JP7362693B2 - Film deposition equipment and electronic device manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus and an electronic device manufacturing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, film forming apparatuses are known that perform film formation by vapor depositing a vapor deposition material onto a substrate such as glass, and are used for manufacturing electronic devices such as liquid crystal displays and organic EL displays. There are two known types of film deposition equipment: a cluster type in which multiple chambers are arranged in a cluster to form a film on a substrate, and an inline type in which the substrate is transported along a transport path and undergoes film formation processing. ing. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2020-094261) describes a method in which a substrate held by a substrate carrier is transported and subjected to alignment processing with a mask and film formation processing in a plurality of chambers, thereby forming a plurality of layers. An in-line film forming apparatus is described in which a display is manufactured using a film forming apparatus.

JP2020-094261A

A plurality of substrate carriers and a plurality of masks circulate in the film forming apparatus of Patent Document 1, and the substrates that are sequentially carried into the film forming apparatus are held by the substrate carriers and moved on a conveyance path, and are moved between the masks and the substrates. After alignment and installation, the film is deposited. Here, the substrate carried into the film forming apparatus is moved to an alignment chamber while being held by a substrate carrier, and the substrate carrier and the mask are aligned with each other and combined with the mask. Then, the substrate carrier moves to a deposition chamber while holding both the substrate and the mask, and undergoes deposition while being transported. After deposition is complete, the mask is removed from the substrate carrier for use in depositing the next substrate. Then, the substrate on which the film has been formed is removed from the carrier and carried out of the film forming apparatus.

However, sufficient consideration has not been given to a method of storing a plurality of masks after being removed from a substrate carrier in an in-line film forming apparatus for use in subsequent film forming of a substrate.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for suitably storing masks in an in-line film forming apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following configuration. That is,
An in-line film forming apparatus that performs film formation by transporting a plurality of substrate carriers each holding a substrate and a plurality of masks,
a combination chamber for stacking a specific substrate carrier of the plurality of substrate carriers and a specific mask of the plurality of masks, or placing the specific substrate carrier on the specific mask;
a recording unit that records the amount of positional deviation when the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask are stacked or placed;
an alignment unit that aligns the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask in the combination chamber using the amount of positional deviation recorded in the recording unit;
a film forming chamber that deposits a material through the specific mask to form a film on a substrate held by the specific substrate carrier and laminated or placed on the specific mask;
a separation chamber that separates the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask transported from the film forming chamber;
a mask storage room for temporarily storing the specific masks separated in the separation room;
Transporting at least one of the plurality of substrate carriers and the plurality of masks so that the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask, which were separated from each other in the separation chamber, are stacked or mounted again in the combination chamber. a control unit that controls;
This is an in-line film forming apparatus characterized by having:

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for suitably storing masks in an in-line film forming apparatus.

Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus of Example 1 Cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the alignment device of Example 1 A perspective view showing the configuration of the alignment device of Example 1 Diagram for explaining the substrate carrier of Example 1 Diagram for explaining attachment of the substrate carrier and mask in Example 1 Diagram for explaining imaging in alignment of Example 1 Diagram for explaining misalignment between the substrate carrier and mask in Example 1 Cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the mask storage device of Example 1 Timing diagram showing the combination of substrate carrier and mask in Example 1 Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus of Example 2 Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus of Example 3 Explanatory diagram of organic EL display device

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, with reference to drawings, the form for implementing this invention is illustratively described in detail based on an Example. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative positions, etc. of the components described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only thereto, unless specifically stated.

In the following description, an in-line film forming apparatus for manufacturing electronic devices will be used as an example. Although the film forming method in the following description is a vacuum evaporation method, another method such as a sputtering method may be employed as the film forming method. As the substrate applied to the present invention, in addition to glass, any material such as a semiconductor using silicon or the like, a film of a polymeric material, metal, etc. can be selected. Note that when a plurality of layers are formed on a substrate, the term "substrate" includes the layers that have already been formed up to the previous step. When a plurality of components of the device described below are the same or correspond to each other, they are indicated by suffixes such as a and b in the drawings. However, if there is no need to distinguish between multiple members, the subscripts are omitted from the description.

