JP5476227B2 - Film forming apparatus and film forming method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a heavy article conveyance assist mechanism, a heavy article conveyance assist method, a film forming apparatus, and a film formation method, and more particularly, to a heavy article conveyance assist mechanism, a heavy article conveyance assist method, and the like, which are suitable for two-dimensional conveyance of heavy objects. The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus and a film forming method to which is applied.

In the manufacturing process of a flat panel display (FPD), a multi-chamber type vacuum processing system including a plurality of vacuum processing apparatuses that perform vapor deposition processing of an organic EL material on a glass substrate under vacuum is employed.
The vacuum processing system as described above includes a load lock chamber for loading and unloading a substrate on the atmosphere side, a deposition processing chamber (chamber) for performing deposition processing on the substrate, and a transport chamber having a transport robot for transporting to and from the deposition processing chamber. (Chamber). In some cases, the vapor deposition chamber can process a plurality of substrates.

  In the vapor deposition chamber, in order to improve the uniformity of the film thickness, a method of fixing the substrate side and transporting the vapor deposition source and a method of fixing the vapor deposition source and transporting the substrate side have been put into practical use. As a method for transporting the vapor deposition source, a technique is disclosed in which the vapor deposition source is transported perpendicular to the longitudinal direction to achieve a uniform film thickness distribution and move between the substrates in the longitudinal direction in parallel with the longitudinal direction. (See Patent Document 1).

  However, the vapor deposition source is generally heavy and requires a large driving force to transport it two-dimensionally, so a mechanism for assisting the driving force is required. In addition, in a mechanism that lifts and lowers heavy objects in a vacuum, an assist technique using a biasing force of a coil spring is disclosed (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2010-086956 A JP 2007-069991 A

  Regarding the technology for assisting the conveyance of heavy objects in the vacuum described above, a technology using a coil spring is disclosed, but this is an assist technology only for the lifting and conveying mechanism, and cannot be applied to a mechanism for two-dimensional conveyance. .

  A first object of the present invention is to provide a heavy load transfer assist mechanism and a heavy load transfer assist method particularly suitable for transferring a heavy load two-dimensionally in a vacuum.

  A second object of the present invention is to provide a film forming apparatus or a film forming method capable of realizing energy saving by applying the heavy object transport assist mechanism or the heavy object transport assist method to a film forming apparatus or a film forming method. It is.

  In order to achieve the first object, the present invention has a main shaft that transports a heavy object one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally, and a heavy object conveyance assist mechanism or a heavy object conveyance that reduces the load on the main shaft. In the assist method, the conveyance is performed via a link portion having a link having the heavy load rotatably fixed at one end and rotatably provided at the other end of the main shaft that conveys the heavy load. A first feature is that torque is applied to the one end so as to reduce the load.

  In order to achieve the second object, the present invention provides a film forming apparatus or film forming method having a main shaft that transports a heavy object in a uniaxial direction or two-dimensionally including the uniaxial direction in a vacuum chamber. The transport is performed through a link portion having a plurality of links having one end rotatably fixed to the wall of the vacuum chamber and the other end rotatably provided to drive the heavy object. A second feature is that torque is applied to the one end by an assist mechanism so as to reduce the load on the main shaft.

Furthermore, in order to achieve the second object, the present invention provides the second feature in addition to the second feature, wherein the vacuum chamber is a vacuum deposition chamber for depositing a film forming material on an object to be processed, and the heavy object is a deposition source. The third feature is that vapor deposition is performed on the object to be treated by the vapor deposition source.
In order to achieve the second object, in addition to the third feature, the film forming material is an organic EL material, and the processing target is a display substrate.

