embodiment, when the rectangular mask 6 and the substrate carrier 9 are supported not by all four sides but only by a pair of opposite sides, the bending of the mask 6 becomes larger and larger. That is, when the substrate carrier 9 is designed according to the conventional idea, the mask 6 is more easily bent than the substrate carrier 9.

As a result of diligent studies by the present inventors, it has been found that in such a case, if the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9 is increased as much as possible so as not to bend according to the conventional idea, some inconveniences will occur. Hereinafter, inconveniences that occur when the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9 is made as high as possible and the carrier weight deflection amount dc becomes smaller than the mask weight deflection amount dm (that is, when dc <dm) will be described.

When dc <dm, first, when the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are brought into contact with each other, the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask 6, and the mask 6 is attached to the substrate 5, the mask 6 is attached. If the deflection is larger than the deflection of the substrate carrier 9, a large gap is generated between the mask foil 6a and the substrate 5. FIG. 9A shows a state in which a large gap is formed between the mask 6 and the substrate 5. When a large gap is generated between the mask foil 6a and the substrate 5, the mask 6 is attracted from the back side by a magnetic attraction means such as a magnet with the substrate 5 and the substrate carrier 9 sandwiched therein, so that the mask foil 6a is brought into close contact with the substrate 5. Even so, a gap may remain. In this way, there is a gap ds between the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6, and when the film is conveyed and formed in this state, the film-forming material is the mask foil 6a and the substrate at the time of film formation. It wraps around through the gap between 5 and 5 and becomes a state in which film blurring occurs. As a result, uneven film formation occurs, which may lead to quality deterioration due to uneven brightness of the display.

When dc <dm, secondly, when the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are brought into contact with each other, they extend along the long side which is a portion supported by the respective support portions (carrier support portion and mask support portion). Contact begins in the area. The long sides of the substrate carrier 9 are all supported by the carrier receiving claws 42 so as to have the same height, and the long sides of the mask 6 are all supported by the mask support so as to have the same height. The start of will occur between the sides (long sides or regions extending along the long sides). When the sides come into contact with each other, the entire side should come into contact at once if the two sides in contact have the same shape and are in an ideal state where the two sides come into close contact with each other while maintaining parallelism. However, in reality, contact starts from a part of the side due to the influence of various disturbances. In this case, the start point of the contact changes every time due to the influence of various disturbances, and the start point of the contact is randomly determined without being fixed to one place. As a result, the reproducibility of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 when seated is reduced. For example, the Z elevating slider 10 at the time of alignment is guided by the Z guide 18 and descends, but the path and attitude of the process of descending the substrate carrier 9 differ depending on the straightness of the Z guide and the reproducibility of the attitude. Is difficult to keep constant. Therefore, when the contact start location changes, the reaction force received by the substrate carrier 9 from the mask frame 6a changes. Therefore, after the alignment between the substrate carrier 9 (or the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9) and the mask 6 is completed, the substrate There is a concern that the deviation when the carrier 9 is seated on the mask 6 will vary greatly each time. As in the case of dc <dm, the behavior at the time of sitting is not stable in the case of dc = dm, which is not so preferable from the viewpoint of realizing stable seating.

Therefore, the present inventors have solved the above-mentioned problems by not intentionally increasing the rigidity of the substrate carrier 9 too high and adjusting the amount of deflection of the substrate carrier 9 and the amount of deflection of the mask 6. In the present embodiment, the rigidity of the rails 50 and 51 of the substrate carrier 9 is adjusted so that the relationship between the carrier weight deflection amount dc and the mask weight deflection amount dm is dc> dm. By setting dc> dm, as shown in FIG. 10A, the substrate carrier 9 bends more than the mask 6. Since the substrate 5 is held by the substrate carrier along the holding surface of the substrate carrier 9, the amount of deflection of the substrate 5 can be regarded as equivalent to the amount of deflection by the carrier's own weight dc.

When the substrate carrier 9 is mounted on the mask 6 in this state, the substrate carrier 9 is mounted so as to imitate the mask 6, so that the deflections of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are aligned as shown in FIG. 4 after mounting. You will be able to do it. Therefore, the gap between the mask foil 6a and the substrate 5 can be sufficiently reduced, and film blurring during film formation can be suppressed.