The present invention can be understood as a vapor deposition apparatus that vapor deposits a vapor deposition material onto a substrate or a vapor deposition method using the same, or a film forming apparatus that deposits a material on a substrate to form a film or a film forming method using the same. . The present invention can also be regarded as an electronic device manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method that manufactures electronic devices by forming a film on a substrate. The present invention can also be viewed as a control method for controlling the various devices described above. The present invention can also be understood as a program that causes a computer to execute a control method, and a storage medium that stores the program. A storage medium may be a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

[Example 1]
(Configuration of film forming apparatus)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-line film forming apparatus 300 for manufacturing an organic EL display according to this embodiment. Organic EL displays generally include a circuit element formation process in which a circuit element is formed, an organic light emitting element formation process in which an organic light emitting element is formed on a substrate, and a sealing process in which a protective layer is formed on the formed organic light emitting layer. It is manufactured through the process. The film forming apparatus 300 according to this embodiment mainly performs the process of forming an organic light emitting element.

The film forming apparatus 300 generally includes a mask loading chamber 90, an alignment chamber 100, a plurality of film forming chambers 110a and 110b, inversion chambers 111a and 111b, a transfer chamber 112, a mask separation chamber 113, and a substrate separation chamber. 114, a carrier transfer chamber 115, a mask transfer chamber 116, and a substrate transfer chamber 117.

The film forming apparatus 300 further includes a transport means (described later) for transporting the substrate carrier 9. The substrate carrier 9 is transported along a predetermined transport path passing through each chamber of the film forming apparatus 300 . Specifically, the substrate carrier 9 includes a substrate loading chamber 117, an inversion chamber 111a, a mask loading chamber 90, an alignment chamber 100, a plurality of film forming chambers 110a and 110b, a transfer chamber 112, a mask separation chamber 113, an inversion chamber 111b, The substrate is transported in this order to the substrate separation chamber 114 and the carrier transport chamber 115, and then returns to the substrate transport chamber 117 again.

On the other hand, the mask 6 is transported in this order to the mask loading chamber 90, the alignment chamber 100, the plurality of film forming chambers 110a and 110b, the transport chamber 112, the mask separation chamber 113, and the mask transport chamber 116, and then to the mask loading chamber 90 again. return. In this way, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are circulated and transported along respective predetermined transport routes. Each chamber will be explained below.

The substrate 5 on which no film has been formed is first carried into the substrate carrying chamber 117 and attached to the substrate carrier 9. Specifically, the substrate 5 is carried into the substrate carrying chamber 117 with the surface to be film-formed facing upward in the vertical direction. In the substrate loading chamber 117, the substrate carrier 9 is arranged with its holding surface facing upward in the vertical direction. The substrate 5 carried into the substrate carrying chamber 117 is placed on the holding surface of the substrate carrier 9 and held by the substrate carrier 9.

The substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 moves to the reversing chamber 111a. Here, the reversing chambers 111a and 111b are equipped with reversing mechanisms 120a and 120b for reversing the orientation of the substrate holding surface of the substrate carrier 9 from vertically upward to vertically downward, or from vertically downward to vertically upward. There is. As the reversing mechanisms 120a and 120b, any known mechanism capable of gripping the substrate carrier 9 and changing its posture (orientation) may be employed as appropriate. By operating the reversing mechanism 120a, the substrate carrier 9 is reversed together with the substrate 5, so that the surface of the substrate 5 on which the film is to be deposited faces downward in the vertical direction.

On the other hand, when the substrate carrier 9 is carried from the mask separation chamber 113 to the reversing chamber 111b after the film formation on the substrate 5 is completed, which will be described later, the substrate 5 is carried in with the film-forming surface of the substrate 5 facing downward in the vertical direction. It will be done. Therefore, the reversing mechanism 120b reverses the substrate carrier 9 together with the substrate 5 so that the surface of the substrate 5 on which the film is to be deposited faces upward in the vertical direction.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the deposition-up configuration (a configuration in which the surface of the substrate 5 on which the film is to be deposited faces downward in the vertical direction during film formation) as in this embodiment. A deposition down configuration (a configuration in which the surface of the substrate 5 to be deposited faces vertically upward during film formation) or a side deposition configuration (a configuration in which the substrate 5 is vertically erected during film formation) may be used. The present invention is applicable not only to a structure in which the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask 6 or a structure in which the mask 6 is placed on the substrate carrier 9, but also to a structure in which the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are stacked.

