JP6833610B2 - Evaporative Sources for Organic Materials, Devices with Evaporative Sources for Organic Materials, Systems with Evaporative Accumulation Devices Containing Evaporative Sources for Organic Materials, and Methods for Manipulating Evaporative Sources for Organic Materials - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the deposition of organic materials, such as systems for depositing materials, such as organic materials, organic material sources and organic material deposition equipment. An embodiment of the present invention is a manufacturing system for manufacturing a device, particularly a device containing an organic material therein, a substrate in which one or more layers, particularly a layer containing an organic material therein, is supported by a carrier. Support by carriers for systems for depositing on top, devices, especially methods for manufacturing devices in manufacturing systems for manufacturing devices containing organic materials, and one or more layers, in particular layers containing organic materials therein. It relates to a method of depositing one or more layers in a system for depositing on a solid substrate.

Organic evaporators are tools for the production of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). An OLED is a special type of light emitting diode that contains a thin film of an organic compound that has a light emitting layer inside. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are used in the manufacture of television screens, computer monitors, mobile phones, and other handheld devices for displaying information. OLEDs can also be used for general spatial lighting. The range of colors, brightness, and viewing angles possible with an OLED display is greater than that of a conventional LCD display because the OLED pixels emit light directly and do not require a backlight. Therefore, the energy consumption of an OLED display is considerably lower than that of a conventional LCD display. In addition, the fact that OLEDs can be manufactured on flexible substrates offers additional applications. For example, an OLED display may include a layer of organic material located between two electrodes, all deposited on a substrate, to form a matrix display panel with individually energizable pixels. The OLED is typically placed between two glass panels, the edges of which are sealed to encapsulate the OLED inside.

There are many challenges encountered in the manufacture of such display devices. In one example, there are many labor-intensive steps required to encapsulate the OLED between the two glass panels to prevent possible contamination of the device. In another example, different sizes of display screens, as well as different sizes of glass panels, may require a substantial restructuring of the processes and process hardware used to form the display device. In general, it is desirable that the OLED device be manufactured on a large area substrate.

One step in the manufacture of large-scale OLED displays that poses a variety of challenges is, for example, masking the substrate for the deposition of patterned layers. Moreover, in known systems, the slight overall material utilization is typically less than 50%, for example.

Therefore, there is an ongoing need for new and improved systems, devices and methods for forming devices such as OLED display devices.

Considering the above, an improved system for depositing one or more layers, particularly a layer containing an organic material therein, on a substrate supported by a carrier, and one or more layers, particularly an organic material, thereof. An improved method of depositing one or more layers in a system for depositing an internal layer on a carrier-supported substrate is provided. Further aspects, advantages and features of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the dependent claims, the specification and the accompanying drawings.

A system for depositing one or more layers, particularly layers containing an organic material therein, on a carrier-supported substrate is provided. The system includes a load lock chamber for mounting the substrate to be processed; a transfer chamber for transporting the substrate; a vacuum swing module provided between the load lock chamber and the transfer chamber; at least one deposit. At least one depositor for depositing material in the vacuum chamber of the device, with at least one depositor connected to the transfer chamber; and an additional loadlock chamber for removing the treated substrate. With additional transfer chambers for transporting substrates; with additional vacuum swing modules provided between additional load lock chambers and additional transfer chambers; carrier return from additional vacuum swing modules to vacuum swing modules It comprises a carrier module with a carrier return orbit configured to carry the carriers under vacuum conditions and / or under a controlled inert atmosphere.

According to another embodiment, there is provided a method of depositing one or more layers in a system for depositing one or more layers, particularly a layer containing an organic material therein, on a substrate supported by a carrier. To. The method is to place the substrate in a horizontal orientation in the system; to place the substrate on a carrier in a vacuum swing module; to rotate the substrate vertically in a vacuum swing module; Rotating the carrier vertically in the vacuum swing module with the substrate mounted; through the system with the carrier mounted substrate into at least one deposition chamber under vacuum conditions and at least one said. Transferring from one deposition chamber; rotating the carrier horizontally in a further vacuum swing module; removing the substrate horizontally from the carrier in a further vacuum swing module; vacuum conditions and / Or including returning empty carriers from the additional vacuum swing module to the vacuum swing module under a controlled inert atmosphere.

A further embodiment provides a system for depositing one or more layers, particularly layers containing an organic material therein, on a substrate supported by a carrier. The system is a load-lock chamber for placing the substrate to be processed in a horizontal orientation; a transfer chamber for transporting the substrate; a vacuum swing module provided between the load-lock chamber and the transfer chamber. A vacuum swing module configured to rotate the substrate from horizontal to vertical orientation; at least one depositor for depositing material in the vacuum chamber of at least one depositor, a transfer chamber. With at least one depositor connected to; an additional load-locking chamber for horizontally orienting the treated substrate; an additional transfer chamber for transporting the substrate; an additional load-locking chamber and an additional An additional vacuum swing module provided between the transfer chamber and a vacuum swing module configured to rotate the substrate from vertical to horizontal orientation for horizontal orientation; additional vacuum swing. Carrier return trajectories from the module to the vacuum swing module, including carrier return trajectories configured to transport carriers under vacuum conditions and / or controlled inert atmospheres.

By referring to embodiments, a more detailed description of the invention, briefly outlined above, can be obtained so that the above features of the invention can be understood in detail. The accompanying drawings relate to embodiments of the present invention and are described in the following description.

A to D show schematics illustrating evaporation sources for organic materials according to the embodiments described herein at different deposition locations in the vacuum chamber of the deposition apparatus according to the further embodiments described herein. A schematic top view of a depositing apparatus for depositing organic material in a vacuum chamber according to the embodiment described herein is shown. A schematic top view of another depositing device for depositing organic material in a vacuum chamber according to the embodiment described herein is shown. A and B are depositors for depositing organic material in the vacuum chamber according to the embodiments described herein, and organic materials according to the embodiments described herein at different deposition locations within the vacuum chamber. A schematic side view of the evaporation source for evaporation is shown. A and B are depositors for depositing organic material in the vacuum chamber according to the embodiments described herein, and organic materials according to the embodiments described herein at different deposition locations within the vacuum chamber. A schematic diagram of the evaporation source for evaporation is shown. FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of a system according to the embodiments described herein having at least two depositors and an evaporation source for evaporation of organic material. A and B show a schematic view of a portion of the evaporation source according to the embodiment described herein, and C shows a schematic view of another evaporation source according to the embodiment described herein. A and B are depositors for depositing organic material in the vacuum chamber according to the embodiments described herein, and organic materials according to the embodiments described herein at different deposition locations within the vacuum chamber. A schematic diagram of the evaporation source for evaporation is shown. FIG. 6 shows a schematic of another depositing device for depositing organic material in a vacuum chamber according to the embodiments described herein. A flowchart showing a method for evaporating an organic material according to the embodiment described in the present specification is shown. A manufacturing system having a cluster system portion, a vacuum swing module, a transfer chamber, an additional transfer chamber, an additional vacuum swing module and an additional cluster system portion as described herein is shown. A represents a vacuum swing module that can be used in the manufacturing system according to the embodiments described herein, and B is a carrier having a substrate supported inside the carrier in the vacuum swing module described with respect to A. Shows the rotation of. A to C illustrate dual orbital transfer devices that can be provided within the transfer chamber according to some of the embodiments described herein, further providing carrier return trajectories. Demonstrates an additional manufacturing system with a cluster system part, a vacuum swing module, a transfer chamber, an additional transfer chamber, an additional vacuum swing module, and an additional cluster system part, with a row of deposition system parts and carrier return trajectories. It is provided according to some embodiments of the specification. A and B represent a further manufacturing system according to an embodiment described herein, having a lined deposition system portion similar to FIG. 14 and an independent carrier return trajectory. A further manufacturing system is shown, in which depositors with looped trajectories and / or source-row configurations are combined with depositors with linearly moving and rotatable evaporation sources. A further manufacturing system is shown, in which depositors with looped trajectories and / or source-row configurations are combined with depositors with linearly moving and rotatable evaporation sources. A flowchart illustrating an operation method of the manufacturing system according to the embodiment described in the present specification is shown.

From this, various embodiments of the present invention are referred to in detail, one or more examples thereof are illustrated. In the following description of the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to the same components. In general, only differences regarding individual embodiments are explained. Although each example is provided as an explanation of the present invention, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Further, it is possible to obtain further embodiments by combining the features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment in other embodiments or in combination with other embodiments. The present specification is intended to include such modifications and modifications.

1A-1D show evaporation sources 100 at various locations within the vacuum chamber 110. Movement between different positions is indicated by arrows 101B, 101C, and 101D. According to the embodiments described herein, the evaporation source is configured for translational motion and rotation around the axis. 1A to 1D show an evaporation source 100 having an evaporation crucible 104 and a distribution pipe 106. The branch pipe 106 is supported by the support 102. Further, according to some embodiments, the evaporative crucible 104 can also be supported by the support 102. The two substrates 121 are provided in the vacuum chamber 110. Typically, a mask 132 for masking layer deposition on the substrate can be provided between the substrate and the evaporation source 100. As shown in FIGS. 1A to 1D, the organic material evaporates from the distribution pipe 106. This is indicated by reference number 10.

In FIG. 1A, the evaporation source 100 is shown in the first position. As shown in FIG. 1B, the substrate on the left side of the vacuum chamber 110 is deposited with a layer of organic material by the translational motion of the evaporation source, as indicated by arrow 101B. The second substrate, eg, the substrate on the right side of FIGS. 1A to 1D, can be replaced while the substrate 121 on the left side is deposited with a layer of organic material. FIG. 1B shows a transport track 124 for the substrate. After the left substrate 121 is deposited with a layer of organic material, the evaporation source shunt 106 rotates as indicated by arrow 101C in FIG. 1C. During the deposition of the organic material on the first substrate (the substrate on the left side of FIG. 1B), the second substrate was positioned and aligned with respect to the mask 132. Therefore, after rotation as shown in FIG. 1C, the right substrate, i.e., the second substrate 121, can be coated with a layer of organic material as indicated by arrow 101D. The first substrate can be moved out of the vacuum chamber 110 while the second substrate 121 is coated with the organic material. FIG. 1D shows the transport track 124 at the position of the first substrate (left side of FIG. 1D).

According to the embodiments described herein, the substrate is coated with an organic material essentially in a vertical position. In short, the figures shown in FIGS. 1A to 1D are top views of the apparatus including the evaporation source 100. Typically, the shunt is a steam distribution shower head, especially a linear steam distribution shower head. This allows the shunt to provide a source that extends essentially vertically. According to the embodiments described herein, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, essentially vertical is 10 degrees or less, especially when referring to substrate orientation. It is understood to allow deviations from the vertical direction. This deviation can be provided because the substrate support with some deviation from the vertical orientation can provide a more stable substrate position. However, the substrate orientation during the deposition of organic material is considered to be essentially vertical and different from the horizontal substrate orientation. Thereby, the surface of the substrate is coated by a source extending in one direction corresponding to one substrate dimension and a translational motion along the other direction corresponding to the other substrate dimensions.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the rotation of the distribution pipe 106, that is, the rotation from the first substrate 121 to the second substrate 121 can be 180 degrees. After the second substrate has been deposited as shown in FIG. 1D, the shunt 106 can be rotated 180 degrees backwards or in the same direction as shown in FIG. 1C. Either. As a result, the substrate is rotated 360 degrees in total. According to the embodiments described herein, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the distribution pipe 106, for example, has an evaporative coil designated by reference numeral 10 on the surface of the substrate 121. If not provided at right angles, it will be rotated at least 160 degrees. However, typically the substrate is rotated 180 degrees or at least 360 degrees.

According to the embodiments described herein, an OLED display is produced, for example, by combining translational motion of a source such as a linear steam distribution shower head with rotation of the source such as a linear steam distribution shower head. High evaporation source efficiency and high material utilization for production are possible, in which case high precision masking of the substrate is desired. Since the substrate and mask can remain stationary, the translational motion of the source allows for high masking accuracy. While another substrate is coated with an organic material, it is possible to replace the substrate of one substrate by rotational movement. This significantly improves material utilization because the idle time, i.e., the time the evaporation source evaporates the organic material without coating the substrate, is significantly reduced.