Further, according to the present invention, in order to achieve the second object, in addition to the third or fourth feature, the vacuum vapor deposition chamber has a plurality of vapor deposition portions for vapor deposition, and the first drive of the main shaft is performed. A fifth feature is that the vapor deposition source is conveyed between the vapor deposition units by a shaft, and the vapor deposition source is conveyed in the vertical direction in the vapor deposition unit by a second drive shaft of the main shaft.
In order to achieve the second object, in addition to the second feature, the sixth feature is that the torque is determined based on a position of the heavy article or a position, speed and acceleration of the heavy article. .

Furthermore, in order to achieve the second object, the present invention is characterized in that, in addition to the second feature, the link is hollow, the rotatable part of the link part is vacuum-sealed, and the heavy object is contained in the link. It is a seventh feature that at least one of the wiring or the pipe through which the fluid flows is laid.
In order to achieve the second object, in addition to the second feature, the drive source for the main shaft and the assist shaft is provided outside the vacuum chamber, and the heavy object is a vacuum seal provided on the wall. It is an eighth feature that the heavy object is conveyed through the pier.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the heavy article conveyance assist mechanism and heavy article conveyance assistance method suitable for conveying a heavy article two-dimensionally especially in a vacuum can be provided.

  In addition, according to the present invention, by applying the heavy load transfer assist mechanism or heavy load transfer assist method to a film forming apparatus or film forming method, a small film forming apparatus or a film forming method capable of realizing energy saving is provided. is there.

It is a figure which shows the manufacturing apparatus of the organic electroluminescence display which is embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram and operation | movement explanatory drawing of a structure of the conveyance chamber and processing chamber which are embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the vapor deposition part seen from the mask, and the heavy article conveyance assist mechanism. It is a figure which shows the structure of the vapor deposition part and heavy article conveyance assist mechanism seen from the side part of the vacuum vapor deposition chamber. It is the figure which showed the vapor deposition operation example by the heavy article conveyance assist method in embodiment. It is a figure which shows embodiment of the assist control method of the heavy article conveyance in a vacuum chamber.

  As an example of the film forming apparatus according to the present invention, an example applied to an apparatus for manufacturing an organic EL display device will be described. A device for manufacturing an organic EL display device vacuums a thin film layer of various materials such as a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, and a light emitting layer (organic film layer) on the anode, and an electron injection layer and a transport layer on the cathode. It is an apparatus that forms multiple layers by vapor deposition.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a configuration of a manufacturing apparatus for an organic EL display device. A manufacturing apparatus 100 for an organic EL display device according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into a load cluster 3 that carries a substrate 6 to be processed, four clusters (A to D) that process the substrate 6, and adjacent clusters 2a to 2d. It is configured to include five delivery chambers 4a to 4e installed between or between the cluster and the load cluster 3 or the next process (sealing process).

  The load cluster 3 includes a load lock chamber 31 having a gate valve 10 in order to maintain a vacuum in the front-rear direction and a transfer robot 5R that receives the substrate 6 from the load lock chamber 31 and turns to carry the substrate 6 into the delivery chamber 4a. ing. Each load lock chamber 31 and each delivery chamber 4a have a gate valve 10 in the front and rear, while controlling the opening and closing of the gate valve 10 and maintaining a vacuum (the figure of a means for maintaining a vacuum, for example, a vacuum exhaust pump is shown in FIG. (Omitted) Deliver the board to the load cluster 3 or the next cluster.

  Each cluster (A to D) includes a transfer chamber 2a to d having transfer robots 5a to 5d, and two processes arranged on the top and bottom of the drawing for receiving a substrate from the transfer robots 5a to 5d and performing a predetermined process. It has chambers 1a to d, u or d (first subscripts a to d indicate clusters, and second subscripts u and d indicate upper and lower sides). Gate valves 10 are respectively provided between the transfer chambers 2a to 2d and the processing chambers (1au to 1du, 1ad to 1dd).