Further, by setting dc> dm, when the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 is brought into contact with the mask 6, the contact starts from the most bent portion on the short side side of the substrate 5. In the present embodiment, a plurality of seating blocks 31 are arranged outside the area of the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5, and the seating blocks 31 are provided so as to protrude from the substrate 5. Further, a part of the plurality of seating blocks 31 is arranged at the center of the substrate carrier 9 on the short side, that is, at the most flexible portion. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the substrate carrier 9 is brought into contact with the mask 6, the contact can be started from the seating block 31 arranged at the center of the short side of the substrate carrier 9, so that the seating can be reproduced. You can improve your sex. In addition, the seating block 31 that comes into contact first can be used as a reference for alignment, and the reproducibility of the position due to seating can be improved.

(Board mounting method)
In the following, a series of vapor deposition apparatus until the substrate 5 is set on the substrate carrier 9, the substrate 5 on the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are aligned, and the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) is placed on the mask 6. The operation of is explained.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of the vapor deposition apparatus of the embodiment.

First, in step S101, the substrate carrier 9 mounted on the roller transport mechanism (not shown) is carried into the chamber 4 via the gate valve and placed on the carrier receiving claws 42 on both sides of the carrier support portion 8. A plurality of carrier receiving claws 42a are arranged along one side of the substrate 5 (board carrier 9) at predetermined intervals, and support a rail 51a which is a peripheral edge of the substrate carrier 9 in the vicinity of one side of the substrate 5. .. A plurality of the other carrier receiving claws 42b are arranged at predetermined intervals along the second side of the substrate 5 facing the one side, and a rail which is a peripheral edge of the substrate carrier 9 in the vicinity of the second side of the substrate 5. Supports 51b.

Next, in step S103, the substrate carrier 9 is lowered and set to a height to be imaged by a low-magnification CCD camera. Next, in step S104, the substrate mark 37 provided on the substrate 5 is imaged by the low-magnification CCD camera. The control unit 70 acquires the position information of the substrate 5 based on the captured image and stores it in the memory.

Step S105 may be executed following step S104, or may be executed following S109 or S113 when the determination in step S109 or step S113 is "NO".

In step S105, which is executed following step S104, the substrate carrier 9 is lowered, set to the alignment operation height, and the position of the substrate 5 is adjusted based on the position information acquired in step S104.

First, regarding the height of the substrate carrier 9, the distance between the carrier receiving surface 41 (upper surface of the carrier receiving claw 42) and the mask 6 is changed to a lower height than in step S104. However, at this time, the position of the carrier receiving surface 41 is set to a height at which the substrate 5 on the substrate carrier 9 bent by its own weight does not come into contact with the mask 6. In some cases, step S105 and step S104 may be executed at the same height.

In the alignment operation in step S105 executed following step S104, the control unit 70 drives the alignment mechanism 60 included in the alignment device 1 based on the position information of the substrate 5 acquired in step S104. That is, the control unit 70 adjusts the position of the substrate 5 so that the substrate mark 37 of the substrate 5 is within the field of view of the high-magnification CCD camera. Regarding the mask 6, the relative positions of the mask 6 and the high-magnification CCD camera have been adjusted in advance so that the mask mark 38 is within the field of view (preferably the center of the field of view) of the high-magnification CCD camera. Therefore, both the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 are adjusted so as to be within the field of view of the high-magnification CCD camera by the alignment operation in step S105 executed following step S104. However, at this point, the substrate mark 37 may not be imaged by the high-magnification CCD camera due to the depth of field. In the alignment operation, the substrate 5 is moved in the XYθz direction, but as described above, the substrate 5 bent by its own weight is moved at a height that does not come into contact with the mask 6, so that the surface of the substrate 5 or the surface of the substrate 5 is moved. The film pattern already formed on the mask 6 does not slide with the mask 6 and be damaged.

Next, in step S106, the substrate carrier 9 is lowered, and the substrate 5 is set at a height to be imaged by a high-magnification CCD camera.