The embodiments described herein relate, in particular, to the deposition of organic materials on large area substrates, for example for the manufacture of OLED displays. According to some embodiments, a large area substrate, or a carrier that supports one or more substrates, i.e., a large area carrier, can have a size of ^{at least 0.174 m 2.} Typically, the size of the carrier can be from about 1.4 m ² to about 8 m ² , more typically ^{from about 2 m 2} to about 9 m 2, and even up to 12 m ² . Typically, a carrier having the size of a large area substrate described herein is a rectangular area on which the substrate on which the holding equipment, equipment, and methods according to the embodiments described herein are supported. is there. For example, a large area carrier that would correspond to the area of a single large area substrate, a ^{GEN5 corresponding to a substrate of about 1.4 m 2} (1.1 m x 1.3 m), a substrate of ^{about 4.29 m 2 (} GEN 7.5 corresponding to 1.95m x 2.2m), GEN 8.5 corresponding to ^{a substrate of about 5.7m 2} (2.2m x 2.5m), or a substrate of ^{about 8.7m 2 (2.85m)} It can be GEN10 corresponding to × 3.05 m). Larger generations such as GEN11 and GEN12 and corresponding substrate areas can be realized as well. According to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the thickness of the substrate can be 0.1 to 1.8 mm, and the holding equipment and especially the holding device. It can be adapted to the thickness of such a substrate. However, in particular the thickness of the substrate can be about 0.9 mm or less, eg 0.5 mm or 0.3 mm, and the holding equipment and especially the holding device are adapted to the thickness of such a substrate. .. Typically, the substrate can be made from any material suitable for material deposition. For example, the substrate consists of a group consisting of glass (eg soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, etc.), metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, carbon fiber materials, or other materials and combinations of materials that can be coated by deposition treatment. It may be made from selected materials.

In order to achieve good reliability and yield, the embodiments described herein keep the mask and substrate stationary during the deposition of organic material. A movable linear source for uniform coating of large area substrates is provided. The idle time needs to be replaced after each deposition, which is reduced compared to operations that include a new alignment step for the mask and the substrate with respect to each other. During idle time, the source is wasting material. Therefore, having a second substrate that is easily aligned with the mask at the deposition position reduces idle time and increases material utilization.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a depositing device 200 for depositing organic material in a vacuum chamber 110. The evaporation source 100 is provided in the vacuum chamber 110 on an orbital or linear guide 220. The linear guide 220 is configured for translational motion of the evaporation source 100. Thereby, according to different embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the driver for translational motion is placed in the evaporation source 100, in orbital or linear guide 220, in a vacuum chamber. It can be provided within 110 or in combination thereof. FIG. 2 shows a valve 205 such as a gate valve, for example. Valve 205 allows vacuum sealing to an adjacent vacuum chamber (not shown in FIG. 2). The valve can be opened for transport of the substrate 121 or mask 132 into or out of the vacuum chamber 110.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, additional vacuum chambers, such as the maintenance vacuum chamber 210, are provided adjacent to the vacuum chamber 110. As a result, the vacuum chamber 110 and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 are connected by the valve 207. The valve 207 is configured to open and close the vacuum seal between the vacuum chamber 110 and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. The evaporation source 100 can be transferred to the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 while the valve 207 is open. The valve can then be closed to provide a vacuum seal between the vacuum chamber 110 and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. When the valve 207 is closed, the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 can be ventilated and opened for maintenance of the evaporation source 100 without breaking the vacuum in the vacuum chamber 110.

The two substrates 121 are supported on their respective transfer trajectories within the vacuum chamber 110. In addition, two orbitals are provided on which the mask 132 is provided. Thereby, the coating on the substrate 121 can be masked by the respective masks 132. According to a typical embodiment, the mask 132, that is, the first mask 132 corresponding to the first substrate 121 and the second mask 132 corresponding to the second substrate 121 are contained in the mask frame 131. Provided, holding the mask 132 in place.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate 121 can be supported by a substrate support 126 coupled to the alignment unit 112. The alignment unit 112 can adjust the position of the substrate 121 with respect to the mask 132. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the substrate support 126 is connected to the alignment unit 112. Therefore, the substrate is moved relative to the mask 132 for proper alignment between the substrate and the mask during the deposition of organic material. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, an alternative or additional mask 132 and / or a mask frame 131 holding the mask 132 is attached to the alignment unit 112. Can be connected. As a result, either the mask can be positioned with respect to the substrate 121, or both the mask 132 and the substrate 121 can be positioned with respect to each other. The alignment unit 112, which is configured to adjust the relative position between the substrate 121 and the mask 132 relative to each other, allows proper alignment of the mask during the deposition process to produce a high quality display. Alternatively, it is useful for manufacturing LED displays.

Examples of alignment of the mask and the substrate with respect to each other include an alignment unit that allows relative alignment in at least two directions defining a plane of the substrate and a plane that is substantially parallel to the plane of the mask. For example, alignment can be done at least in the x- and y- directions, i.e., in the two Cartesian directions defining the parallel planes. Typically, the mask and substrate can be essentially parallel to each other. In particular, the alignment can be further performed in a direction essentially perpendicular to the plane of the substrate and the plane of the mask. Therefore, the alignment unit is configured with at least XY alignment, especially XYZ alignment of the mask and substrate with respect to each other. One particular example that can be combined with other embodiments described herein is a mask that can hold the substrate stationary in the vacuum chamber 110 in the x-, y-, and z- directions. It is to align.

As shown in FIG. 2, the linear guide 220 provides the direction of translational motion of the evaporation source 100. Masks 132 are provided on both sides of the evaporation source 100. This allows the mask 132 to extend essentially parallel to the direction of translational motion. Further, the substrate 121 on the opposite side of the evaporation source 100 can also extend essentially parallel to the direction of translational motion. According to a typical embodiment, the substrate 121 can be moved into and out of the vacuum chamber 110 via the valve 205. Thereby, the deposition apparatus 200 can include each transfer track for each transfer of the substrate 121. For example, the transport track can extend into and out of the vacuum chamber 110 parallel to the substrate position shown in FIG.

Typically, additional trajectories are provided to support the mask frame 131 and thus the mask 132. Therefore, some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein can include four trajectories within the processing vacuum chamber 110. For example, in order to move one of the masks 132 from the chamber, such as for mask cleaning, the mask frame 131 and thereby the mask can be moved onto the transport trajectory of the substrate 121. Each mask frame can then move in and out of the vacuum chamber 110 on the transfer trajectory of the substrate. Although it is possible to provide the mask frame 131 with separate transport trajectories into and out of the vacuum chamber 110, the cost of owning the depositor 200 is only two trajectories, i.e. the transport trajectories for the substrate. However, it can be reduced if it extends into and out of the vacuum chamber 110 and, in addition, the mask frame 131 can be moved to each of the transport trajectories with respect to the substrate by a suitable actuator or robot.

FIG. 2 shows another exemplary embodiment of the evaporation source 100. The evaporation source 100 includes a support 102. The support 102 is configured for translational movement along the linear guide 220. The support 102 supports the evaporative crucible 104 and the distribution pipe 106 provided on the evaporative crucible 104. As a result, the steam generated in the evaporating crucible can move upward from one or more outlets of the branch pipe. According to the embodiments described herein, the branch pipe 106 can also be considered as a steam distribution shower head, eg, a linear steam distribution shower head.

The one or more outlets can be, for example, one or more openings or one or more nozzles provided in a shower head or other steam distribution system. The evaporation source can include a steam distribution shower head, eg, a linear steam distribution shower head with multiple nozzles or openings. It can be understood herein that the shower head includes a housing having an opening such that the pressure inside the shower head is at least an order of magnitude higher than the pressure outside the shower head.

FIG. 2 further shows a shield assembly having at least one shield 202. Typically, as shown in FIG. 2, embodiments can include two shields 202, such as side shields. Thereby, the evaporation of the organic material can be ranged in the direction toward the substrate. Lateral evaporation with respect to the shunt, eg, evaporation in the direction perpendicular to the normal evaporation direction, can be avoided or used only in idle mode. Considering the fact that it may be easier to block the vapor beam of organic material compared to switching off the vapor beam of organic material, the shunt 106 also has an operating mode in which vapor evaporation is not desirable. It may be rotated towards one of the side shields 202 in order to prevent steam from exiting the evaporation source 100.

According to the embodiments described herein, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, rotation of the shunt is provided by at least rotation of the evaporator control housing to which the shunt is mounted. be able to. Typically, the evaporative crucible is also mounted in the evaporator control housing. Thus, the evaporation source is at least rotatably mounted in the tubing, especially both, i.e., rotatably mounted shunting and evaporative crucibles, more specifically together rotatably. Includes control housing, sluice and evaporation crucible. Typically, one or more side shields can be fixed and fitted so that they do not rotate with the shunt. According to a typical example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the side shields can be provided such that the steam outlets are provided on the two sides of the evaporation source, with two sides each. It faces one of the substrates. Therefore, the fixed side shield is stationary with respect to the rotation of the branch pipe around the axis. However, the side shield follows the translational motion and is movable relative to the translational motion.

FIG. 3 shows a further modification that can be combined with other embodiments described herein. As a result, the details, embodiments and features already described for FIG. 2 will be omitted for convenience of reference. Compared to FIG. 2, the evaporation source 100 shown in FIG. 3 includes three evaporation crucibles 104 and three branch pipes 106. One organic material can be evaporated, or multiple organic materials can be evaporated for the purpose of depositing one layer of organic material in order to coat the substrate with a layer of organic material. As a result, the plurality of organic materials are mixed in a vapor state and / or on the surface of the substrate to form one layer of the organic material. With this in mind, according to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the plurality of evaporative crucibles 104 and the plurality of branch pipes 106 are supported by the support 102. Can be done. As mentioned above, the shunt can provide a source, such as a linear distribution showerhead, and the support 102 further provides a linear guide 220 for depositing organic material on the substrate 121. Move along.

According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, transfer of the evaporation source 100 in the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 can be provided by an extended portion of the linear guide 220. .. This provides an additional linear guide 320 within the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. In addition, a second evaporation source 100 can be provided in a standby position within the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. FIG. 3 shows an additional evaporation source 100 in the standby position on the left side of the maintenance vacuum chamber. According to some embodiments that operate the depositor 200, the evaporation source 100 shown in the vacuum chamber 110 can be moved into the maintenance vacuum chamber 210, for example, if maintenance is desired. The valve 207 can be opened for this movement. The additional evaporation source 100 shown in FIG. 3, which is in the standby position and ready for operation, can be moved into the vacuum chamber 110. The valve 207 can then be closed and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 can be ventilated and opened for maintenance of the first evaporation source 100 that has just moved into a standby position within the maintenance vacuum chamber. This allows for rapid replacement of the evaporation source. Therefore, the depositor 200 has reduced downtime, which creates a significant portion of the cost of owning a known depositor.

In addition, the embodiments described herein allow for stable evaporation rates of, for example, about ± 5% or less on a time scale of one week or more. This can be provided, in particular, by improved maintenance conditions. However, according to the method of further acting the organic material, the replenishment of the organic material in the evaporating crucible can be carried out without breaking the vacuum and further without stopping the evaporation of the deposition apparatus. Maintenance and replenishment of one evaporation source can be performed independently of the operation of another source. This improves cost of ownership (CoO), as source maintenance and replenishment is an obstacle in many other OLED manufacturing systems. In short, the high system uptime due to the lack of ventilation of the substrate handling chamber or deposition chamber during routine maintenance or mask replacement can significantly improve CoO. As mentioned above, one reason for this improvement is the maintenance vacuum chamber and / or other components associated with the maintenance vacuum chamber described herein, a separate chamber that can be evacuated, ie maintenance. Maintenance and pre-adjustment of one or more sources of evaporation within a vacuum chamber or another source storage chamber is provided.

4A and 4B show schematic side sectional views of a depositor 200 for depositing organic materials. As a result, FIG. 4A shows an operating situation in which the left substrate 121 in the vacuum chamber 110 is coated with an organic material. In FIG. 4B, the substrate 121 on the right side in the vacuum chamber 110 is coated with an organic material after the shunt 106 (two shunts can be seen in FIGS. 4A and 4B) has been rotated. Indicates the operating status.