After being reversed in the reversing chamber 111a, the substrate carrier 9 is carried into the mask loading chamber 90. At the same time, the mask 6 is also carried into the mask carrying room 90. Then, the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 and the mask 6 are carried into the alignment chamber 100. The alignment chamber 100 can also be called a combination chamber where the mask 6 and the substrate carrier 9 are combined. The combination of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 and the method of transporting and storing the mask 6 will be described later.

An alignment device 1 is mounted in the alignment chamber 100. The alignment device 1 aligns the substrate carrier 9 (and the substrate 5 it holds) and the mask 6, and places the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) on the mask 6. Thereafter, the alignment apparatus 1 transfers the mask 6 on which the substrate carrier 9 is placed to the transport rollers 15, and starts transporting it toward the next process. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a plurality of conveyance rollers 15 serving as conveyance means are arranged along the conveyance direction on both sides of the conveyance path, and are each rotated by the driving force of an AC servo motor (not shown). Then, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are transported. Note that a speed adjustment chamber for adjusting the speed of the substrate carrier 9 may be provided between the alignment chamber 100 and the film formation chamber 110a or between the film formation chamber 110a and the film formation chamber 110b. By adjusting the speed, a plurality of substrate carriers 9 are transported in the film forming chamber 110 at predetermined intervals.

In the film forming chamber 110, an evaporation source 7 that emits vapor deposition material vertically upward is arranged. The substrate 5, which has been carried into the film forming chamber 110 with the surface to be filmed facing vertically downward while being held by a substrate carrier, passes over the evaporation source 7, thereby removing the area other than the area blocked by the mask 6. A film is formed on the surface to be filmed. Inside the film forming chamber 110, the internal pressure is adjusted by a room pressure control unit (not shown) equipped with a vacuum pump and a room pressure gauge, and a film forming space is formed. The evaporation source 7 includes a material storage section such as a crucible that stores the vapor deposition material, and heating means such as a sheath heater that heats the vapor deposition material. Note that the evaporation source 7 may include a mechanism for moving the material storage section within a plane substantially parallel to the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) and the mask 6, or a mechanism for moving the entire evaporation source. Thereby, the position of the injection port for injecting the vapor deposition material can be displaced within the chamber 4 relative to the substrate 5, and the film can be uniformly formed on the substrate 5.

After the film formation in the film formation chamber 110 is completed, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 reach the mask separation chamber 113 and are separated from each other in the mask separation chamber 113. The mask separation chamber 113 can also be called a separation chamber in which the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are separated. The mask 6 separated from the substrate carrier 9 is transported to the mask transport chamber 116 and sent to a film forming process for a new substrate 5. As will be described later, a mask storage device 310 is disposed in the mask transfer chamber 116 of this embodiment, and is used to store a plurality of masks 6 circulating within the film forming apparatus and to selectively transport masks according to the substrate carrier 9. I do. The mask transport chamber 116 can also be called a mask storage chamber if we focus on its function of storing masks. Alternatively, the mask transfer chamber 116 can also be called a waiting room where masks wait.

On the other hand, the substrate carrier 9 holding the substrate 5 is turned upside down in the reversing chamber 111b after being separated from the mask 6, and is transported to the substrate separating chamber 114. In the substrate separation chamber 114 , the substrate 5 on which film formation has been completed is separated from the substrate carrier 9 and carried out from the film formation apparatus 300 . The substrate carrier 9 is transferred to the substrate loading chamber 117 via the carrier transfer chamber 115, and is used to hold a new substrate 5.

(board carrier)
The configuration of the substrate carrier 9 will be explained. FIG. 4A is a schematic plan view of the substrate carrier 9. FIG. FIG. 4(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow A in FIG. 4(a), showing a state in which the substrate holding surface faces upward (toward the front of the page). The substrate carrier 9 is a flat structure that is approximately rectangular in plan view.

When the substrate carrier 9 is transported, two opposing sides along the transport direction among the four sides of the substrate carrier 9 are supported by the transport rollers 15 . The conveyance rollers 15 are composed of a plurality of conveyance rotating bodies arranged on both sides of the conveyance path of the substrate carrier 9 . As the transport rollers 15 rotate, the substrate carrier 9 moves while being guided in the transport direction.