  Although the configuration of the processing chamber 1 varies depending on the processing content, an example of a vacuum deposition chamber 1bu in which a light emitting material is deposited in vacuum to form an EL layer will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram and an operation explanatory diagram of the configuration of the transfer chamber 2b and the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu. The transfer robot 5 has an arm 51 with a link structure that can move up and down as a whole (see an arrow 53 in FIG. 2) and can turn left and right. In FIG. 1, the transfer chamber 2 is represented by a quadrangular planar shape and is connected to two processing chambers. However, the apparatus configuration is not limited to this.

On the other hand, the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu is roughly divided into a deposition unit 7 for evaporating the luminescent material and depositing it on the substrate 6, an alignment unit 8 for depositing on a necessary part of the substrate 6, and a transfer robot 5 to and from the substrate and delivering the substrate. The processing delivery unit 9 moves the substrate 6 to the unit 7. Here, the schematic structure of the vapor deposition part 7, the alignment part 8, and the process delivery part 9 is demonstrated.
The alignment unit 8 and the processing delivery unit 9 are provided in two systems, a right R line and a left L line. The processing delivery section 9 can deliver the substrate 6 without interfering with the comb-like hand 52 of the transfer robot 5, and has a substrate chuck (comb-like hand) 91 having means 94 for fixing the substrate 6, and the comb teeth The hand 6 has a hand turning drive means 92 for turning the substrate-like hand 91 to bring the substrate 6 upright and transport it to the alignment unit 8. As the means 94 for fixing the substrate 6, means such as electromagnetic attraction and clips are used in consideration of being in a vacuum. The alignment unit 8 aligns the substrate 6 and the mask 81 with the alignment window 85 of the mask 81 and the alignment mark 84 on the substrate 6.

  The vapor deposition unit 7 includes a vapor deposition source 71 and a vapor deposition source driving unit 70 that conveys (moves) the vapor deposition source. The vapor deposition source 71 has a light emitting material which is a vapor deposition material inside, and a stable evaporation rate can be obtained by heating control (not shown) of the vapor deposition material. As shown in the drawing of FIG. It is the structure which injects from the some injection nozzle 73 arranged in a line. If necessary, the additive is also heated and vapor-deposited so that stable vapor deposition is obtained. The evaporation source driving means 70 is provided on the outer side of the mask 81 for each of the R line and the L line, and a left and right conveying (moving) means 74 for conveying (moving) the evaporation source 71 left and right. And a vertical transport (moving) means 72 for transporting (moving) the evaporation source 71 up and down.

Next, an embodiment in which the heavy article conveyance assist mechanism and the heavy article conveyance assist method, which are the features of the present invention, are applied to conveyance of the vapor deposition source 71 as a heavy article will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the vapor deposition section 7 and the heavy object conveyance assist mechanism 50 as viewed from the mask 81. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of the vapor deposition unit 7 and the heavy object conveyance assist mechanism 50 as viewed from the side of the vacuum vapor deposition chamber 1bu.

First, the heavy article conveyance assist mechanism 50 has a tip part rotatably connected to the vapor deposition source 71, a link part 51 that operates following conveyance of the evaporation part up and down, left and right, and the link part via the link part 51 An assist driving unit 55 that applies torque to the link unit so as to assist the conveyance of the vapor deposition source is provided.
The link part 51 has a hollow first link 51a fixed at one end to the wall of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu and opened to the atmosphere, and one end rotatable to the other end of the first link 51a. A hollow second link 51b, the other end of which is rotatably fixed to the coupling link 51c, and the coupling link 51c fixed to a vapor deposition source base 71d described later. Each link is made of a metal that is strong against rust and has sufficient strength, such as stainless steel or aluminum. In addition, wiring (not shown) connected to the above-described vapor deposition source 71 is laid in the hollow link. The link part 51 can maintain the state where the wiring is stably connected to the target position.