4A and 4B show a first transport track with respect to the first substrate 121 and a second transport track with respect to the second substrate 121. The first roller assembly is shown on one side of the vacuum chamber 110 and the second roller assembly is shown on the other side of the vacuum chamber. 4A and 4B show the respective rollers 424 of the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly. The rollers can rotate around the shaft 425 and are driven by a driver system. Typically, a plurality of rollers are rotated by a single motor. The substrate 121 is supported in the carrier 421. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the carrier 421 has a rod underneath it, which can engage the rollers. Therefore, according to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, a first transport trek to a first substrate and a second transport trek to a second substrate. Is provided. Two additional tracks are provided, for example, by their respective roller assemblies. 4A and 4B show rollers 403 on both sides of the vacuum chamber 110. Further trajectories are configured to support the mask 132, which can be supported within the mask frame 131. According to an exemplary embodiment, the mask frame 131 may have a rod 431 below it for engaging the rollers 403 of each roller assembly.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, carriers adapted for use in processing systems include electrode assemblies and support bases. The electrode assembly is configured to generate an electrostatic chucking force to secure the substrate to the substrate carrier. According to a further additional or alternative modification, the support base has an internally formed heating / cooling reservoir. The electrode assembly and support base form a unitary body configured for transport within the processing system. The carrier can be connected to the supply medium in the processing system. A quick disconnect can be configured to capture the heat control medium in the reservoir heating / cooling reservoir once the body is separated from the source of the heat control medium. it can. The quick disconnect can be coupled to add a chucking charge.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, an actuator or robot for moving the mask frame 131 from roller 403 to roller 424 is in the vacuum chamber 110. Provided. This provides a mask frame, and even a mask, on a roller assembly that provides a transport track. Therefore, the mask frame 131 can be moved into and out of the vacuum chamber 110 along the transport trajectory provided by the roller assembly of the substrate.

In FIG. 4A, the left substrate 121 is coated with an organic material. This is indicated by reference numeral 10 which illustrates that the vapor of the organic material is guided through a plurality of discharge openings or nozzles in the distribution pipe 106. The substrate and carrier on the right side of the vacuum chamber 110 are shown dotted in FIG. 4A. The dotted line indicates that the substrate is in or under transfer from the vacuum chamber 110, or that the substrate and mask 132 are currently aligned with respect to each other. Typically, the transfer of the substrate coated with the organic material and the alignment of the mask are completed before the deposition of the organic material on the left substrate is completed. As a result, the evaporation source 100 can be immediately rotated from the deposition position of the left substrate to the deposition position of the right substrate, which is shown in FIG. 4B.

The evaporation source 100 includes, for example, an actuator 108 such as a torque motor, an electric rotor or a pneumatic rotor. The actuator 108 can provide torque via a vacuum rotary feedthrough 109, such as a ferrofluid feedthrough. The actuator 108 is configured to rotate at least the shunt 106 around an axis that is essentially vertical. The evaporation source includes, for example, a support 102 capable of accommodating the actuator 108 and the feedthrough 109. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the evaporation source 100 further includes an evaporator control housing 402. The evaporator control housing 402 can be an atmospheric box, i.e., a box configured to maintain internal atmospheric pressure even when the vacuum chamber 110 is evacuated to a technical vacuum. For example, at least one element selected from the group consisting of switches, valves, controllers, cooling units and cooling control units can be provided within the evaporator control housing 402. The support 102 further supports the evaporative crucible 104 and the distribution pipe 106.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the support 102 is engaged with a linear guide 433. Translational motion of the evaporation source can be provided by moving the support 102 within or onto the linear guide 433. This allows actuators, drivers, motors, driver belts, and / or driver chains to be provided in linear guides or in supports 102. According to a further alternative, each part of the actuator, driver, motor, driver belt, and / or driver chain can be provided in both the linear guide and the support.

From the coating position where the left side substrate 121 in the vacuum chamber 110 is coated (see FIG. 1A) to the position where the branch pipe is coated with the organic material on the right side substrate 121 in the vacuum chamber 110 (FIG. 4B). After being rotated to (see), the evaporation source 100 is moved by translational motion along a linear guide 433 to deposit the right substrate 121 in the vacuum chamber 110. As shown by the dotted line on the left side of FIG. 4B, the first substrate pre-coated with organic material is moved from the vacuum chamber 110 at this point. A new substrate is provided in the processing area in the vacuum chamber 110 on the left side, and the mask 132 and the substrate 121 are aligned with each other. Therefore, after the right substrate 121 is coated with a layer of organic material, the shunt 106 can be rotated by the actuator 108 to re-deposit the organic material on the new left substrate 121.

As mentioned above, the embodiments described herein include translational motion of at least one shunt that provides a source along one dimension of substrate 121 and a second process from the first processing area. Each of the first processing region and the second processing region is configured to have a substrate supported internally, including the rotation of at least one subdivision to the region. For example, the substrate in the processing area is supported in the carrier, and then the carrier is provided on the transport trajectory and / or actuator for alignment of the substrate position. Typically, at least one branch 106 forming the source extends essentially vertically, i.e. the line defining the source extends essentially vertically, and the at least one branch 106 The axis of rotation also extends essentially vertically. At least one shunt 106 is configured to rotate during operation. For example, as can be seen with respect to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the direction of forming the radiation source and the direction of the rotation axis can be parallel.

According to some embodiments, the evaporation source may include mechanical signal and / or power transfer to the source, for example having a sliding contact. For example, a combination of linear screwdriver, vacuum rotating unit and / or sliding contacts can be provided for signal and / or power transfer to the evaporation source. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the evaporation source can include inductive power transmission and / or inductive signal transmission. 4A and 4B show the first coil arrangement 452 in the evaporation source 100, eg, the support 102, and the second coil arrangement 453 in the vacuum chamber 110. Thereby, the electric power and / or the control signal can be inductively transmitted from the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 to the evaporation source 100. For example, the coil arrangement 453 can extend within the vacuum chamber so that power and / or signal transmission can be provided regardless of the position of translational motion. According to different embodiments, the power for the evaporating pot, that is, the power for evaporating the organic material, the power for the actuator 108, that is, the power for rotating the split pipe, the control signal for evaporation control, the rotation control of the split pipe And at least one of the control signals for translational motion can be provided by a combination of coil arrangements.

According to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the evaporation source is at least one evaporation crucible and at least one shunt, eg, at least one linear steam distribution. Including shower head. However, the evaporative source can include two or three, and ultimately four or even five, evaporative crucibles and the corresponding sluice. This allows different organic materials to evaporate in at least two of several crucibles so as to form one organic layer on the substrate. Additional or alternative, similar organic materials can be evaporated in at least two of several crucibles so that the deposition rate can be increased. Organic materials can often evaporate only within a relatively small temperature range (eg, 20 ° C. or below), and therefore, by increasing the temperature in the crucible, the rate of evaporation is significantly increased. This is especially true as it cannot be enhanced.

According to the embodiments described herein, methods of manipulating evaporation sources, deposition equipment, evaporation sources and / or deposition equipment, and manufacturing of evaporation sources and / or deposition equipment are configured for vertical deposition. That is, the substrate is essentially supported in vertical orientation (eg, vertical ± 10 degrees) during layer deposition. In addition, by a combination of source, translational motion and rotation in the direction of evaporation, especially around an axis that is essentially vertical, eg, substrate orientation and / or rotation around the axis that is parallel to the line extension of the source, about 80%. Higher material utilization rate than that is possible. This is an improvement of at least 30% compared to other systems.

A movable and rotatable evaporation source within the processing chamber, i.e., within the vacuum chamber for layer deposition inside, allows continuous or near continuous coating with high material utilization. In general, according to the embodiments described herein, high evaporation source efficiency (> 85%) and high by using a scanning source approach with a 180 degree rotation mechanism to coat two alternating substrates. Material utilization (at least 50% or more) is possible. Thereby, the source efficiency takes into account the material loss caused by the fact that the vapor beam extends beyond the size of the large area substrate so that the entire area of the substrate to be coated can be uniformly coated. In addition, the material utilization also takes into account the losses that occur during the idle time of the evaporation source, that is, during the time when the evaporation source is unable to deposit the evaporated material on the substrate.

Furthermore, as described herein, according to embodiments relating to vertical substrate orientation, deposition comprises a small footprint of the depositor, and in particular several depositors for coating several layers of organic material on the substrate. Allows for a small footprint of the system. Thereby, the apparatus described herein can be considered to be configured for large area substrate processing or processing of multiple substrates in a large area carrier. Vertical orientation further allows for good scalability for current and future substrate size generations, i.e. current and future glass sizes.

5A and 5B show a further embodiment of the depositor 500. FIG. 5A shows a schematic top view of the depositor 500. FIG. 5B shows a schematic side sectional view of the depositor 500. The depositor 500 includes a vacuum chamber 110. A valve 205, such as a gate valve, allows vacuum sealing to an adjacent vacuum chamber. The valve can be opened for transport of the substrate 121 or mask 132 into or out of the vacuum chamber 110. Two or more evaporation sources 100 are provided in the vacuum chamber 110. The example shown in FIG. 5A shows seven evaporation sources. According to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, two evaporation sources, three evaporation sources, or four evaporation sources can be advantageously provided. Also, a limited number of evaporation sources (eg, 2-4) may be easier to maintain logistically compared to a larger number of evaporation sources that may be provided by some embodiments. Therefore, the cost of ownership for such a system may be preferable.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, and as shown, for example, in FIG. 5A, a looped orbital 530 can be provided. The looped orbit 530 can include a straight portion 534 and a curved portion 533. The looped orbit 530 provides translational motion of the evaporation source and rotation of the evaporation source. As mentioned above, the evaporation source can typically be a source, eg, a linear vapor distribution shower head.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the loop trajectories are rails or rails to move one or more evaporation sources along the loop trajectories. Includes rail devices, roller devices or magnetic guides.

Based on the looped trajectory 530, the source sequence can move in translational motion along the substrate 121, which is typically masked by the mask 132. The curved portion 533 of the looped orbit 530 rotates the evaporation source 100. Further, the curved portion 533 can be provided to position the evaporation source in front of the second substrate 121. A further straight portion 534 of the looped orbit 530 provides additional translational motion along the additional substrate 121. This allows the substrate 121 and mask 132 to remain essentially stationary during deposition, according to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, as described above. is there. Sources, such as evaporation sources that provide multiple sources in which the lines are essentially vertically oriented, are moved along a stationary substrate.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate 121 shown in the vacuum chamber 110 is further driven by a substrate support having rollers 403 and 424. In the stationary deposition position, it can be supported by the substrate support 126 connected to the alignment unit 112. The alignment unit 112 can adjust the position of the substrate 121 with respect to the mask 132. Therefore, the substrate can be moved relative to the mask 132 for proper alignment between the substrate and the mask during deposition of the organic material. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, an alternative or additional mask 132 and / or a mask frame 131 holding the mask 132 is attached to the alignment unit 112. Can be connected. As a result, either the mask can be positioned with respect to the substrate 121, or both the mask 132 and the substrate 121 can be positioned with respect to each other.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B show two substrates 121 provided in a vacuum chamber 110. However, at least three or at least four substrates can be provided, especially for embodiments that include a row of evaporation sources 100 in a vacuum chamber. This provides sufficient time for substrate replacement, i.e. sufficient time for transporting the new substrate into and out of the vacuum chamber and the processed substrate from the vacuum chamber, with a large number of evaporation sources. Therefore it can even be provided for a depositor 500 with higher throughput.

5A and 5B show a first transport track with respect to the first substrate 121 and a second transport track with respect to the second substrate 121. The first roller assembly is shown on one side of the vacuum chamber 110. The first roller assembly includes rollers 424. In addition, the transport system includes a magnetic guide element 524. Similarly, a second transfer system with rollers and magnetic guide elements is provided on the opposite side of the vacuum chamber. The transport system can be operated, for example, as described with respect to FIGS. 4A and 4B. The upper part of the carrier 421 is guided by a magnetic guide element 524. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the mask frame 131 can be supported by rollers 403 and magnetic guide elements 503.

FIG. 5B schematically shows two supports 102 provided on each straight portion 534 of the looped orbit 530. The evaporative crucible 104 and the branch pipe 106 are supported by their respective supports 102. As a result, FIG. 5B shows the two branch pipes 106 supported by the support 102. The support 102 is shown to be guided over a straight portion 534 of the looped trajectory. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the actuator, driver, motor, driver belt, and / or driver chain are along a looped trajectory, i.e. The support 102 can be provided to move along the straight portion 534 of the looped orbit and along the curved portion 533 of the looped orbit (see FIG. 5A).