The substrate carrier 9 includes a carrier face plate 30 that is a rectangular flat member, a plurality of chuck members 32, and a plurality of supports 33. The substrate carrier 9 holds the substrate 5 on the holding surface 31 of the carrier face plate 30. For convenience, a broken line corresponding to the outer edge of the substrate 5 when the substrate 5 is held is shown in the figure. The area inside the broken line is also called the substrate holding part, and the area outside the broken line is also called the outer peripheral part. The substrate holding part and the outer peripheral part are defined for convenience, and there may be no difference in structure between them.

The chuck member 32 is a projection having a chuck surface that chucks the substrate 5. The chuck surface in this embodiment is an adhesive surface made of an adhesive member (Physical Sticky Chucking), and holds the substrate 5 by physical adhesive force or physical adsorption force. do. By chucking the substrate 5 with each of the plurality of chuck members 32, the substrate 5 is held along the holding surface 31 of the carrier face plate 30. Each of the plurality of chuck members 32 is arranged such that its chuck surface protrudes a predetermined distance from the holding surface 31 of the carrier face plate 30.

It is preferable that the chuck member 32 is arranged according to the shape of the mask 6, and is arranged corresponding to the boundary part (part of the crosspiece) for dividing the film-forming area of the substrate 5 of the mask 6. is more preferable. Thereby, the influence on the temperature distribution of the film forming area of the substrate 5 due to the contact of the chuck member 32 with the substrate 5 can be suppressed. Furthermore, the chuck member 32 is preferably located outside the active area of the display. This is because there is a concern that stress due to adsorption by the chuck member 32 may distort the substrate 5 or affect the temperature distribution during film formation.

As will be described later, when the substrate carrier 9 is inverted so that the holding surface 31 of the carrier face plate 30 that holds the substrate 5 faces downward and is placed on the mask 6, the support body 33 is I support Carrier 9. In some embodiments, the support 33 is configured as a convex portion protruding from the holding surface 31 of the carrier face plate 30, but the entire substrate 5 is in close contact with the mask 6 after inversion. In another embodiment, the support 33 supports the substrate carrier 9 such that the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are separated from each other at least in the vicinity of the support 33.

(alignment device)
FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration for alignment of the film forming apparatus 300, and corresponds to the BB arrow direction in FIG. The alignment device 1 is arranged in the alignment chamber 100 and performs relative positioning between the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6.

The alignment apparatus 1 includes a chamber 4 whose interior is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere. The chamber 4 has an upper partition wall 4a, a side wall 4b, and a bottom wall 4c. A positioning mechanism 60 (positioning unit) that drives the substrate carrier 9 and relatively aligns the substrate carrier 9 with the mask 6 is arranged on the upper partition wall 4a. By arranging the positioning mechanism 60 including many movable parts outside the chamber, dust generation within the chamber can be suppressed. The alignment apparatus 1 further includes a carrier support section 8 that holds the substrate carrier 9, a mask pedestal 16 that holds the mask 6, and a conveyance roller 15.

The alignment mechanism 60 changes the relative positional relationship between the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) and the mask 6 and stably holds them. The positioning mechanism 60 includes an in-plane moving means 11, a Z elevation base 13, and a Z elevation slider 10. The in-plane moving means 11 is connected to the upper partition wall 4a of the chamber 4, and drives the Z lift base 13 in the XYθ directions. The Z lifting base 13 is connected to the in-plane moving means 11 and serves as a base when the substrate carrier 9 moves in the Z direction. The Z lift slider 10 is a member that is movable in the Z direction along the Z guide 18 (18a to 18d). The Z lifting slider is connected to the carrier support section 8 via the carrier holding shaft 12.

When the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) is moved in XYθ in a plane parallel to the substrate 5, the Z lifting base 13, the Z lifting slider 10, and the carrier holding shaft 12 are driven as a unit, and the driving force is transmitted to the carrier support part 8. do. As the in-plane moving means 11 for this purpose, for example, a plurality of drive units that generate drive forces in mutually different directions can be used. The position of the Z-lifting base 13 in the XYθ directions can be controlled by each drive unit generating a driving force according to the amount of movement.

Furthermore, when the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) is moved in the Z direction, the Z lift slider 10 is driven in the Z direction relative to the Z lift base 13. At this time, the driving force is transmitted to the carrier support section 8 via the carrier holding shaft 12 (12a to 12d). In this way, the relative distance between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 is changed by the Z lifting slider and the like functioning as a distance changing means.