According to this link part 51, even if the vapor deposition source 71 moves, the link part absorbs the movement, and the rotating part is completely shielded from the vacuum region by the sealed stainless steel link. There is no need for a vacuum. Furthermore, since the link portion is made of stainless steel or aluminum, magnesium or an alloy thereof, or a link made of ceramics or a ceramic composite material, no outgas is generated.
In the above description, only the wiring is laid in the link. However, for example, if the vapor deposition source needs to be cooled, a cooling water pipe may be laid. On the other hand, the link need not be hollow if no wiring or the like is required.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the assist drive unit 55 includes an assist motor 55m provided in a drive fixing case 55k fixed to the outer wall of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu, a speed reducer 55g, and an assist shaft 55j that is a transmission shaft. And a torque transmission portion 55d fixed to the assist shaft and the first link 51a, and a seal portion 55s for sealing the assist shaft. With this configuration, the deposition source 71 is assisted to reduce the load on the main shaft, which is a drive shaft that is conveyed left and right and up and down as shown in FIG.

  According to the heavy object conveyance assist mechanism, the two-dimensional conveyance of the vapor deposition source in the vacuum vapor deposition chamber can be smoothly performed by assisting the main conveyance drive shaft of the vapor deposition source (heavy object) 71. In addition, since the motor load on the main shaft can be reduced, it is possible to reduce the size of the main shaft motor and to save space in the vacuum deposition chamber.

Next, the vapor deposition source driving means 70 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.
First, the left and right transport means 74 will be described. The left and right drive means 74 conveys the vapor deposition source base 71d for fixing the vapor deposition source 71 to the left and right as shown in FIG. 3 (in the drawing depth direction in FIG. 4), and is connected to both ends of the vapor deposition source base shown in FIGS. The nut 72nR or 72nL serves to couple the upper and lower ball screws 72b of the vertical drive means 72L and 72R. For example, if the coupling nut 72nR is coupled to the upper and lower ball screws 72b for the R line, the vapor deposition source 71 is moved up and down along the upper and lower ball screws 72b and the upper and lower rails 72r by the vertical driving means 72R and provided on the R line. Front deposition on the substrate is possible.

  In order to fulfill the above role, the left and right transport means 74 includes a base 74d fixed in the vacuum deposition chamber on the lower wall 1h, two left and right rails 74r provided on the base, and the left and right rails. Left and right drive base 74k that conveys, left and right ball screw 74b that conveys the left and right drive base to the left and right, a left and right drive motor 74m that drives the left and right ball screw, and an L-shaped vapor deposition source base 71d to which the vapor deposition source 71 is fixed. And an upper guide 74g that guides the upper and lower rails 72r during left and right conveyance.

  The vapor deposition source base 71d is provided on an L-shaped side portion, and has two sliders 72p arranged on the upper and lower sides that slide along the upper and lower rails 72r. And a guide hole 72h guided by 72r. The left / right drive motor 74m is installed outside the vacuum deposition chamber in order to suppress heat generation and dust generation in the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu (see FIG. 3). Therefore, a coupling portion 74M between the left / right drive motor 74m and the left / right ball screw 74b is necessary. The coupling portion includes a magnetic fluid seal 74s and a coupling 74c provided at the front and rear thereof. When the magnetic fluid seal 74s is inclined due to deformation of the vacuum deposition chamber wall 1h or the like, the coupling unit absorbs the displacement and angle error between the shafts generated between the magnetic fluid seal and the left and right drive motor 74m or the ball screw 74b. Has a role to play. This role enables smooth power transmission. Reference numeral 72 denotes an element constituting the vertical drive means.

On the other hand, the vertical transfer means 72 is installed on the inner wall of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu, and has the vertical transfer means 72R and 72L for the R line and the L line as described above. Since both are basically the same, the upper and lower conveying means 72L will be described as a representative. However, since the explanation is complicated, no suffix indicating the L line is added.
The vertical conveying means 72 includes a vertical driving motor 72m provided outside the upper part of the vacuum vapor deposition chamber 1bu, an upper and lower ball screw 72b for moving a coupling nut 72nL provided on the left side of the vapor deposition source base 71d, and an upper and lower ball screw. It has a coupling part 72M, 72K with a drive motor and vacuum deposition chamber wall 1h. The coupling part 72M has the same configuration as the coupling part 74M described above. On the other hand, unlike the coupling portion 74M, the coupling portion 72K has a structure in which there is no coupling 72c corresponding to the coupling 74c on the wall side where no driving source is provided.