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a deposition system 600 having a first deposition apparatus 200 and a second deposition apparatus 200. According to the embodiments described herein, one or more transfer chambers are provided, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein. FIG. 6 schematically shows a first transfer chamber 610 and a second transfer chamber 611. Further, portions of transfer chambers 609 and 612 are shown. As shown in FIG. 6, a gate valve 605 is provided between the transfer chamber 610 and the transfer chamber 609. The gate valve 605 can be opened and closed to provide a vacuum seal between the transfer chamber 610 and the transfer chamber 609. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, one or more gate valves can be provided between two adjacent transfer chambers. The presence of the gate valve 605 depends on the application of the deposition system 600, i.e., the type, number, and / or order of organic material layers deposited on the substrate. Therefore, one or more gate valves 605 can be provided between the transfer chambers. Alternatively, gate valves are not provided between any of the transfer chambers.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, one or more of the transfer chambers can be provided as a vacuum rotating chamber. Inside it, the substrate 121 can be rotated around a central axis, eg, a vertical central axis. Thereby, the orientation of the transport track 621 can be changed. The two substrates 121 are rotated as shown in the transfer chamber 611. The two transport tracks 621R on which the substrate 121 is located rotate with respect to the two transport tracks 621 and extend from the transport track 621 of the depositor 200. In consideration of these, the two substrates 121 on the transfer track 621R are provided at positions where they are transferred to the adjacent transfer chambers 610 or 612, respectively.

The first depositor 200 is connected to the first transfer chamber 610 by a valve 205. According to some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 6 and which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the transfer track 621 extends from the vacuum chamber 110 into the transfer chamber 610. As a result, one or more of the substrates 121 can be transferred from the vacuum chamber 110 to the transfer chamber 610. This causes the valve 205 to typically open for transport of one or more substrates. The additional depositor 200 is connected to the second transfer chamber 611 by an additional valve 205. Thus, the substrate can be transferred from one depositor to the transfer chamber, from the transfer chamber to the additional transfer chamber, and from the additional transfer chamber to the additional depositor. This allows several layers of organic material to be deposited on the substrate without exposing the substrate to the atmosphere and / or undesired environment. According to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the transfer chamber is such that it transfers one or more substrates, for example, under vacuum and / or desired environment. It is a vacuum transfer chamber that is configured.

The depositor 200 shown in FIG. 6 is similar to or corresponds to the depositor described with respect to FIG. The embodiments, details and features described for the location device herein can also be provided to the deposition system 600 exemplified in FIG. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the evaporation source 100'can be provided in the deposition apparatus 200. The evaporation source 100'includes four branch pipes configured to guide the organic material on the substrate 121. This allows different organic materials to evaporate in at least two of the four crucibles so as to form one organic layer on the substrate. Additional or alternative, similar organic materials can be evaporated in at least two of the four crucibles so that the deposition rate can be increased. Each material evaporated in the four evaporating crucibles is guided towards the substrate 121 by each of the four branch pipes shown in FIG. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, for example, the side shields shown with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3 are omitted according to some embodiments. Can be done. This is illustrated exemplary for evaporation source 100'.

As mentioned above, according to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate 121 can be moved from the vacuum chamber 110 along a first direction. .. This causes the substrate 121 to move along an essentially straight path into the adjacent vacuum chamber, eg, into the transfer chamber. Within the transfer chamber, the substrate can be rotated so that it can move along a second straight path in a second direction that is different from the first direction. According to a typical embodiment, the second direction is substantially perpendicular to the first direction. This allows for easy design of sedimentary systems. To load the substrate into the vacuum chamber 110, the substrate can be moved into the transfer chamber along a second direction and rotated within it. The substrate can then be moved into the vacuum chamber 110 along a first direction that is different from the second direction.

7A-7C show the parts of the evaporation source that can be utilized according to the embodiments described herein. The evaporation source can include a branch pipe 106 and an evaporation crucible 104, as shown in FIG. 7A. Thereby, for example, this distribution pipe can be an elongated cube having a heating unit 715. The evaporating crucible can be a reservoir for the organic material that evaporates in the heating unit 725. According to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the shunt 106 provides a source. For example, a plurality of openings and / or nozzles are arranged along at least one line. According to an alternative embodiment, one elongated opening extending along at least one line can be provided. For example, the elongated opening can be a slit. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the lines extend essentially vertically. For example, the length of the branch pipe 106 corresponds to at least the height of the substrate deposited in the depositor. In many cases, the length of the shunt 106 will be at least 10% or 20% longer than the height of the deposited substrate. This can provide uniform deposition at the top and / or bottom of the substrate.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the length of the shunt may be 1.3 m or greater, eg 2.5 m or greater. can do. According to one configuration, as shown in FIG. 7A, the evaporative crucible 104 is provided at the lower end of the distribution pipe 106. The organic material evaporates in the evaporating crucible 104. Vapors of organic material enter the shunt 106 at the bottom of the shunt and are guided from essentially sideways through multiple openings in the shunt, for example towards an essentially vertical substrate. .. For exemplary purposes, an evaporative crucible 104 and shunt 106, without heat shield, is shown in FIG. 7A. As a result, the heating unit 715 and the heating unit 725 can be seen in the schematic perspective view shown in FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7B shows an enlarged schematic view of a part of the evaporation source, in which the branch pipe 106 is connected to the evaporating crucible 104. Provided is a flange unit 703 configured to connect between the evaporative crucible 104 and the distribution pipe 106. For example, evaporation crucibles and shunts are provided as separation units that can be separated and connected or assembled with flange units, for example for the operation of the evaporation source.

The branch pipe 106 has a hollow space 710 inside. The heating unit 715 is provided for heating the distribution pipe. Therefore, the branch pipe 106 can be heated to a temperature at which the vapor of the organic material provided by the evaporative crucible 104 does not liquefy in the inner portion of the wall of the branch pipe 106. A shield 717 is provided around the shunt pipe 106. The shield is configured to reflect the thermal energy provided by the heating unit 715 back towards the hollow space 710. Thereby, the energy required to heat the distribution pipe, that is, the energy provided to the heating unit 715 can be reduced because the shield 717 reduces the heat loss. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the shield 717 can include one heated shield layer. Alternatively, two or more heating shield layers can be provided within the heating shield 717.

Typically, as shown in FIG. 7B, the heat shield 717 includes an opening at the position of the opening 712 in the shunt 106. An enlarged view of the evaporation source shown in FIG. 7B shows four openings 712. The opening 712 is provided along a line essentially parallel to the axis of the shunt 106. As described herein, the shunt 106 can be provided, for example, as a linear distribution shower head with a plurality of openings arranged internally. Thus, the showerhead as understood herein has a housing, hollow space, or pipe from which material can be provided or guided, for example, from an evaporative crucible. The shower head can have a plurality of openings (or elongated slits) such that the pressure inside the shower head is higher than the pressure outside the shower head. For example, the pressure inside the shower head can be at least an order of magnitude higher than the pressure outside the shower head.

During operation, the distribution pipe 106 is connected to the evaporating crucible 104 by the flange unit 703. The evaporating crucible 104 is configured to receive the organic material to be evaporated and evaporate the organic material. FIG. 7B shows a cross-sectional view through the housing of the evaporative crucible 104. The refill opening is provided at the top of the evaporative crucible, which can be closed using, for example, a plug 722, a lid, a cover or the same kind for closing the housing of the evaporative crucible 104.

The outer heating unit 725 is provided in the housing of the evaporative crucible 104. The outer heating element can be at least extending along a portion of the wall of the evaporating crucible 104. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, one or more central heating elements 726 can be provided additionally or as an alternative. FIG. 7B shows two central heating elements 726. The central heating element 726 may include a conductor 729 for powering the central heating element. According to some embodiments, the evaporative crucible 104 can further include a shield 727. The shield 727 can be configured to reflect the thermal energy provided by the outer heating unit 725 and, if present, the central heating element 726 into the housing of the evaporating crucible 104. This can provide efficient heating of the organic material within the evaporative crucible 104.

According to some embodiments described herein, heat shields such as shield 717 and shield 727 can be provided to the evaporation source. Heat shields can reduce the energy loss of the evaporation source. As a result, energy consumption can be reduced. However, as a further aspect, it is possible to reduce the thermal radiation generated from the evaporation source, especially towards the mask and substrate during the deposition, especially for the deposition of organic materials. Accurate control of substrate and mask temperatures is required, especially for the deposition of organic materials on masked substrates and for display manufacturing. Therefore, the heat radiation generated from the evaporation source can be reduced or avoided. Therefore, some embodiments described herein include heat shields such as shield 717 and shield 727.

These shields can include several shield layers to reduce heat radiation to the outside of the evaporation source. As a further option, the heat shield may include a shield layer that is actively cooled by a fluid such as air, nitrogen, water or other suitable cooling fluid. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the one or more heat shields provided to the evaporation source may be an evaporation source, such as a branch pipe 106 and / or an evaporation crucible 104. Can include a sheet metal surrounding each portion of the. For example, the sheet metal can have a thickness of 0.1 mm to 3 mm and is selected from at least one material selected from the group consisting of ferrous metals (SS) and nonferrous metals (Cu, Ti, Al). It can and / or can be spaced from each other by, for example, a gap of 0.1 mm or more.

According to some embodiments, the evaporative crucible 104 is provided at the lower end of the shunt pipe 106, as exemplified in FIGS. 7A and 7B. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the steam conduit 732 is located at another location between the central portion of the shunt or the lower end of the shunt and the upper end of the shunt. Can be provided to the distribution pipe 1006. FIG. 7C shows an example of an evaporation source having an evaporation conduit 732 provided in the distribution pipe 106 and the central portion of the distribution pipe. The vapor of the organic material is generated in the evaporative crucible 104 and guided through the steam conduit 732 to the central portion of the branch pipe 106. The steam exits the shunt 106 through the plurality of openings 712. The shunt pipe 106 is supported by the support 102 as described for other embodiments described herein. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, two or more steam conduits 732 can be provided at different locations along the length of the shunt 106. This allows the steam conduit 732 to be connected to either one evaporative crucible 104 or several evaporative crucibles 104. For example, each steam conduit 732 can have a corresponding evaporative crucible 104. Alternatively, the evaporative crucible 104 can communicate fluid with two or more steam conduits 732 connected to the sluice pipe 106.

As described herein, the shunt can be a hollow cylinder. It can be understood from this that the term "cylinder" is generally accepted to have a circular bottom shape and a circular top shape, as well as a curved surface area or shell connected to the top circle and a small bottom circle. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the term "cylinder" is curved to connect with any bottom shape and matching top shape, as well as top and bottom shapes. Having a surface area or shell can be further understood in a mathematical sense. Therefore, the cylinder does not necessarily have to have a circular cross section. Instead, the base and top surfaces can have a different shape than the circle.

As described for FIGS. 5A and 5B, embodiments having a row of evaporation sources and / or embodiments having looped trajectories for translational and rotational movements of the evaporation sources vacuum three or more substrates. You can benefit from providing it in the chamber. Different embodiments of providing three or more substrates within the vacuum chamber 110 are shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B and 9. For the example shown in FIG. 8A, the vacuum chamber 110 may include four locations or treatment areas where the substrate 121 can be processed, eg, organic material can be deposited on the substrate 121. Thereby, according to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, in order to increase throughput, especially for the deposition apparatus 500 provided with multiple evaporation sources. Substrate replacement can be accelerated. The depositor 500 shown in FIG. 8A includes two transfer chambers 810. Each of the transfer chambers is provided adjacent to the vacuum chamber 110. For example, the transfer chamber 810 can be connected to the vacuum chamber 110 via a valve 205. One transfer chamber can be provided in place of the two transfer chambers 810 shown in FIG. 8A, as described with respect to the other embodiments shown herein.

The transfer track 621 is provided in the transfer chamber 810. The transport track 621 extends into the vacuum chamber 110. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the transport trajectory is an arrangement of rollers, an arrangement of magnetic guide elements, and / or a substrate and / or a carrier having the substrate. The substrate can typically be oriented essentially vertically, as defined by other transport elements configured for the essential linear motion of the substrate. As shown in FIG. 8A, the substrate support 126 that supports the substrate can be provided, for example, by supporting the carrier 421 in which the substrate is arranged. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate 121 can be provided at a processing position that naturally deviates from the transport track 621. For example, the substrate 121 can be moved in or in a direction essentially perpendicular to the direction of the transport track 621 for positioning the substrate from the processing position.