Here, in order to take a picture with a high-magnification CCD camera having a shallow depth of field focusing on both the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 36, at least a part (bent portion) of the substrate 5 is used as the mask 6. The substrate 5 is brought close to the mask 6 until they come into contact with each other to form a substrate mask contact portion.

Next, in step S108, the substrate mark 37 on the substrate 5 and the mask mark 38 on the mask 6 are simultaneously imaged by the high-magnification CCD camera. The control unit 70 acquires relative position information between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 based on the captured image. Specifically, the relative position information referred to here is information regarding the distance between the center positions of the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 and the direction of the positional deviation. Step S108 is a measurement step (measurement process) in which the relative position information (relative position deviation amount) between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is acquired and the position deviation amount between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is measured.

Next, in step S109, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the amount of positional deviation between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 measured in step S108 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. The predetermined threshold value is a preset value so that the amount of misalignment between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is within a range that does not hinder the film formation. The threshold value is set so as to achieve the required alignment accuracy between the substrate 5 and the mask 6. The threshold value is, for example, on the order within a few μm of error.

If it is determined in step S109 that the amount of misalignment between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 exceeds a predetermined threshold value (step S109: NO), the process returns to step S105 to execute the alignment operation, and further processes after step S106. continue.

In step S105, which is executed when the determination in step S109 is NO, the substrate carrier 9 is raised, set to the alignment operation height, and the position of the substrate 5 is adjusted based on the relative position information acquired in step S108.

In the alignment operation executed when the determination in step S109 is NO, the control unit 70 drives the alignment mechanism included in the alignment device 1 based on the relative position information of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 acquired in step S108. .. That is, the control unit 70 adjusts the position by moving the substrate 5 in the XYθz direction so that the substrate mark 37 on the substrate 5 and the mask mark 38 on the mask 6 are closer to each other.

In the alignment operation, the substrate 5 is moved in the XYθz direction, but as described above, the substrate 5 bent by its own weight is moved at a height that does not come into contact with the mask 6, so the surface of the substrate 5 or the surface of the substrate 5 The film pattern already formed on the mask 6 does not slide with the mask 6 and be damaged.

Step S105 is an alignment step (alignment process) for moving the substrate 5 so that the amount of misalignment between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is reduced, and when the determination in step S109 is NO, fine alignment is performed.

If the determination in step S109 is YES, in step S110, the substrate carrier 9 is further lowered so that the entire substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask frame 6a. That is, the support of the substrate carrier 9 by the carrier support portion 8 is released, and both the substrate carrier 9 (the substrate 5) and the mask frame 6a (mask 6) on which the substrate carrier 9 (the substrate 5) is mounted are supported by the mask cradle 16 (mask support portion). It will be in a state of being done. Then, in step S112, the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 36 are imaged by the high-magnification CCD camera, and the relative position information between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is acquired.

Next, in step S113, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the amount of positional deviation between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value based on the relative position information between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 acquired in step S112. A predetermined threshold value is set in advance as a condition within a range in which film formation can be performed as long as it is within the threshold value.

When it is determined in step S113 that the amount of positional deviation between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 exceeds a predetermined threshold value (step S113: NO), the carrier receiving claw 42 is raised to the height of the substrate 5 to support the substrate carrier 9. do. It should be noted that such a NO determination may occur, for example, when a positional deviation occurs due to external vibration between steps S109 and S114.

Then, the process returns to step S105 to execute the alignment operation. After that, the processing after step S106 is continued.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S113 that the amount of misalignment between the substrate 5 and the mask 6a is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value (step S113: YES), the process proceeds to step S114, and the mask lift 16 is lowered. It is delivered to the transport roller 15. This completes the alignment sequence (END).

In this embodiment, when the substrate carrier is transported in the first direction in the transport path, the first guided guide is supported by the transport roller 15 as a transport rotating body in which a plurality of substrate carriers are arranged along the first direction in the transport path. A first rail as a member and a second guided object supported by a transport roller 15 as a transport rotating body arranged in a plurality of directions along the transport path when the rail is transported in the second direction in the transport path. It includes a second rail as a member. When the substrate after film formation is recovered, the substrate carrier is circulated and transported to the upstream of the film formation transport path, and is used again for holding the substrate during film formation. In such a circulation transfer path (single transfer path), by providing the above-mentioned first rail and the second rail, the first direction and the first direction orthogonal to each other are provided without changing the direction (direction) of the substrate carrier. It becomes possible to carry out in two directions, and it becomes possible to efficiently carry out circulation transportation to the upstream of a desired route.