Note that the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the alignment mechanism 60 moves the substrate 5 as in this embodiment, and the alignment mechanism 60 may move the mask 6 or may move both the substrate 5 and the mask 6. It's okay. That is, the alignment mechanism 60 is a mechanism that aligns the relative positions of the substrate 5 and the mask 6 by moving at least one of the substrate 5 and the mask 6.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one form of the alignment device 1. The mask holder 16 moves up and down along an elevator guide 34 placed on the mask holder base 19. Further, a conveying roller 15 is placed at the lower part of the side of the mask 6 along the conveying direction, and the mask 6 is transferred to the conveying roller 15 by lowering the mask holder 16. For example, a mask used for manufacturing an organic EL display has a structure in which a mask foil 6b having openings corresponding to a film formation pattern is stretched and fixed to a highly rigid mask frame 6a. With this configuration, the mask receiving portion can hold the mask foil 6b in a state where the deflection is reduced.

The carrier holding shaft 12 passes through a through hole provided in the upper partition wall 4a of the chamber 4, and is provided across the outside and inside of the chamber 4. A carrier support portion 8 is provided at the lower part of the carrier holding shaft 12, and is capable of holding the substrate 5 via the substrate carrier 9. A section of the carrier holding shaft 12 from the through hole to the part fixed to the Z lift slider 10 (a portion above the through hole) is covered by a bellows 40 fixed to the Z lift slider 10 and the upper partition wall 4a. Thereby, the entire carrier holding shaft 12 can be maintained in the same vacuum state as the film forming space 2.

Four Z guides 18a to 18d are fixed to the side surface of the Z elevation base 13 for guiding the Z elevation slider 10 in the vertical Z direction. A ball screw 27 arranged at the center of the Z-lifting slider transmits a driving force transmitted from a motor 26 fixed to the Z-lifting base 13 to the Z-lifting slider 10. The Z-direction position of the Z-lifting slider 10 can be measured based on the rotational speed of a rotary encoder (not shown) built into the motor 26. Note that the elevating mechanism of the Z elevating slider 10 is not limited to the ball screw 27 and a rotary encoder, and any mechanism such as a combination of a linear motor and a linear encoder can be used.

Various operations by the alignment device 1 (alignment by the in-plane moving means 11, raising and lowering of the Z elevation slider 10, substrate holding by the carrier supporter 8, vapor deposition by the evaporation source 7, etc.) are controlled by the controller 70. The control unit 70 can be configured by, for example, a computer having a processor, memory, storage, I/O, and the like. In this case, the functions of the control unit 70 are realized by a processor executing a program stored in memory or storage. As the computer, a general-purpose personal computer, a built-in computer, or a PLC (programmable logic controller) may be used. Alternatively, part or all of the functions of the control unit 70 may be configured by a circuit such as an ASIC or an FPGA. Note that the control section 70 may be provided for each chamber of the film forming apparatus 300, or one control section 70 may control a plurality of chambers or the entire film forming apparatus. The recording unit 71 is a memory for the control unit 70 to record and read information. The memory built into the control section 70 may be used as the recording section 71.

An imaging device 14 (14a to 14d) is used to detect the position of the substrate 5 and mask 6 during alignment. An imaging device 14 for acquiring the positions of the alignment marks on the mask 6 and the alignment marks on the substrate 5 is arranged outside the upper partition wall 4a of the chamber 4. An imaging through hole is provided in the upper partition wall 4a on the optical axis of the camera of the imaging device 14 so that the imaging device 14 can take an image of the inside of the chamber. A window glass 17 (17a to 17d) is fitted into the imaging through hole in order to maintain the atmospheric pressure inside the chamber.

(Attachment of board and mask)
FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the process of attaching the substrate 5 to the substrate carrier 9, inverting the substrate carrier 9, and placing it on the mask 6. The carrier face plate 30 of the substrate carrier 9 is a plate-like member made of metal or the like, and holds the substrate 5 with a holding surface 31 . The carrier face plate 30 has a certain degree of rigidity (at least higher rigidity than the substrate 5), and suppresses deflection of the substrate 5 by holding the substrate 5 along the holding surface 31. FIG. 5A shows a state in which the substrate 5 is placed on the substrate carrier 9 with the holding surface 31 facing upward in the substrate loading chamber 117.