Four substrates 121 are provided in the vacuum chamber 110 and the two substrates can be positioned along a line essentially parallel to the direction of the transport track 621. Therefore, the two substrates are positioned along the first line and the two substrates are positioned along the second line. A looped orbital 530 for moving the plurality of evaporation sources 100 is provided between the first line and the second line. According to some embodiments, the looped orbit can include two straight portions and two curved portions. The two straight portions can be essentially parallel to the first line and / or essentially parallel to the substrate 121. The evaporation source 100 can be moved along the straight position of the looped orbit 530 so as to provide translational motion to the position of the organic material on the substrate, for example with a linear distribution shower head. The evaporation source 100 is rotated by the movement of the evaporation source along the curved portion of the loop-shaped orbit. As a result, the direction in which the vapor of the organic material is guided by the branch pipe of the evaporation source is rotated by, for example, 180 degrees. Therefore, the distribution pipe of the evaporation source can rotate at least 160 degrees.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, for example, a mask 132 that can be supported by a mask frame 131 is a first line defined by a substrate position. And the looped orbit 530, or between the second line and the looped orbit 530, which are defined by additional substrate positions, respectively. The loop trajectory 530 allows translational motion of the plurality of evaporation sources 100 along the substrate masked by the mask 132. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, two or more evaporation sources 100 are provided on the looped orbit 530. For example, FIG. 8A shows eight evaporation sources 100 provided on loop orbit 530. Two or more evaporation sources can be transported across the substrate in a series of translational motions. This allows, for example, each of the evaporation sources 100 to deposit one layer of organic material. Thus, several different layers of organic material can be deposited on the substrate provided at the processing location. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, two or more evaporation sources 100, or even each of the evaporation sources, of a different organic material on a substrate. Different layers can be deposited.

According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, a maintenance vacuum chamber 210 can be provided. For example, the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 can be separated from the vacuum chamber 110 by a valve 207. The valve 207 is configured to open and close the vacuum seal between the vacuum chamber 110 and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. The evaporation source 100 can be transferred to the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. The valve can then be closed to provide a vacuum seal between the vacuum chamber 110 and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. Therefore, the maintenance vacuum chamber can be ventilated and opened without breaking the vacuum in the vacuum chamber 110.

An additional orbital 820, such as an additional looped orbital, is provided in the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. As exemplified by FIG. 8A, the curved portion of the additional track 820 can overlap the curved portion of the looped track 530. This allows the evaporation source 100 to be transferred from the looped orbital 530 to the further orbital 820. Therefore, the evaporation source can be moved from the looped orbital 530 to the additional orbital 820 and vice versa. This allows the evaporation source to move within the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 for maintenance of the evaporation source and for the movement of the maintained evaporation source from the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 into the vacuum chamber 110. The maintained evaporation source can evaporate the organic material on the substrate in the vacuum chamber 110.

Although not shown in FIG. 8A, one or more alignment units for alignment of the substrate and mask with respect to each other can be provided in the deposition apparatus 500 shown in FIG. 8A. FIG. 8A shows an embodiment in which a looped orbit 530 is provided between a first line defined by two substrate processing positions and a second line defined by two additional substrate processing positions. Is shown.

An alternative arrangement of looped trajectories 530 is shown in FIG. 8B. Thereby, the looped orbit 530 surrounds at least one substrate, typically two or more substrates arranged along a line defined by the processing position of the substrate. With the above in mind, according to one option (see FIG. 8A), at least two substrates can be oriented such that the respective surfaces of those substrates on which the organic material is deposited face each other. According to another option (see FIG. 8B), the substrate in the vacuum chamber 110 and their respective surfaces on which the organic material is deposited are oriented in the same direction. The depositor 500 shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B shows a vacuum chamber 110 configured to house four substrates 121, each improvement configured to accommodate two substrates 121. It can also be provided in a vacuum chamber that has been used. For example, further details, aspects and features relating to the maintenance vacuum chamber 210, additional track 820, transfer track 621, transfer chamber 810 or the like are described for the embodiments shown in FIG. 8A. The method can be carried out in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8B.

According to the embodiments described herein, the deposition apparatus includes a chamber having two or more substrates, i.e., a substrate processing area. While one substrate is being processed, another substrate is moved into or out of the chamber. Therefore, one substrate can be processed in one substrate processing area. Further, the substrate located in the second substrate processing region can be removed, and the new substrate can be moved into the second substrate processing region.

As described herein, one or more evaporation sources can be provided as one or more sources of scanning a stationary substrate by translational motion. At least one source can be provided for each organic layer, especially for embodiments having a row of sources and / or looped orbits. For example, when manufacturing a display, the radiation source can be provided to a light emitting layer, a hole transporting layer, a hole injection layer, or the same kind.

FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment of the depositor 500. The depositor 500 includes a transfer chamber 810, a valve 205, a maintenance vacuum chamber 210, and an additional track 820 as previously described for other embodiments described herein. Even though the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 includes four transfer chambers 810 to assist in a better replacement of the substrate 121 into the vacuum chamber to deposit organic material on the substrate. A similar transfer track is provided in the transfer chamber 810. The transport track extends into the vacuum rotary compartment and into the vacuum rotary compartment 910 for transporting the substrate from the vacuum rotary compartment. FIG. 9 shows an example in which four vacuum rotation compartments 910 are connected to the vacuum chamber 110. A looped orbit 530 is provided in the vacuum chamber 110. The plurality of evaporation sources 100 are supported by the loop-shaped orbital 530, and therefore can perform translational motion along a straight portion of the loop-shaped orbital and rotational movement along a curved portion of the loop-shaped orbital.

The vacuum rotary compartment 910 is connected to the vacuum chamber 110 so that the system including the vacuum chamber 110 and the vacuum rotary compartment 910 can exhaust. Alternatively, one chamber can be provided that includes a rotating module. The rotation of the substrate within the vacuum rotation compartment 910 is indicated by the circle represented by reference numeral 911. According to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, each of the vacuum rotating compartments comprises a vacuum rotating module and the substrate is loaded into a first portion of the vacuum rotating module or You can remove it from there. For example, when the substrate loaded from the transfer chamber 810 is rotated 180 degrees, the substrate 121 moves at the processing position and the evaporation source scans along the surface of the substrate. According to a further alternative example, the rotation of the substrate to provide the substrate into the processing position may also be performed at an angle different from 180 degrees, for example if the vacuum chambers and compartments are arranged differently. it can. However, the 180 degree rotation for moving the substrate from the transfer position to the processing position provides a relatively small footprint.

As shown in FIG. 9, for example, the rotating module has two alignment units 112 such that the substrate 121 and the mask 132 can be aligned with each other at each location of the two substrates provided in the rotating module. Can be included. According to one embodiment, the depositor can include, for example, four vacuum rotation modules and eight substrate support positions. However, according to other embodiments that can be combined with the further embodiments described herein, different numbers of substrate support positions and / or different numbers of vacuum rotation modules can be provided. For example, at least two substrate processing positions are provided according to the embodiments described herein. As a result, the substrate processing position is arranged so that the substrate can be processed by at least the rotation of the minute pipe of the evaporation source. As another example, at least two rotating modules, at least two substrate processing positions and at least four substrate support positions (two of which are also substrate processing positions) can be provided.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart showing a method of evaporating an organic material according to the embodiments described herein. Generally, two substrate positions are provided to improve metal utilization. This is combined with the translational and rotational motion of the evaporation source, especially of the source such as a linear distribution shower head. In step 802, the first substrate, which is provided essentially in vertical orientation, is moved in the first processing position. In step 804, the evaporation source moves at least in translational motion along the first substrate located at the first processing position, eg, scanning the first substrate, and the organic material is on the first substrate. Is deposited on. While the first substrate is being processed, a second processing position can be prepared for internal second substrate processing. In step 806, for example, the second substrate can move in a second processing position different from the first processing position. Further, the preparation of the second substrate may include removing the pre-treated substrate from the second treated position and / or aligning the mask and the second substrate with respect to each other. In step 808, at least the shunt pipe of the evaporation source is rotated and then directed to a second processing position. As described herein, rotation can be performed around an essentially vertical axis, typically around the axis on which the source extends. In step 809, the evaporation source moves along the second substrate located at the second processing position, at least in translational motion, eg, scanning the second substrate, and the organic material is on the second substrate. Is deposited on.

Considering the various embodiments of the evaporation system described above, it can be used in combination with a deposition apparatus and other embodiments herein, in particular in any of the manufacturing systems described herein. Methods for evaporating organic materials are provided herein. These embodiments are shown below.

Embodiment 1. An evaporative source for organic materials that is configured to evaporate the organic material; one or more exhausts that are fluid communicative with the evaporative basin and are rotatable around the axis during evaporation. With a shunt with an outlet; a support for the shunt that is connectable with or contains a first driver, the first driver being configured for translational motion of the support and shunt. An evaporation source, including a support.

Embodiment 2. The evaporation source according to embodiment 1, wherein the distribution pipe is a steam distribution shower head including one or more outlets, and in particular, the steam distribution shower head is a linear steam distribution shower head.

Embodiment 3. The evaporation source according to embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the shunt pipe provides a source that extends essentially vertically, and / or the axis that rotates the shunt pipe extends essentially vertically.

Embodiment 4. The evaporation source according to any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the shunt can be rotated by at least 160 degrees, particularly 180 degrees or at least 360 degrees.

Embodiment 5. The invention according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the shunting pipe is rotatable around an axis by a second driver that rotates the shunting pipe with respect to the support, and in particular rotates the evaporating crucible with respect to the support. Evaporation source.

Embodiment 6. Embodiments in which the support comprises a support housing configured to maintain atmospheric pressure internally, the support supporting the shunt through a rotatable vacuum feedthrough, particularly a ferrofluid feedthrough. The evaporation source according to 5.

Embodiment 7. The evaporation source according to any one of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the branching pipe is rotatable around an axis by traveling along a loop-shaped track.

Embodiment 8. An evaporator control housing configured to maintain atmospheric pressure internally, supported by a support and at least one element selected from the group consisting of switches, valves, controllers, cooling units and cooling control units. The evaporation source according to any one of embodiments 1 to 7, further comprising a housing configured to accommodate.

Embodiment 9. The evaporation source according to any one of embodiments 1 to 8, further comprising at least a one-sided shield, particularly a two-sided shield, for shielding the evaporation of the organic material.

Embodiment 10. The evaporation source according to any one of embodiments 1 to 9, further comprising a coil for at least one of inductive power transmission and inductive signal transmission.

Embodiment 11. It further comprises at least one second evaporative crucible supported by the support; at least one second sluice supported by the support, and at least one second sluice is at least one second. The evaporation source according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 10, which communicates with the evaporation source of the above.

Embodiment 12. A depositor for depositing an organic material in a vacuum chamber and a processing vacuum chamber; an evaporation source according to any one of embodiments 1 to 11 for evaporating the organic material in the processing vacuum chamber. A source of evaporation; a substrate support system that is located in a vacuum chamber and has at least two trajectories, wherein at least two trajectories of the substrate support system carry the substrate in the substrate or vacuum chamber. A depositor including a substrate support system, which is configured for essentially vertical support.

Embodiment 13. A maintenance vacuum chamber connected to the processing vacuum chamber; a vacuum valve for opening and closing the vacuum seal between the processing vacuum chamber and the maintenance vacuum chamber, which transfers the evaporation source from the processing vacuum chamber to the maintenance vacuum chamber and the maintenance vacuum. 12. The deposition apparatus according to embodiment 12, further comprising a vacuum valve that can be transferred from the chamber to the processing vacuum chamber.

Embodiment 14. A method of evaporating an organic material, in which the first substrate is moved in an essentially vertical first processing position; while the evaporation source evaporates the organic material, the first substrate is at least in translational motion. To move the evaporation source along; to move the second substrate at an essentially vertical second processing position different from the first processing position; to split the evaporation source around the axis during evaporation. A method comprising rotating the evaporation source; moving the evaporation source along a second substrate with at least a further translational motion while the evaporation source evaporates the organic material.

Embodiment 15. 14. The method of embodiment 14, wherein the second substrate is moved in an essentially vertical second processing position while the evaporation source is being moved along the first substrate.