The first rail is the first of the side surfaces of the plate-shaped member for holding the substrate in the substrate carrier.
A pair of side surfaces in the second direction orthogonal to the direction are fixed along the first direction (so that the longitudinal direction is parallel to the first direction). On the other hand, the second rail is a pair of side surfaces of the plate-shaped member for holding the substrate in the substrate carrier on both side surfaces in the first direction orthogonal to the second direction along the second direction (longitudinal direction is). It is fixed (so that it is parallel to the second direction). The first rail is a portion supported by the carrier support portion at the time of alignment, and the second rail is a portion that bends and deforms due to the weight (own weight) of the substrate carrier and the substrate at the time of alignment. The first rail and the second rail are long rail-like members made of the same material, and the shape of the cross section perpendicular to the length of each is devised, and the size of the surface of the cross section is adjusted to the second rail. The secondary moment of cross section in the cross section perpendicular to the length of the second rail is made smaller than that of the first rail, that is, the second rail is bent more than that of the first rail. Make it easier. By doing so, it is possible to improve the alignment accuracy of the substrate carrier with respect to the mask.

That is, in the present embodiment, as a support step, as a pair of peripheral edges in the peripheral edge of the substrate carrier 9, the opposite peripheral edges of the substrate carrier 9 corresponding to the pair of opposite edges of the four sides forming the peripheral edge of the substrate 5 are used. A certain rails 51a and 51b are supported by the substrate carrier support portion 8 so that the rails 51a and 51b follow a predetermined direction. Further, as a pair of peripheral edges in the peripheral edge of the mask 6, the opposite peripheral edge of the mask 6 (mask frame 6a) corresponding to the pair of opposite edges of the four sides forming the peripheral edge of the mask 6 is provided by the opposing peripheral edge. It is supported by the mask support portion (mask cradle 16) so as to follow a predetermined direction. In the present embodiment, the predetermined direction (first direction) is the Y-axis direction, the second direction is the X-axis direction, and the third direction is the Z-axis direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. Further, in this embodiment, the rectangular substrate 5 and the rectangular mask 6 are illustrated, respectively, but the shapes of the substrate and the mask are not limited to the rectangle, and a predetermined one of the plurality of sides forming the peripheral edge of the substrate and the mask is specified. It can be configured to support a pair of peripheral regions corresponding to a pair of opposite sides arranged along the direction. Therefore, depending on the shape of the substrate or mask, the intersection of the first direction and the second direction is not limited to orthogonality.

Then, as a mounting step, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are moved from a separation position where the substrate carrier 9 is separated upward from the mask 6 to a mounting position where the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask 6 (from the separated state). The substrate carrier support portion 8 is lowered in order to shift to the mounted state). In this embodiment, it is lowered along the Z-axis direction as the third direction, but in a direction at a slight angle with respect to the Z-axis direction within the range in which the desired mounting operation of the present invention can be realized. There may be. Further, the substrate carrier support portion 8 may not be moved, but the mask support portion may be moved, or both may be moved.

At this time, the substrate carrier 9 supported only by the substrate carrier support portion 8 and the mask 6 supported only by the mask support portion satisfy the relationship of dc> dm (... equation (1)) as described above. As such, each is supported. Therefore, when the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 move from the separated position to the mounting position, the portion of the substrate carrier 9 that bends most in the third direction and the mask 6 bend in the third direction. Contact is started from the part where is the largest.

When the substrate carrier 9 comes into contact with the mask 6 when moving from the separated position to the mounting position, the substrate carrier support portion 8 (in a direction orthogonal to the third direction) is more slippery with respect to the mask 6. It is preferable that the substrate carrier is supported by the substrate carrier support portion 8 so that the slipperiness with respect to the carrier receiving surface 41) is increased. That is, the substrate carrier 9 is deformed so that the positions of both ends in the second direction are displaced in the second direction as the bending state is eliminated. It is configured so that it can be absorbed and eliminated by slipping with the substrate carrier support portion 8 (carrier receiving surface 41). As a result, the displacement in the plane direction when the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask 6 is effectively suppressed.