In the reversing chamber 111a, the substrate carrier 9 is turned upside down together with the substrate 5, thereby changing from the state shown in FIG. 5(b) to the state shown in FIG. 5(c). The substrate carrier 9 is in a position with the holding surface 31 facing downward, and the substrate 5 is stuck to the holding surface 31 from below by the holding force of the chuck member 32, so that the surface to be deposited faces downward. Then, in the state shown in FIG. 5C, the substrate carrier 9 is carried into the alignment chamber 100 and moved above the mask 6.

Thereafter, the substrate carrier 9 is placed on the mask 6, as shown in FIG. 5(d). A plurality of supports 33 are arranged on the outer periphery of the carrier face plate 30 so as to protrude beyond the holding surface 31 and the chuck member 32. The support body 33 is provided so as to protrude toward the mask 6 side from the substrate 5 while the substrate 5 is held by the substrate carrier 9 . The substrate carrier 9 is seated on the outer peripheral frame of the mask frame 6a via the support body 33 through an alignment operation. At this time, the entire substrate 5 is in contact with the mask 6. With such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the amount of material flowing between the mask and the substrate during film formation.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5E, when the substrate carrier 9 is seated on the outer peripheral frame of the mask frame 6a via the support 33, at least in the vicinity of the support 33, the substrate 5 and the mask 6 is separated. With such a configuration, alignment accuracy can be improved. "Nearby" here refers to any part of the substrate 5 that is closer to the support body 33 than the part of the substrate 5 that is in contact with the mask 6. In FIG. 5E, the entire substrate 5 is separated from the mask 6. In FIG. In this case, the substrate 5 and the mask 6 are naturally separated even in the vicinity of the support 33. Note that due to the deflection of the substrate 5, a part of the substrate 5 may come into contact with the mask 6, or the entire substrate 5 may come into contact with the mask 6.

The substrate carrier 9 may further include magnetic force generating means (not shown) for magnetically attracting the mask 6 via the held substrate 5. As the magnetic force generating means, a permanent magnet, an electromagnet, or a magnet plate equipped with a permanent magnet can be used. Further, the magnetic force generating means may be provided so as to be movable relative to the carrier face plate 30. More specifically, the magnetic force generating means may be provided so that the distance between it and the carrier face plate 30 can be changed.

Note that the configuration for the substrate carrier 9 to hold the substrate 5 is not limited to the chuck member 32. For example, a substrate carrier 9 may be used that includes a support portion that structurally supports the substrate 5 from below during inversion. Alternatively, an electrostatic chuck may be used that holds the substrate 5 by electrostatic force generated by applying a voltage to an electrode provided inside the carrier face plate 30. Alternatively, a clamp mechanism that clamps the substrate 5 and mask 6 together may be used.

(Mask composition)
As shown in FIG. 6(b), the mask 6 has a structure in which a mask foil 6b having a thickness of several μm to several tens of μm is welded and fixed to a frame-shaped mask frame 6a. The mask frame 6a supports the mask foil 6b in a stretched state in its surface direction so that the mask foil 6b does not bend. The mask foil 6b includes a boundary portion for demarcating a region of the substrate where a film is to be formed. The boundary portion of the mask foil 6b comes into close contact with the substrate 5 when the mask 6 is attached to the substrate 5, and shields the film forming material. Note that the mask 6 may be an open mask in which the mask foil 6b has only a boundary part, or a part other than the boundary part, that is, a part corresponding to the film-forming area of the substrate, may have fine particles corresponding to pixels or subpixels. It may also be a fine mask in which a wide opening is formed. When using a glass substrate or a substrate on which a resin film such as polyimide is formed as the substrate 5, an iron alloy can be used as the main material of the mask frame 6a and the mask foil 6b, and nickel can be used as the main material. It is preferable to use an iron alloy containing iron.

(alignment)
A method of measuring the positions of the board mark 37 and mask mark 38 using the imaging device 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6(a) to 6(c). FIG. 6A is a top view of the substrate 5 on the carrier face plate 30 held by the carrier support section 8. FIG. For illustrative purposes, the carrier face plate 30 is shown as a dotted line and shown as being transparent. Board marks 37a to 37d are formed at the four corners of the board 5. The imaging devices 14a to 14d simultaneously measure the board marks 37a to 37d. The control unit 70 can obtain the position information of the board 5 by calculating the amount of movement in the X direction, the amount of movement in the Y direction, and the amount of rotation of the board 5 from the positional relationship of the four center positions of each of the board marks 37a to 37d. .