FIG. 11 shows a system 1000 for manufacturing devices, particularly devices containing organic materials therein. For example, the device can be an optoelectronic device and, in particular, an electronic device such as a display or a semiconductor device. Improved carrier handling and / or mask handling for mass production systems can be provided. According to typical embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, these improvements can be used in favor of OLED device manufacturing and therefore see FIGS. 1A-10. Can include depositors, their components, and methods of operating depositors as described in. However, improvements in carrier handling and mask handling provided by the various chamber placement concepts as described herein also include other substrate processing systems such as evaporation sources, sputtering sources, especially rotary sputtering targets. , A CVD deposition source such as a PECVD deposition source, or a substrate processing system comprising a combination thereof. The present disclosure, in particular relating to a manufacturing system on a large area substrate, eg, a large area glass substrate, is described with respect to the OLED manufacturing system, in particular as it may benefit from the concepts described below.

The embodiments described herein relate in particular to the deposition of materials, for example, on large area substrates for display manufacturing. According to some embodiments, a large area substrate, or a carrier that supports one or more substrates, i.e., a large area carrier, can have a size of ^{at least 0.174 m 2.} Typically, the size of the carrier can be from about 1.4 m ² to about 8 m ² , more typically ^{from about 2 m 2} to about 9 m 2, and even up to 12 m ² . Typically, a carrier in which the substrate is supported and the rectangular area provided with the holding equipment, devices, and methods according to the embodiments described herein has the size of the large area substrate described herein. is there. For example, a large area carrier that would correspond to the area of a single large area substrate, a ^{GEN5 corresponding to a substrate of about 1.4 m 2} (1.1 m x 1.3 m), a substrate of ^{about 4.29 m 2 (} GEN 7.5 corresponding to 1.95m x 2.2m), GEN 8.5 corresponding to ^{a substrate of about 5.7m 2} (2.2m x 2.5m), or a substrate of ^{about 8.7m 2 (2.85m)} It can be GEN10 corresponding to × 3.05 m). Larger generations such as GEN11 and GEN12 and corresponding substrate areas can be realized as well. According to a typical embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the thickness of the substrate can be 0.1 to 1.8 mm, and the holding equipment and especially the holding device. It can be adapted to the thickness of such a substrate. However, in particular the thickness of the substrate can be about 0.9 mm or less, eg 0.5 mm or 0.3 mm, and the holding equipment and especially the holding device are adapted to the thickness of such a substrate. .. Typically, the substrate can be made from any material suitable for material deposition. For example, the substrate consists of a group consisting of glass (eg soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, etc.), metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, carbon fiber materials, or other materials and combinations of materials that can be coated by deposition treatment. It may be made from selected materials.

The concept of a coater or deposition system, eg, the concept of OLED mass production by some embodiments, can provide a vertical cluster approach and thus, for example, "random" access to all chambers. Therefore, such a concept is valid for RGB and White on CF (color filter) deposits by providing flexibility in adding the desired number of required modules. This flexibility could also be used to create redundancy. In general, two concepts can be provided for OLED display manufacturing. On the other hand, RGB (red-green-blue) displays having red light, green light, and blue light emission are manufactured. On the other hand, a white on a CF display is manufactured, white light is emitted, and a color is produced by a color filter. Both concepts are implemented and there are pros and cons, even if White on a CF display requires a reduction in the chambers for manufacturing such devices.

According to some embodiments described herein that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, OLED device manufacturing typically comprises masking the deposition substrate. In addition, large area substrates are typically supported by carriers during their processing. Both mask handling and carrier handling can be important for temperature stability, cleaning of masks and carriers, etc., especially for OLED devices. Accordingly, the embodiments described herein provide carriers and masks with a carrier return path and an improved optional cleaning option under vacuum conditions or under defined gas atmospheres such as protective gases. In addition, improved system uptime, improved sedimentation source efficiency, and / or improved material utilization described for the deposition equipment arrangements described for FIGS. 1A-10 may be provided. These arrangements avoid the need to ventilate the substrate handling chamber or deposition chamber during routine maintenance or mask replacement.

According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, mask cleaning can be provided in situ, for example by optional plasma cleaning, or processing of the manufacturing system. Either the chamber or the transfer chamber can be provided by providing a mask replacement interface to allow mask cleaning on the outside without ventilation.

The manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 11 includes a load lock chamber 1120 connected to a horizontal substrate handling chamber 1100. The substrate can be transferred from the glass handling chamber 1102 to the vacuum swing module 1160 and placed in a horizontal position on the carrier. After placing the substrate in a horizontal position on the carrier, the vacuum swing module 1160 rotates the carrier with the substrate provided on top in a vertical or essentially vertical orientation. The carrier with the substrate provided on top is then transferred through a first transfer chamber 610 with vertical orientation and at least one additional transfer chamber (611-615). One or more depositors 200 can be connected to the transfer chamber. In addition, the other substrate processing chamber or other vacuum chamber can be connected to one or more of the transfer chambers. After processing the substrate, the carrier with the substrate on top is transferred from the transfer chamber 615 into a further vertically oriented vacuum swing module 1161. A further vacuum swing module 1161 rotates a carrier with a substrate on top from vertical orientation to horizontal orientation. The substrate can then be removed into a further horizontal glass handling chamber. The treated substrate can be removed from the processing system 1000 through the load lock chamber 1121, for example, after the manufactured device is encapsulated in one of the thin film encapsulation chambers 1140 or 1141.

FIG. 11 provides a first transfer chamber 610, a second transfer chamber 611, a third transfer chamber 612, a fourth transfer chamber 613, a fifth transfer chamber 614, and a sixth transfer chamber 615. To. According to the embodiments described herein, at least two transfer chambers can be included in the manufacturing system, typically two to eight transfer chambers can be included in the manufacturing system. Several depositors are provided, each having a vacuum chamber 110 and each being exemplifiedly connected to one of the transfer chambers, such as the nine depositors 200 of FIG. According to some embodiments, one or more of the vacuum chambers of the depositor are connected to the transfer chamber via a gate valve 205.

The alignment unit 112 can be provided to the vacuum chamber 110 according to any of the embodiments described with respect to FIGS. 1A-10. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the vacuum maintenance chamber 210 can be connected to the vacuum chamber 110, for example, via a gate valve 207. The vacuum maintenance chamber 210 allows maintenance of the deposit source in the manufacturing system 1000. Although further details of the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 have been described with reference to FIGS. 1A-10, they can also be provided for embodiments relating to manufacturing systems.

According to some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 11, one or more transfer chambers 610-615 are provided along a line to provide a row of transfer system portions. According to some embodiments described herein, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, a dual track transfer device is provided and the transfer chamber has a first track and a second. A first track 1111 and a second track 1112 are included to transfer carriers, i.e., carriers that support the substrate, along at least one of the tracks. The first track 1111 and the second track 1112 in the transfer chamber provide a dual track transfer device in the manufacturing system 1000.

According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, one or more of the transfer chambers 610-615 are provided as vacuum rotating chambers. The first orbit 1111 and the second orbit 1112 can be rotated by at least 90 degrees, for example 90 degrees, 180 degrees or 360 degrees. The carrier in orbit rotates at a position where it is transferred in one of the vacuum chambers of the depositor 200, or one of the other vacuum chambers described below. The transfer chamber is configured to rotate a vertically oriented carrier and / or substrate, for example, a trajectory in the transfer chamber rotating around a vertical axis of rotation. This is indicated by the arrow in FIG.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the transfer chamber is a vacuum rotation module for rotating the substrate under a pressure of less than 10 mbar. According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, additional trajectories are provided within the plurality of transfer chambers (610-615) to provide carrier return trajectories. According to a typical embodiment, the carrier return track 1125 can be provided between the first track 1111 and the second track 1112. Carrier return trajectories 1125 allow empty carriers to be returned from the additional vacuum swing module 1161 to the vacuum swing module 1160 under vacuum conditions. Under vacuum conditions, and optionally selectively, controlled inert atmosphere (e.g., Ar, N _2, or combinations thereof) under, by returning the carrier reduces the exposure to the surrounding carrier air. Contact with moisture can be reduced or avoided. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the outgassing of carriers during device manufacturing in manufacturing system 1000. This can improve the quality of the manufactured device and / or allow the carrier to be in operation without being washed during the extended time.

FIG. 11 further shows the first pretreatment chamber 1130 and the second pretreatment chamber 1131. A robot (not shown) or another handling system can be provided within the substrate handling chamber 1100. The robot or another handling system can place the substrate from the load lock chamber 1120 into the substrate handling chamber 1100 and transfer the substrate into one or more of the pretreatment chambers (1130, 1131). For example, the pretreatment chamber is selected from a group consisting of substrate plasma pretreatment, substrate cleaning, substrate UV and / or ozone treatment, substrate ion source treatment, substrate RF or microwave plasma treatment, and combinations thereof. Can include pre-processing tools that have been made. After pretreatment of the substrate, the robot or another handling system transfers the substrate from the pretreatment chamber through the substrate handling chamber into the vacuum swing module 1160. The gate valve 205 is provided with the substrate handling chamber 1100 and the vacuum swing module 1160 so that the load lock chamber 1120 for mounting the substrate can be ventilated and the substrate in the substrate handling chamber 1100 can be handled under atmospheric conditions. Provided in between. Therefore, in the substrate handling chamber 1110 and, if necessary, one or more of the load lock chambers 1120, the first pretreatment chamber 1130, and the second pretreatment chamber 1131, the gate valve 205 is opened and the substrate is vacuum swinged. It can be evacuated before being transferred into module 1160. Therefore, treatment and processing of the substrate can be performed under atmospheric conditions before the substrate is placed in the vacuum swing module 160.

Can be combined with other embodiments described herein According to the embodiments described herein, substrate mounting and processing that can be performed before the substrate is mounted in the vacuum swing module 160. Is done while the substrate is orientally oriented horizontally or essentially horizontally. According to a further embodiment described herein, the manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 11 includes substrate handling in horizontal orientation, substrate rotation in vertical orientation, material deposition on the substrate in vertical orientation, and materials. The rotation of the substrate in the horizontal orientation after deposition and the removal of the substrate in the horizontal orientation are combined.

In addition to the manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 11, other manufacturing systems described herein also include at least one thin film encapsulation chamber. FIG. 11 shows a first thin film encapsulation chamber 1140 and a second thin film encapsulation chamber 1141. One or more thin film encapsulation chambers include an encapsulation device to protect the deposition and / or treatment material from exposure to ambient air and / or atmospheric conditions, the deposition and / or treatment layer, especially the OLED. The material is encapsulated between the treated substrate and the additional substrate, i.e. sandwiched between them. Typically, thin film encapsulation can be provided by sandwiching the material between two substrates, such as a glass substrate. However, other encapsulation methods such as laminating on glass, polymer or metal sheets, laser melting of cover glass can be applied alternative by the encapsulation equipment provided in one of the thin film encapsulation chambers. In particular, the OLED material layer can be exposed to ambient air and / or oxygen and moisture. Thus, the manufacturing system 1000 can encapsulate the thin film before removing the processing substrate through the load lock chamber 1121, for example, as shown in FIG.

In addition to the manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 11, other manufacturing systems described herein can also further include a layer inspection chamber 1150. Layer inspection tools such as electron and / or ion layer inspection tools can be provided in the layer inspection chamber 1150. Layer inspection can be performed after one or more deposition steps or treatment steps provided to manufacturing system 1000. Thus, the carrier with the substrate inside can move from the deposition or processing chamber to the transfer chamber 611 to which the layer inspection chamber 1150 is connected via the gate valve 205. The substrate to be inspected can be transferred into the layer inspection chamber and inspected inside the manufacturing system, i.e., the substrate need not be removed from the manufacturing system. Online layer inspection can be provided after one or more of the deposition or processing steps that can be performed in manufacturing system 1000.

According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the manufacturing system can include carrier buffer 1421. For example, the carrier buffer can be connected to the vacuum swing module 1160 and / or the last transfer chamber, i.e., the first transfer chamber 610 connected to the sixth transfer chamber 615. For example, the carrier buffer can be coupled to one of the transfer chambers coupled to one of the vacuum swing modules. Since the substrate is placed and removed in the vacuum swing module, it is advantageous when the carrier buffer 1421 is provided close to the vacuum swing module. The carrier buffer is configured to provide storage for one or more carriers, eg, 5 to 30 carriers. The carrier in the buffer can be used during the process of the manufacturing system when another carrier needs to be replaced for maintenance, such as cleaning.

According to a further embodiment that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the manufacturing system can further include a mask shelf 1132, i.e., a mask buffer. The mask shelf 1132 is configured to provide storage for replacement masks or masks that must be stored for a particular deposition step. According to the method of operating the manufacturing system 1000, it can be transferred from the mask shelf 1132 to the depositing device 200 via a dual track transfer device having a first track 1111 and a second track 1112. Therefore, the mask in the depositor does not evacuate the depositor, does not exhaust the transfer chamber, and / or does not expose the mask to atmospheric pressure, for maintenance such as cleaning, or for changes in the deposition pattern. Can be exchanged for.