Various methods may be used to control the slipperiness described above. For example, the seating member 31 of the substrate carrier 9 is made of a metal member such as iron like the mask 6 (mask frame 6a), and at least the contact portion between the two is made of a polished surface or a ground surface. The contact area at the contact portion is appropriately set. On the other hand, on the carrier receiving surface 41, while ensuring a frictional force that does not cause the substrate carrier 9 to slip off when independently supported, the substrate carrier 9 is more than between the seating member 31 and the mask 6. Various coatings may be applied to make it slippery. Even if the contact portion with the substrate carrier 9 on the carrier receiving surface 41 is coated with an inorganic material, fluorine, DLC, or an inorganic ceramic as a base material (inorganic material, fluorine-based coating, ceramic coating, DLC coating), for example. good. A method other than the method described in this embodiment may be used as appropriate.

According to this embodiment, when aligning the substrate carrier and the mask in the vapor deposition apparatus, the substrate can be accurately aligned with the mask, and the gap between the substrate and the mask is sufficiently reduced to form the substrate. It is possible to put on a mask. Therefore, it is possible to reduce film formation unevenness and improve film formation accuracy.

[Embodiment 2]
<Manufacturing method of electronic devices>
A method of manufacturing an electronic device using the above-mentioned substrate processing apparatus will be described. Here, as an example of an electronic device, the case of an organic EL element used in a display device such as an organic EL display device will be described as an example. The electronic device according to the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a thin-film solar cell or an organic CMOS image sensor. In this embodiment, there is a step of forming an organic film on the substrate 5 by using the above-mentioned film forming method. Further, it has a step of forming a metal film or a metal oxide film after forming an organic film on the substrate 5. The structure of the organic EL display device 600 obtained by such a step will be described below.

FIG. 14A shows an overall view of the organic EL display device 600, and FIG. 14B shows a cross-sectional structure of one pixel. As shown in FIG. 14A, a plurality of pixels 62 including a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a matrix in the display area 61 of the organic EL display device 600. Each of the light emitting elements has a structure including an organic layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. The pixel referred to here refers to the smallest unit that enables the display of a desired color in the display area 61. In the case of the organic EL display device of the present figure, the pixel 62 is composed of a combination of a first light emitting element 62R, a second light emitting element 62G, and a third light emitting element 62B that emit light differently from each other. The pixel 62 is often composed of a combination of a red light emitting element, a green light emitting element, and a blue light emitting element, but may be a combination of a yellow light emitting element, a cyan light emitting element, and a white light emitting element, and is particularly limited to at least one color. It is not limited. Further, each light emitting element may be configured by laminating a plurality of light emitting layers.

Further, one pixel is displayed by using a color filter in which the pixel 62 is composed of a plurality of light emitting elements exhibiting the same light emission and a plurality of different color conversion elements are arranged in a pattern corresponding to each light emitting element. It may be possible to display a desired color in the region 61. For example, a color filter may be used in which the pixel 62 is composed of at least three white light emitting elements and the red, green, and blue color conversion elements are arranged so as to correspond to the respective white light emitting elements. Alternatively, a color filter may be used in which the pixel 62 is composed of at least three blue light emitting elements and the red, green, and colorless color conversion elements are arranged so as to correspond to the respective blue light emitting elements. In the latter case, by using a quantum dot color filter (QD-CF) using a quantum dot (QD) material as a material constituting the color filter, a normal organic EL that does not use a quantum dot color filter is used. The display color range can be made wider than that of the display device.