FIG. 6(b) is a top view of the mask frame 6a, and mask marks 38a to 38d are formed at the four corners. The imaging devices 14a to 14d simultaneously measure the mask marks 38a to 38d. The control unit 70 can obtain the positional information of the mask 6 by calculating the amount of movement in the X direction, the amount of movement in the Y direction, the amount of rotation, etc. of the mask 6 from the positional relationship of the four center positions of each mask mark 38a to 38d. .

FIG. 6C is a diagram schematically showing a field of view 44 of a captured image when one of the four sets of the mask mark 38 and the board mark 37 is measured by the imaging device 14. In this example, since the board mark 37 and the mask mark 38 are measured simultaneously within the field of view 44 of the imaging device 14, it is possible to measure the relative positions of the mark centers. Although the shapes of the mask mark 38 and the substrate mark 37 are not limited to the illustrated example, it is preferable that the shapes have symmetry so that the center position can be easily calculated.

When highly accurate alignment is required, a high magnification CCD camera having a high resolution on the order of several μm is used as the imaging device 14. Such a high-magnification CCD camera has a narrow field of view of several millimeters, so if there is a large positional shift when the board carrier 9 is placed on the carrier receiving claw, the board mark 37 will be out of the field of view, resulting in measurement errors. It becomes possible. Therefore, it is preferable to provide the imaging device 14 with a low-magnification CCD camera having a wide field of view in addition to a high-magnification CCD camera. In that case, two-step alignment may be performed. That is, after performing rough alignment using a low magnification CCD camera so that the mask mark 38 and the board mark 37 are simultaneously within the field of view of the high magnification CCD camera, the mask mark 38 is aligned using a high magnification CCD camera. The position of the board mark 37 is measured, and highly accurate alignment (fine alignment) is performed.

From the positional information of the mask frame 6a and the positional information of the substrate 5 acquired by the imaging device 14, the relative positional information of the mask frame 6a and the substrate 5 can be acquired. This relative position information is fed back to the control section 70 of the alignment device to control the drive amount of each drive section such as the elevating slider 10, the in-plane moving means 11, and the carrier support section 8.

Using the captured image of the imaging device 14, the alignment device 1 aligns the substrate 5 on the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6, and places the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) on the mask 6. At this time, first, the substrate carrier 9 is carried into the chamber 4 and placed on the carrier receiving claws on both sides of the carrier support section 8 .

Subsequently, the substrate carrier 9 is lowered and moved to the alignment height. Then, the imaging device 14 performs imaging and acquires position information of the board mark 37 and mask mark 38. The control unit 70 repeats the in-plane movement of the substrate carrier 9 and the imaging until the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 approach each other within a predetermined positional relationship. Based on the captured image of the alignment mark, the control unit 70 determines that the alignment is complete when the amount of positional deviation between the substrate 5 and the mask 6 becomes less than or equal to a predetermined threshold. Then, the control unit places the substrate carrier 9 on the mask 6.

(misalignment between substrate carrier and mask)
Here, the influence of the combination of the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) and mask 6 on alignment accuracy will be explained. FIGS. 7(a) to 7(c) are schematic diagrams showing how the substrate carrier 9 (substrate 5) is placed on the mask 6 inside the alignment apparatus 1. For convenience and to simplify the drawing, the carrier support portion 8, the chuck member 32, the support body 33, etc. of the substrate carrier 9 are omitted.

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view when aligning the substrate 5 held by the substrate carrier 9 with the mask 6, in which the controller 70 controls the substrate carrier 9 using the carrier support 8 to adjust the alignment height in the Z direction. The state shown is that it has been moved to . The control unit 70 moves the substrate carrier 9 using the in-plane moving means 11 to bring the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 into a predetermined positional relationship in the field of view 44 of the imaging device 14, so that the plane shown in FIG. The substrate 5 is aligned with the mask 6 as shown in the figure.

Subsequently, the control unit 70 controls the Z lift slider 10 to lower the substrate carrier 9 and place it on the mask 6. However, in this example, as shown in FIG. 7C, a positional shift occurs between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 during placement, and the substrate carrier 9 is displaced in the direction of arrow A. If this positional shift exceeds the allowable range, it is necessary to raise the substrate carrier 9 again and then perform in-plane movement by the in-plane movement means 11, which increases the time required for film formation. Alternatively, alignment accuracy may be reduced as a result of positional deviation, and the quality of film formation may be reduced.