FIG. 11 further shows the mask cleaning chamber 1133. The mask cleaning chamber 1133 is connected to the mask shelf 1132 via a gate valve 1205. Therefore, it is possible to provide a vacuum air seal between the mask shelf 1132 and the mask cleaning chamber 1133 for mask cleaning. According to a different embodiment, the mask can be cleaned inside the manufacturing system 1000 by a cleaning tool such as a plasma cleaning tool. The plasma cleaning tool can be provided in the mask cleaning chamber 1133. In addition or as an alternative, an additional gate valve 1206 can be provided to the mask cleaning chamber 1133, as shown in FIG. Therefore, when it is necessary to exhaust only the mask cleaning chamber 1133, the mask can be removed from the manufacturing system 1000. By removing the mask from the manufacturing system, it is possible to provide outer mask cleaning while the manufacturing system remains fully operational. FIG. 11 shows a mask cleaning chamber 1133 adjacent to the mask shelf 1132. Corresponding or similar wash chambers (not shown) may also be provided adjacent to carrier buffer 1421. By providing the wash chamber adjacent to the carrier buffer 1421, the carrier can be washed inside the manufacturing system 1000 or removed from the manufacturing system through a gate valve connected to the washing chamber.

A device such as an OLED display can be manufactured in the manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 11 as follows. This is merely an exemplary manufacturing method, and many other devices can be manufactured by other manufacturing methods. The substrate can be placed in the substrate handling chamber 1100 via the load lock chamber 1120. Substrate pretreatment can be provided inside the pretreatment chamber 1130 and / or 1131 before the substrate is placed in the vacuum swing module 1160. The substrate is placed on a carrier in the vacuum swing module 1160 and rotates from horizontal orientation to vertical orientation. The substrate is then transferred through transfer chambers 610-615. The vacuum rotation module provided to the transfer chamber 615 rotates so that the carrier including the substrate can move to the depositor provided on the underside of the transfer chamber 615 of FIG. One additional rotation step of the vacuum rotation module in one of the transfer chambers and the transfer step through one or more of the transfer chambers are omitted below for convenience of reference in the description of display manufacturing in this section. In the deposition equipment, electrode deposition is performed to deposit the anode of the device on the substrate. The carrier is removed from the electrode deposition chamber, connected to the transfer chamber 610, and moved to one of the deposition devices 200, both configured to deposit the first pore injection layer. The two deposition devices connected to the transfer chamber 610 can be used, for example, as an alternative for depositing pore injection layers on different substrates. Carriers are then transferred to a lower chamber connected to transfer chamber 612 (FIG. 11), which allows the first hole transfer layer to be deposited by the depositor 200 provided under transfer chamber 612 in FIG. .. After this, the carrier is transported to the deposition device 200 provided below the transfer chamber of FIG. 11, and thus the blue light emitting layer can be deposited on the first hole transport layer. The carriers are then transferred to a depositor connected at the lower end of the transfer chamber 614 to deposit the first electron transfer layer. In subsequent steps, the red light emitting layer may be provided in the depositor provided above the transfer chamber 612 of FIG. 11 and the green light emitting layer may be provided in the depositor provided above the transfer chamber 614 of FIG. Before it can be done, an additional pore injection layer can be deposited, for example, in the deposition equipment provided below the transfer chamber 611 of FIG. Further, the electron transporting layer may be provided between or above the light emitting layer. At the end of production, the cathode can be deposited in the deposition equipment provided under the transfer chamber 615 of FIG. According to a further embodiment, one or more exciton blocking layers (or pore blocking layers) or one or more electron injection layers may be deposited between the anode and the cathode. After cathode deposition, the carriers are transferred to a further vacuum swing module 1161 to rotate the carriers, including the substrate, from vertical orientation to horizontal orientation. The substrate is then removed from the carrier in the additional substrate handling chamber 1101 and transferred to one of the thin film encapsulation chambers 1140/1141 for encapsulating the deposited laminate. The manufacturing device can then be removed through the load lock chamber 1121.

FIG. 12A shows the vacuum swing module 1160. Other vacuum swing modules, such as the additional vacuum swing module 1161 shown in FIG. 11, may include similar features, details, and aspects. The vacuum swing module 1160 includes a vacuum chamber 1261. The vacuum chamber typically has one or more flanges for connecting an exhaust unit, such as a vacuum pump, to the vacuum chamber. Thus, the vacuum chamber 1261 can typically be evacuated to the technical vacuum provided for one or more chambers of the manufacturing system described herein, for example, 10 millibars or less. The vacuum swing module is provided inside the vacuum chamber 1261. The swing module includes a base 1202. The base 1202 is configured to provide stability while the substrate 121 mounted on the carrier 421 is supported in a vertical or horizontal orientation. The orientation of the latter is shown in FIG. 12A. For example, an actuator 1204 such as a torque motor can rotate support 1206 around a shaft 1205. Therefore, the support and / or the table attached to it can be rotated from horizontal orientation to vertical orientation and vice versa. In consideration of the above, the substrate 121 can be placed on the carrier 421 while being provided with horizontal orientation. After that, the carrier 421 supporting the substrate 121 can be rotated from the horizontal orientation to the vertical orientation and moved along the transport path while being vertically oriented from the vacuum chamber 1261. In the reverse process, the carriers can be moved along the transport path while being vertically oriented within the vacuum chamber 1261. The carrier 421 supporting the substrate 121 can be rotated from vertical orientation to horizontal orientation by a swing module inside the vacuum chamber 1261. After that, the substrate 121 can be taken out from the carrier 421.

FIG. 12B shows the order in which the substrates 121 provided to the carrier 421 are rotated from horizontal orientation to vertical orientation and vice versa. From left to right, the substrate 121 is provided in the carrier 421. The lift pin 1210 can be provided under the carrier 421 so that the substrate 121 moves up and down with respect to the carrier 421 as soon as the lift pin 1210 moves vertically. The carrier typically includes a substrate receiving portion, an upward guide portion 1241, and a downward guide portion. The upward guidance portion may include one or more permanent magnets that allow magnetic guidance of the carrier in the transport device. The downward guide portion may include a rod configured to be guided on one or more rollers 424. The plurality of rollers 424 can form a lower portion of the transport device.

Before the substrate 121 is placed on the carrier 421, the lift pin 1210 moves perpendicular to the raised position. The robot or another actuator can place the substrate in a vacuum swing module and place the substrate on the lift pin 1210. Therefore, the lift pin 1210 supports the substrate 121. After that, the lift pins 1000 and 2010 can be lowered, whereby the substrate 121 is placed on the carrier 421. The carrier 421 can then be rotated as shown in the order shown in FIG. 12B, while the rods of the carrier 421 are located on one or more rollers 424 of the transfer system. After the carrier (and therefore the substrate) has risen to a vertical position, the carrier can be moved along the transport path of the manufacturing system.

FIG. 13A shows a portion of two adjacent transfer chambers 1361. Two supports 1310 are provided for each of the chambers. The supports 1310 are parallel to each other and can be arranged so that they can rotate together about a common vertical axis of rotation. A plurality of rollers 424 are provided on each side of the support 1310 facing the wall of the transfer chamber 1361. In this way, transport tracks are provided along each of the supports 1310, providing a dual track transport system. An additional set of rollers 1342 is provided on one side of the support 1310 facing each of the other supports. An additional set of rollers 1342 provides a carrier return trajectory within the transfer chamber 1361. FIG. 13A shows the lower portion of the dual track transfer device, which is more detailed in FIG. 13C. FIG. 13B shows the upper portion of one track of the transport device. A magnetic guide element 524 is provided in the upper portion of the transport track. A first magnet 1324 and a second magnet 1325 are provided on each side portion of the magnet support element 1323. The magnet support element 1323 can be a U-shaped support element such that the first magnet 1324 and the second magnet 1325 can be provided to the facing side surfaces of the carrier 421 or the upward guide portion 1241 of the carrier, respectively. The upward guiding portion 1241 of the carrier 421 includes a permanent magnet, so that the carrier is guided without contact between the first magnet 1324 and the second magnet 1325.

FIG. 13C shows the lower portion of one track of the transport device. The plurality of rollers 424 are rotatably mounted on their respective shafts 425. The roller 424 has a curved outer surface, particularly a concave outer surface, so that the rod 1321 of the carrier 421 can be guided along the plurality of rollers. According to different embodiments, one or more of the rollers 424 can be driven by a motor or the like. For example, the motor can be connected to a belt system or driver chain and then to multiple rollers to rotate the rollers at a common rotational speed.

According to further embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, carriers can also be magnetically levitated. According to such an embodiment, the magnetic levitation of the carrier can be provided below each of the trajectories of the dual orbital transfer system. In addition, magnetic levitation of the carrier can be provided above each of the trajectories of the dual orbital transfer system.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, carriers adapted for use in processing systems include electrode assemblies and support bases. The electrode assembly is configured to generate an electrostatic chucking force to secure the substrate to the substrate carrier. According to a further additional or alternative modification, the support base has an internally formed heating / cooling reservoir. The electrode assembly and support base form a unitary body configured for transport within the processing system. The carrier can be connected to the supply medium in the processing system. A quick disconnect can be configured to capture the heat control medium in the reservoir heating / cooling reservoir once the body is separated from the source of the heat control medium. it can. A quick disconnect can be configured to capture the heat control medium in the reservoir heating / cooling reservoir once the body is separated from the source of the heat control medium. it can. The quick disconnect can be coupled to add a chucking charge.

According to a further embodiment, the inductive power coupling element powers the electrostatic carrier in the lower portion of one or more trajectories of the dual track carrier and / or in the upper portion of one or more trajectories of the dual track carrier. It can be provided to one or more of the transfer chambers 1361 for the purpose. For example, one or more coils, i.e. conductive loops (s) can be provided at the lower and / or upper ends of the carrier. For example, these loops can be smaller loops compared to the additional coiling devices provided in the orbit of the dual orbital carrier. The trajectories of the dual orbital carrier may have additional coiling devices, such as large loops. Considering one or more coils of the carrier and additional coil devices in the orbit, inductive power transfer can be provided. According to a particular example, a large loop in orbit can extend along the length of support 1310 shown in FIG. 13A. The large loop can extend along at least 50% of the total length of the support 1310, especially along at least 90% of the total length. According to a different or alternative embodiment, electrical contacts, i.e., sliding contacts, may be provided while the carrier is being conveyed along the trajectory of transfer chamber 1361.

FIG. 14 shows a further manufacturing system 1000 according to the embodiments described herein. Chambers, components, features, embodiments, and elements similar to the manufacturing system of the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 11 are not described again with reference to FIG. In short, only the differences for different embodiments will be explained. FIG. 14 shows a manufacturing system 1000 having a first transfer chamber 610 and a second transfer chamber 611. One or more depositors 200 are provided between the first transfer chamber 610 and the second transfer chamber 611. FIG. 14 shows three depositors as an example, with more points provided between the first transfer chamber 610 and the second transfer chamber 611 between the second and third depositors. The deposition equipment, ie, the optional with a deposition chamber is shown. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, for example, three, four, five, six, or seven deposition chambers, ie depositors. , Can be provided between transfer chambers. A portion of the manufacturing apparatus 1000 is provided as an array of deposition system portions. Considering the present concept of the manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 14, that is, having a row of deposition system parts, the number of deposition chambers or deposition devices 200 is compared to FIG. It may be reduced. The reduced number of deposition chambers can be used, for example, in the CF display White.

The carrier buffer 1421 is connected to the first transfer chamber 610 via the gate valve 205, and the mask shelf 1132 is connected to the second transfer chamber 611 via the gate valve 205. The depositor 200 can be provided with reference to various embodiments described herein, in particular FIGS. 1A-10, and one or more maintenance vacuum chambers for maintenance of the evaporation source 100 is one. It is provided on the side of the vacuum chamber of the depositor so that it can provide the transport of the carriers in a row from one depositor to the adjacent depositor.

As exemplified in FIGS. 11 and 14, embodiments are arranged in a cluster deposition system portion (FIG. 11) and / or in a row, for example, for substrate placement and pretreatment and removal and posttreatment. It can cover systems that include a sedimentary system part and one or more cluster parts. The system can be a hybrid system between a line of processing systems and a cluster processing system.