14 (b) is a schematic partial cross-sectional view taken along the line AB of FIG. 14 (a). The pixel 62 includes a first electrode (anode) 64, a hole transport layer 65, one of the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, 66B, an electron transport layer 67, and a second electrode (cathode) 68 on the substrate 5. It has an organic EL element comprising. Of these, the hole transport layer 65, the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, 66B, and the electron transport layer 67 correspond to the organic layer. Further, in the present embodiment, the light emitting layer 66R is an organic EL layer that emits red, the light emitting layer 66G is an organic EL layer that emits green, and the light emitting layer 66B is an organic EL layer that emits blue. When a color filter or a quantum dot color filter is used as described above, the color filter or the quantum dot color filter is arranged on the light emitting side of each light emitting layer, that is, on the upper or lower part of FIG. 14B. However, the illustration is omitted.

The light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B are formed in a pattern corresponding to a light emitting element (sometimes referred to as an organic EL element) that emits red, green, and blue, respectively. Further, the first electrode 64 is formed separately for each light emitting element. The hole transport layer 65, the electron transport layer 67, and the second electrode 68 may be formed in common with the plurality of light emitting elements 62R, 62G, 62B, or may be formed for each light emitting element. An insulating layer 69 is provided between the first electrodes 64 in order to prevent the first electrode 64 and the second electrode 68 from being short-circuited by foreign matter. Further, since the organic EL layer is deteriorated by moisture and oxygen, a protective layer P for protecting the organic EL element from moisture and oxygen is provided.

Next, an example of a method for manufacturing an organic EL display device as an electronic device will be specifically described. First, a substrate 5 on which a circuit (not shown) for driving an organic EL display device and a first electrode 64 is formed is prepared.

Next, a resin layer such as an acrylic resin or polyimide is formed by spin coating on the substrate 5 on which the first electrode 64 is formed, and the resin layer is formed by a lithography method to open an opening in the portion where the first electrode 64 is formed. The insulating layer 69 is formed by patterning so as to be formed. This opening corresponds to a light emitting region where the light emitting element actually emits light.

Next, the substrate 5 in which the insulating layer 69 is patterned is carried into the first film forming apparatus, the substrate is held by the substrate holding unit, and the hole transport layer 65 is placed on the first electrode 64 in the display region. A film is formed as a common layer. The hole transport layer 65 is formed by vacuum deposition. In reality, the hole transport layer 65 is formed to have a size larger than that of the display region 61, so that a high-definition mask is unnecessary. Here, the film forming apparatus used for the film forming in this step and the film forming of each of the following layers is the film forming apparatus described in any of the above embodiments.

Next, the substrate 5 on which the hole transport layer 65 is formed is carried into the second film forming apparatus and held by the substrate holding unit. The substrate and the mask are aligned, the substrate is placed on the mask, and the light emitting layer 66R that emits red is formed on the portion of the substrate 5 on which the element that emits red is arranged. According to this example, the mask and the substrate can be satisfactorily overlapped with each other, and high-precision film formation can be performed.

Similar to the film formation of the light emitting layer 66R, the light emitting layer 66G that emits green is formed by the third film forming apparatus, and the light emitting layer 66B that emits blue is further formed by the fourth film forming apparatus. After the film formation of the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B is completed, the electron transport layer 67 is formed on the entire display region 61 by the fifth film forming apparatus. Each of the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B may be a single layer, or may be a layer in which a plurality of different layers are laminated. The electron transport layer 65 is formed as a layer common to the three color light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B. In the present embodiment, the electron transport layer 67 and the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, 66B are formed by vacuum vapor deposition.

Subsequently, the second electrode 68 is formed on the electron transport layer 67. The second electrode may be formed by vacuum deposition or by sputtering. After that, the substrate on which the second electrode 68 is formed is moved to a sealing device to form a protective layer P by plasma CVD (sealing step), and the organic EL display device 600 is completed. Although the protective layer P is formed here by the CVD method, the present invention is not limited to this, and the protective layer P may be formed by the ALD method or the inkjet method.

From the time when the substrate 5 in which the insulating layer 69 is patterned is carried into the film forming apparatus until the film formation of the protective layer P is completed, when the substrate 5 is exposed to an atmosphere containing moisture or oxygen, a light emitting layer made of an organic EL material is formed. It may be deteriorated by moisture and oxygen. Therefore, in this example, the loading and unloading of the substrate between the film forming apparatus is performed in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere.