  Also in the vertical drive means 72, since the vertical drive motor 72m is provided outside the upper part of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu, heat generation of the left and right drive motor 74m and generation of dust in the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu can be suppressed. Also in the vertical driving means 72, smooth transmission of power can be achieved by providing the coupling portions 72M and 72K.

  Next, a vapor deposition operation example in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows an example of starting deposition from the lower left part. As the operation of the vapor deposition source 71 which is a heavy object, first, the vapor deposition source is transported to the lower left starting position (S0). While the vapor deposition source 71 is conveyed to the upper left side by the L line vertical conveyance means 72L, vapor deposition is performed on the entire surface of the substrate 6L maintained vertically by the L line substrate chuck 91 (S1). Thereafter, after the substrate 6L is leveled, the vapor deposition source is transferred again to the bottom left side (S2). Next, in order to deposit the R-line substrate 6R maintained vertically by the above-mentioned step, the deposition source 71 is transported to the right by the left and right transport means 74 and transported to the horizontal bottom of the R line (S3). Thereafter, while the vapor deposition source 71 is transported to the uppermost right side by the vertical drive means 72R of the R line, vapor deposition is performed on the entire surface of the substrate 6R maintained vertically by the substrate chuck 91 of the R line (S4). Next, after leveling the substrate 6R, the vapor deposition source is transferred again to the lowermost right side (S5). And it conveys horizontally by the left-right conveyance means 74 to the lowermost left part which is a start position (S6). Thereafter, the vapor deposition operation in steps S1 to S6 is repeated.

Next, FIG. 6 shows an example of a heavy article conveyance assist control method during conveyance of the vapor deposition source 71 which is a heavy article in FIG.
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of an assist control method for transporting heavy objects in the vacuum chamber. An assist control program 64 for performing the assist control is provided in the control device 60 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the drive shafts of the vertical drive means 72R and 72L and the left and right drive means 74 are the main shaft 65. Further, the drive shaft by the heavy article conveyance assist mechanism by the link portion 51 is referred to as an assist shaft 66.
First, the control device 60 shown in FIG. 3 reads the position of the main shaft 65 (two locations in the vertical direction and one location in the horizontal direction) for transporting the vapor deposition source 71 and gives a position command 61 to the assist control program 64. When the assist control program 64 receives the position command, it applies a low-pass filter 62 to the position command. Next, the position command 63 multiplied by the low-pass filter 62 is differentiated to obtain the velocity V, and further differentiated to obtain the acceleration α. From the speed, acceleration and constant tables TA, TB and TC determined in advance, the position command 63, the obtained speed V and the multiplier suitable for the acceleration α or constants A, B and C are selected, and the equation (1) is obtained. Based on this, a command torque τr to the assist shaft is calculated, and a command is given to the assist shaft 66.
τr = Aα + Bv ² + C (1)
As a result, the load on the main shaft can be reduced in real time by the assist shaft in the two-dimensional transport of the vapor deposition source, which is a heavy object.

  In the assist control method described above, the torque is obtained based on the position command 63, the obtained speed V, and the acceleration α. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  According to the present embodiment described above, the main shaft can be reduced in size, and a film forming apparatus that can realize space saving in the vacuum evaporation chamber, or downsizing of the vacuum evaporation chamber itself, or a film forming method that can realize energy saving. Can provide.