As shown in FIG. 14, each of the depositors 200 can deposit the material on the substrate. The two substrates can be transported from the transfer chamber 610 to the additional transfer chamber 611 along the dual orbit transfer system.

The embodiment described with respect to FIG. 14 provides a carrier return path by several carrier return chambers 1410. The carrier return chamber 1410 can be connected to each of the transfer chambers 610 and 611, respectively, via a gate valve 1405. One or more of the carrier return chambers connected to the transfer chamber may also be provided as load lock chambers, i.e., ventilated and evacuated chambers. Providing the carrier return chamber as a load-lock chamber includes a transfer chamber (eg, transfer chamber 610 or 611 of manufacturing system 1000) and then, for example, an adjacent chamber that can be operated at higher pressure with an inert gas atmosphere. For example, it allows compensation for pressure differences with a vacuum rotating module or another carrier return chamber. As shown in FIG. 14, two vacuum rotation modules 1461 are provided. For example, the two vacuum rotation modules may also be connected to the carrier return chamber 1410 via a gate valve 1405. The plurality of carrier return chambers 1410 extend along the extension of the lined deposits of the manufacturing system 1000. According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the carrier return path having a carrier return chamber is under vacuum conditions or in a controlled inert atmosphere, or argon. It can be configured to return to the carrier under controlled gas conditions with a defined gas mixture such as nitrogen, a combination thereof. In consideration of this carrier return trajectory, exposure of the carrier to the ambient air can be avoided. This can reduce carrier degassing in manufacturing system 1000. For example, the Inactive atmosphere contains an inert gas. The inert atmosphere contains a reactive gas such as oxygen or moisture having a concentration of 10 ppm or less, for example 1 ppm or less.

According to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, one or more of the carrier return chambers 1410 can include one or more maintenance access ports 1420. For example, a carrier return chamber 1410 having a maintenance access port can be connected to an adjacent carrier return chamber via a gate valve 1405. Thus, the gate valve can be closed and the carrier return chamber with maintenance access ports can be ventilated and opened to access the carrier. It can be used for loading and unloading carriers, for example for maintenance such as cleaning.

However, a further embodiment of the manufacturing system 1000 can be described with reference to FIGS. 15A and 15B. Similar to FIG. 14, a row of sedimentary system portions is provided. However, a carrier return path chamber 1510 is provided below the vacuum chamber 110 of the depositor 200. The carrier return path chamber 1510 has a horizontally extending housing 1512 that can transport carriers back from the additional vacuum swing module 1161 to the vacuum swing module 1160 while being horizontally oriented.

According to a further embodiment, the manufacturing system 1000 can be modified, in addition or alternative, as described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 shows a manufacturing system 1000 having a cluster deposition system portion similar to FIG. As shown in FIG. 16, a plurality of transfer chambers, for example, a first transfer chamber 610, a second transfer chamber 611, a third transfer chamber 612, and a fourth transfer chamber 613 are combined with a first track 1111. And can be provided for one line having a dual track transfer device with a second track 1112. According to some embodiments, the carrier return track 1125 is provided between the first track 1111 and the second track 1112.

The manufacturing system 1000 described with reference to FIG. 16 has several deposition chambers or deposition devices connected to one of the transfer chambers 610-613. FIG. 11 shows a plurality of depositors 200 according to any of the embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 1A-4B and 6. Further embodiments exemplified in FIG. 16 may include one or more depositors 500, which embodiments are described with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 8A-9. Has been done. According to a further embodiment, the manufacturing system may include one or more deposition devices, all of which are described with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 8A-9. It is provided according to.

In such a depositor 500, based on a looped orbit, the row of sources can move in translational motion along a substrate typically masked by a mask. The curved portion of the looped orbit rotates the evaporation source 100. In addition, the curved portion can be provided to position the evaporation source in front of the second substrate. A further straight portion of the looped orbit provides additional translational motion along the additional substrate. As mentioned above, according to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate and mask remain essentially stationary during deposition. A source, eg, an evaporation source that provides essentially vertical orientation of the line to multiple sources, travels along a stationary substrate. The embodiment having a row of evaporation sources and / or the embodiment having looped trajectories for translational and rotational movements of the evaporation sources may benefit from three or more substrates provided in a vacuum chamber. it can.

For example, a depositor 500 coupled to a further transfer chamber 613 is configured for OLED material deposition on four substrates while the plurality of evaporation sources 100 move along the looped orbit 530. In addition, the looped orbital 820 can be provided in a maintenance vacuum chamber for evaporation source maintenance. The depositor 500 coupled to the transfer chamber 610 is configured for OLED material deposition on two substrates. Similarly, multiple evaporation sources can be moved along a looped orbit to provide translational rotational motion. Further embodiments or modifications of the sedimentary source device, such as the other columns, can be provided according to other embodiments described herein.

A further embodiment of the manufacturing system, exemplifiedly exemplified for the manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 17, can include a row of deposition system portions as described earlier with reference to FIG. The device 500 includes a row configuration of sources having looped trajectories as one or more deposition chambers provided in a row of deposition system portions.

The depositor 500 or its respective deposit chamber is connected to the transfer chamber 610 or another depositor. The depositor 500 includes a looped orbit, ie, a source-row configuration, in which three exemplary sources 100 move along a stationary substrate, eg, a stationary substrate masked by a stationary mask. The evaporation source 100 is provided in the vacuum chamber 110 on an orbital or linear guide 220. The linear guide 220 is configured for translational motion of the evaporation source 100. One or more additional depositors 200, two of which are then shown in FIG. 17, are then provided to transport carriers from one depositor of a row of depositor system parts to an adjacent depositor. Will be done. Thereby, the additional depositor 200 has an evaporation source 100 provided into the vacuum chamber 110 on an orbital or linear guide 220. The linear guide 220 is configured for translational motion of the evaporation source 100. Further, the rotational movement of the evaporation source can be provided by a motor or another means for rotating the evaporation source. The depositors 500 and 200 shown in FIG. 17 can deposit materials on the substrate, respectively. The two substrates can be transported from the transfer chamber 610 to the additional transfer chamber 611 along the dual orbit transfer system. According to a further embodiment, the manufacturing system may include one or more deposition devices, all of which are described with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 8A-9. It is provided according to.

Therefore, FIG. 17 shows a manufacturing system 1000 having the cluster portion described above including the substrate handling chamber 1100 when the substrate is handled horizontally, and a vacuum swing module when the substrate is handled horizontally. Cluster portion having 1160, a first transfer chamber and a second transfer chamber, a plurality of depositors between the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, an additional vacuum swing module 1161, and a substrate handling chamber 1101. Is shown. Further, carrier return trajectories are provided by the plurality of carrier return chambers 1410 and one or more vacuum rotation modules 1416, as described above. Further details, embodiments, and features of the various embodiments that can be provided as modifications of the manufacturing system 1000 shown in FIG. 17 can be obtained by embodiments of the other embodiments described above.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart of an embodiment in which the manufacturing device according to the embodiment described herein is operated. The substrate is placed in the manufacturing system in a horizontal orientation (see step 1802). The substrate can be placed on the carrier in a horizontal orientation, and the substrate is rotated by rotating the carrier from horizontal orientation to vertical orientation in step 1804. In step 1806, the substrate is transferred through the manufacturing system, ie, one or more deposition chambers or processing chambers, by transferring the carriers with the substrate in a vertical orientation. Then, in step 1808, the carrier with the substrate on it is rotated from vertical orientation to horizontal orientation. In step 1810, the substrate is taken out in a horizontal orientation. In step 1812, under vacuum conditions and / or, for example, a defined or controlled inert atmosphere in one or more chambers having argon, nitrogen, or a combination thereof provided in the chamber. The carrier is returned in the defined gas atmosphere of. For example, the Inactive atmosphere contains an inert gas. The inert atmosphere contains a reactive gas such as oxygen or moisture having a concentration of 10 ppm or less, for example 1 ppm or less.

In view of the above, the embodiments described herein can provide a plurality of improvements, in particular at least one or more of the improvements described below. "Random" access to all chambers can be provided to such systems using the vertical cluster approach, i.e. to systems with cluster deposition system parts. The system concept can be implemented for both RGB and White on CF deposition by providing flexibility in adding many modules, ie depositors. This flexibility could also be used to create redundancy. High system uptime can be provided by reducing or eliminating the need to ventilate the substrate handling or deposition chamber during routine maintenance or mask replacement. Mask cleaning can be provided either in situ by optional plasma cleaning or externally by providing a mask exchange interface. High deposition source efficiency (> 85%) and high material utilization (> 50%) with a 180 degree swivel mechanism to coat two or more substrates alternately or simultaneously (source-row configuration) in one vacuum chamber. Can be provided using the scanning source approach of. The carriers remain in vacuum or in a controlled gas environment due to the integrated carrier return trajectory. Maintenance and pre-adjustment of the deposition source can be provided in a separate maintenance vacuum chamber or source storage chamber. Horizontal glass handling, such as horizontal atmospheric glass handling, can be more easily adapted by implementing a vacuum swing module using the existing glass handling equipment of the owner of the manufacturing system. An interface to the vacuum encapsulation system can be provided. High flexibility to add modules for board inspection (online layer analysis), masks or carrier storage. The installation area of the system is small. In addition, it can provide good scalability for current and future glass sizes.

Although the above is intended for embodiments of the present invention, other embodiments of the present invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is as follows. Determined by the scope of claims.

Claims (14)

A system for depositing one or more layers on a substrate supported by carriers.
The first load lock chamber and
A first transfer chamber and a second transfer chamber for transporting the substrate, and
A row with two or more depositors located between the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber and configured to transfer carriers from one depositor to an adjacent depositor. Sedimentary system parts lined up in
A system comprising a second load-lock chamber, wherein the two or more depositors are provided with a movable and rotatable evaporation source configured to be moved along a stationary substrate. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber are configured for vertical substrate transfer. The first load lock chamber is configured for horizontal substrate handling and a first vacuum swing module located between the first load lock chamber and the first transfer chamber is configured for substrate rotation. A second vacuum swing module that is configured and / or the second load lock chamber is configured for horizontal substrate handling and is provided between the second transfer chamber and the second load lock chamber. The system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein is configured for substrate rotation. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber are arranged so as to provide at least two linear substrate transfer paths. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising one or more chambers selected from the group consisting of a pretreatment chamber, a layer inspection chamber, a mask shelf chamber, and a carrier buffer chamber. The system according to claim 3, further comprising a carrier return trajectory from the second vacuum swing module to the first vacuum swing module, which is configured to carry the carrier under vacuum conditions. The two or more depositors
With a processing vacuum chamber,
A source of evaporation for organic materials
Evaporating crucible,
Any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising an evaporation source having fluid communication with the evaporating crucible and being rotatable around an axis during evaporation, with a distribution pipe having one or more outlets. The system described in. The two or more depositors
A substrate support system that is located in the processing vacuum chamber and has at least two trajectories for essentially vertical support of the substrate or substrate carrier carrying the substrate in the processing vacuum chamber. The system according to claim 7, further comprising a substrate support system. The two or more depositors
A support of the subdivision that is connectable to or includes the first driver, wherein the first driver is configured for translational motion of the support and the subdivision. The system of claim 7 or 8, wherein the evaporation source comprises a support that evaporates the organic material in the processing vacuum chamber. The distribution pipe is rotated the distribution pipe with respect to supporting lifting member, in particular by a second driver for the rotation the evaporation crucible with respect to the support, which is rotatable about said axis, from the claims 7 The system according to any one of 9. 10. One of claims 1 to 10, wherein the deposition apparatus has an evaporation source, and the evaporation source is arranged on an orbit or a linear guide configured for translational motion of the evaporation source. The system described. Any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the dual orbital transfer system from the first transfer chamber to the second transfer chamber is arranged to transfer the substrate through the two or more depositors. The system described in paragraph 1. In the system according to any one of claims 1 to 12, a way for depositing one or more layers on a substrate supported by the carrier,
Placing the substrate in the system and
Placing the substrate on the carrier and
Adjacent from one deposition device in a row of deposition system portions with two or more deposition devices with movable and rotatable evaporation sources through the system, along with the substrate on which the carrier is mounted. Transferring to a depositor, wherein the substrate is kept stationary during deposition on the substrate by the evaporation source .
Taking out the substrate from the carrier and
How to include. 13. The method of claim 13, wherein a layer containing an organic material is deposited on the substrate.

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