100: Alignment chamber, 1: Alignment device, 8: Substrate carrier support, 9: Substrate carrier, 60: Alignment mechanism, 11: Rotation translation mechanism, 10: Z elevating slider, 13: Z elevating base, 18: Z guide , 70: Control unit, 5: Substrate, 6: Mask, 6a: Mask frame, 31: Seating block

In order to solve the above problems, the substrate carrier of the present invention is used.
A plate-shaped member that holds the substrate and
A pair of first members fixed to the first side and the second side along the first direction of the plate-shaped member and extending in the first direction, respectively.
A pair of second members fixed to the third side and the fourth side along the second direction intersecting the first direction of the plate-shaped member and extending in the second direction, respectively. It is characterized by having.

Claims (22)

A plurality of first transport rotating bodies arranged along the first direction and a plurality of second transport rotating bodies arranged along the second direction intersecting the first direction are provided, and a film is formed on the substrate. A substrate carrier used for holding a substrate and transporting it in the first direction and the second direction in the film forming apparatus to be performed.
A plate-shaped member that holds the substrate and
A pair of first guided members which are fixedly provided to the plate-shaped member along the first direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member in the second direction and supported by the first transport rotating body. ,
A pair of second guided members that are fixedly provided to the plate-shaped member along the second direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member in the first direction and supported by the second transport rotating body. ,
A substrate carrier characterized by having. The first direction is a direction in which the substrate carrier is conveyed when the film is formed on the substrate in the film forming apparatus.
The moment of inertia of area in the cross section of the second guided member orthogonal to the second direction is smaller than the moment of inertia of area in the cross section of the first guided member orthogonal to the first direction. The substrate carrier according to claim 1. The second aspect of the present invention, wherein the film-forming surface of the held substrate is placed on the mask with the film-forming surface facing downward, and the film-forming surface is subjected to the film-forming by the film-forming apparatus. Board carrier. The first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the film formation is performed on the film formation surface of the held substrate with the film formation surface facing upward and the mask is placed on the film formation surface. Board carrier. When placed on the mask, the pair of the first guided members are supported and the pair of the second guided members are not supported, and only both ends in the second direction are supported. It is a substrate carrier that is placed on the mask by moving relative to the mask from a position that is distant from above to a position that is placed on the mask.
When placed on the mask, the moment of inertia of area of the second guided member is such that the mask starts to come into contact with the mask from the portion of the substrate carrier that protrudes most downward and has the largest deflection. The substrate carrier according to claim 3, wherein the size of the substrate carrier is set. When placed on the mask, a position separated upward from the mask in which only a pair of the first guided members are supported and only both ends in the second direction are supported. It is a substrate carrier that is placed on the mask by moving relative to the mask from the surface to the position on which the mask is placed.
When placed on the mask, the moment of inertia of area of the second guided member is such that the mask starts to come into contact with the mask from the portion of the substrate carrier that protrudes most downward and has the largest deflection. The substrate carrier according to claim 3, wherein the size of the substrate carrier is set. The amount of deflection dc of the substrate carrier in a state where only a pair of the first guided members are supported when viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the first direction is when viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the first direction. The substrate carrier according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the amount of deflection of the mask is larger than dm in a state where only both ends of the second direction are supported. When the direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction is defined as the third direction,
The amount of deflection of the substrate carrier is the height of the first guided member in the substrate carrier and the height of the portion of the plate-shaped member whose height changes most in the third direction from the first guided member. It is the absolute value of the difference between
The amount of deflection of the mask is the difference between the height of both ends of the mask in the second direction and the height of the portion of the mask where the height change is greatest in the third direction from both ends in the second direction. The substrate carrier according to claim 7, wherein the substrate carrier has an absolute value. The first guided member and the second guided member are rail-shaped members made of the same material.
Claims 1 to 8, wherein the area of the cross section of the second guided member orthogonal to the second direction is smaller than the area of the cross section of the first guided member orthogonal to the first direction. The substrate carrier according to any one item. Any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the surface of the first guided member and the second guided member is coated with a DLC coat or the surface is hardened. The substrate carrier described in. A board carrier that holds the board and
A film forming chamber having a film forming means for forming a film through the mask on the film forming surface of the substrate held by the substrate carrier to which the mask is attached, and a film forming chamber.