  In the embodiment described above, an example in which a vapor deposition source that is a heavy object is transported two-dimensionally has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a case where the vapor deposition source is simply transported in the vertical direction.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the manufacturing apparatus of the organic EL display device has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to a film forming apparatus having an evaporation source that is a heavy object. Furthermore, the present invention is also applicable to transporting heavy objects other than the vapor deposition source in the film forming apparatus.
In addition, the heavy article conveyance assist mechanism and the heavy article conveyance assist method can be applied not only to the film forming apparatus but also to general heavy article conveyance.

1: Processing chamber 1bu: Vacuum deposition chamber 2: Transfer chamber 3: Load cluster 4: Delivery chamber 5: Transfer robot 6: Substrate 7: Deposition unit 8: Alignment unit 9: Processing transfer unit 10: Gate valve 31: Load lock chamber 50: Heavy load conveyance assist mechanism 51: Link unit 55: Assist drive unit 60: Control device 61: Main shaft position command 62: Low pass filter 63: Main shaft position command through low pass filter 64: Assist control program 65: Main shaft 66: Assist shaft 70: Vapor source drive means 71: Vapor source 72: Vertical drive means 74: Left and right drive means 81: Mask 91: Substrate chuck 100: Manufacturing apparatus for organic EL display device A to D: Cluster TA, TB , TC: Table V: Speed based on position command α: Acceleration based on position command τr: Reed Torque command to the strike axis.

Claims (11)

In a film forming apparatus having a main shaft that transports a heavy object two-dimensionally including a uniaxial direction or the uniaxial direction in a vacuum chamber,
A link having one end rotatably fixed to the wall of the vacuum chamber, the other end rotatably connected to the heavy object directly or indirectly, and the other end following the transport of the heavy object and parts, an assist mechanism for imparting torque to said one end so as to reduce the load of the main shaft possess,
The film forming apparatus, wherein the vacuum chamber is a vacuum evaporation chamber for depositing a film forming material on an object to be processed, and the heavy object is an evaporation source . The film forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the film forming material is an organic EL material, and the object to be processed is a display substrate. The vacuum vapor deposition chamber has a vapor deposition section including a plurality of vapor deposition locations for vapor depositing the different objects to be treated , and the main shaft is a first drive shaft that conveys the vapor deposition source between the vapor deposition locations. When film forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a second drive shaft for conveying the deposition source in the deposition point to the first drive shaft and a vertical direction. The plurality is 2, the one end is fixed to a wall surface of the vacuum deposition chamber corresponding to an intermediate position between the plurality of deposition locations , and the second drive shaft is provided at each of the plurality of deposition locations. The film forming apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the link portion is hollow, and at least one of wiring to the heavy object or piping for flowing a fluid is laid in the link portion . The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a drive source for the main shaft and the assist mechanism is provided outside the vacuum chamber, and the heavy object is conveyed through a vacuum seal provided on the wall. In a film forming method in which a heavy object is conveyed one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally in a vacuum chamber and a desired process is performed by the heavy object.
In the transport, one end is rotatably fixed to the wall of the vacuum chamber, the other end is rotatably connected to the heavy object directly or indirectly, and the other end follows the transport of the heavy object. The torque is applied to the one end by the assist mechanism so as to reduce the load on the main shaft that transports the heavy object, which is performed through a link portion having a mechanism ,
The vacuum chamber is a vacuum deposition chamber for depositing a film forming material on a target to be processed, the heavy object is a deposition source, and the deposition source is used to deposit on the target to be processed . The film forming method according to claim 7 , wherein the film forming material is an organic EL material, and the object to be processed is a display substrate. The vacuum deposition chamber includes a deposition unit including a plurality of deposition locations for depositing the different objects to be processed , and the deposition source is transported between the deposition locations by a first drive shaft among the main shafts. The film forming method according to claim 7 , wherein the deposition source is transported in a direction perpendicular to the first drive shaft at the deposition position by a second drive shaft of the main shaft. The film forming method according to claim 7, wherein the torque is determined based on a position of the heavy object. The film forming method according to claim 7 , wherein the torque is determined based on a position, speed, and acceleration of the heavy object.

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