A plurality of first transport rotating bodies arranged along the first direction, and
A plurality of second transport rotating bodies arranged along the second direction intersecting the first direction, and
It is a film forming apparatus equipped with
The substrate carrier is
A plate-shaped member that holds the substrate and
A pair of first guided members fixed to the plate-shaped member along the first direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member in the second direction, respectively.
A pair of second guided members fixed to the plate-shaped member along the second direction at both ends of the plate-shaped member in the first direction, respectively.
A film forming apparatus characterized by having. When the plurality of first transport rotating bodies are transported in the first direction without the substrate carrier holding the substrate, the plurality of first transport rotating bodies are transported while supporting the first guided member.
11. The film forming apparatus according to. The first direction is a direction in which the substrate carrier is conveyed when a film is formed on the substrate in the film forming chamber.
The moment of inertia of area in the cross section of the second guided member orthogonal to the second direction is smaller than the moment of inertia of area in the cross section of the first guided member orthogonal to the first direction. The film forming apparatus according to claim 11 or 12. A mask mounting chamber for mounting the mask on the substrate carrier, and
In the mask mounting chamber, a pair of substrate carrier support portions for supporting the pair of first guided members of the substrate carrier, respectively.
In the mask mounting chamber, a pair of mask supports each supporting a pair of peripheral regions of the mask corresponding to a pair of opposite sides arranged along the first direction among a plurality of sides forming the peripheral edge of the mask. Department and
In the mask mounting chamber, a moving means for moving at least one of the substrate carrier support portion and the mask support portion, and
A control means for controlling the moving means so that the substrate carrier and the mask are separated from each other and the substrate carrier is mounted on the mask.
With more
When the substrate carrier shifts from the separated state to the mounted state, the substrate carrier supporting portion supports only the pair of first guided members, and the mask supporting portion supports the pair of peripheral edges. The mask is placed on the mask by moving relative to the mask from a position distant from above to a position on which the mask is placed on the mask in which only the region is supported.
It is characterized in that film formation is performed on the film-forming surface in the film-forming chamber with the film-forming surface of the substrate held by the substrate carrier facing downward and placed on the mask. The film forming apparatus according to claim 13. A claim characterized in that film formation is performed on the film-forming surface in the film-forming chamber in a state where the mask is placed upward with the film-forming surface of the substrate held by the substrate carrier facing upward. Item 2. The film forming apparatus according to any one of Items 11 to 13. When the substrate carrier is placed on the mask, the second guided member is said to start contacting the mask from the portion of the substrate carrier having the largest downward deflection. The film forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the magnitude of the moment of inertia of area is set. The amount of deflection dc of the substrate carrier in a state where only the pair of first guided members are supported by the substrate carrier support portion when viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the first direction is perpendicular to the first direction. Only a pair of peripheral regions of the mask corresponding to a pair of opposite sides arranged along the first direction among a plurality of sides forming a peripheral portion of the mask by the mask supporting portion when viewed in a cross section. The film forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the amount of bending of the mask is larger than dm in a supported state. When the direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction is defined as the third direction,
The amount of deflection of the substrate carrier is the height of the first guided member supported by the substrate carrier support portion in the substrate carrier and the height of the plate-shaped member in the third direction from the first guided member. It is the absolute value of the difference between the height of the part where the change is the largest and the difference.
The amount of deflection of the mask is the difference between the height of the peripheral region supported by the mask support portion and the height of the portion of the mask where the height change is greatest in the third direction from the peripheral region. The film forming apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the film forming apparatus has an absolute value. The first guided member and the second guided member are rail-shaped members made of the same material.
The area of the cross section of the second guided member orthogonal to the second direction is smaller than the area of the cross section of the first guided member orthogonal to the first direction. The film forming apparatus according to any one item. The first guided member and the second guided member are any one of claims 11 to 19, wherein the surface of the first guided member is coated with a DLC coating, or the surface is hardened. The film forming apparatus according to. A film forming method, which comprises forming a film on a substrate held by the substrate carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 10. A method for manufacturing an electronic device, which comprises a step of forming an organic film on a substrate by using the film forming method according to claim 21.

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