Such positional deviation occurs mainly due to individual differences between the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 due to limits in their respective processing accuracy. Therefore, the amount of positional shift changes for each combination of substrate carrier 9 and mask 6. However, according to the conventional film-forming method, the combination of the substrate carrier 9 and mask 6 used for film-forming a certain substrate 5 was not constant, so random positional deviations occurred for each substrate 5. Therefore, a method investigated by the inventors of the present invention for reducing the positional deviation caused by the individual differences when combining the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 will be described below.

(Mask storage and transportation)
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a mask storage device 310 arranged in the mask transfer chamber 116, which is one of the chambers included in the film forming apparatus 300 of this embodiment.

The mask storage device 310 is generally configured such that a mask stocker 312 (also referred to as a cassette) is arranged inside a housing 311. The drive mechanism 314 and the linear motion mechanism 315 are elevating mechanisms (elevating means) for the mask stocker 312. That is, the mask stocker 312 moves in the vertical direction along a linear motion mechanism 315 including a ball screw or the like by operating the drive mechanism 314 according to instructions from the control unit 70 . The illustrated mask stocker 312 can hold a plurality of masks 6 in a vertically arranged state using a plurality of sets of transport and holding mechanisms 313. The position where the mask stocker 312 holds the mask 6 is also called a slot, and the mask stocker 312 in the illustrated example has a plurality of slots in the vertical direction (eight in this example). The slot of the mask stocker 312 can also be called a mask support section that supports the mask being stored.

When the mask 6 separated from the substrate carrier 9 in the mask separation chamber 113 is conveyed to the mask conveyance chamber 116 by the conveyance rollers 15, the control unit 70 checks an empty slot in which no mask 6 is held. As a method for the control unit 70 to check empty slots, for example, the positions of all the substrate carriers 9 may be constantly recorded in advance and referred to. Alternatively, a sensor such as a weight sensor, an optical sensor, or a contact sensor may be provided for each slot. Then, the control unit 70 controls the drive mechanism 314 to change the height of the mask stocker 312 so that the height of the empty slot matches the height of the conveyance of the mask 6 by the conveyance roller 15. As a result, the mask 6 is transferred from the transport roller 15 to the transport holding mechanism 313 in the empty slot.

When one of the masks 6 stored by the mask storage device 310 is used in the next film forming process, the mask 6 is transferred from the mask transfer chamber 116 to the mask carry-in chamber 90. In this case, the control unit 70 selects the mask 6 from among the plurality of masks 6 held in the mask stocker 312. Then, the drive mechanism 314 is controlled so that the slot holding the selected mask 6 is aligned with the height of the conveyance roller 15 in the mask loading chamber 90. Then, the transport holding mechanism 313 transports the selected mask 6.

In this way, by arranging the mask storage device 310 capable of holding a plurality of masks 6 in the mask transfer chamber 116, it becomes possible to temporarily store the masks 6 in an in-line film forming apparatus. As a result, the circulation of the mask 6 can be prevented from being stagnant. Furthermore, it becomes possible to selectively carry out any mask 6 from among the plurality of masks 6. Therefore, it is possible to use a mask suitable for the substrate carrier 9. Note that the mechanism used to hold and deliver the mask 6 is not limited to the illustrated example. For example, the direction in which the slots holding the masks 6 are arranged does not have to be in the vertical direction (vertical direction), and the masks 6 may be delivered using moving means such as a robot hand.

(Example of combination)
An example of controlling the combination of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 using the mask storage device 310 will be described. FIG. 9 shows the combinations of the substrate carrier 9, substrate 5, and mask 6 in each chamber of the film forming apparatus 300 at each substrate loading timing shown on the vertical axis. In the figure, the substrates 5 are shown as (S1, S2, S3...) in the order in which they are carried into the film forming apparatus 300. Further, the substrate carriers 9 circulating within the transport path are distinguished by attaching symbols (C1, C2, C3, . . . ). Further, the masks 6 that similarly circulate within the transport path are distinguished by attaching symbols (M1, M2, M3, . . . ).

When the first substrate S1 is carried in, it is held by the first substrate carrier C1 in the substrate carrying chamber 117 (circled number 1). Thereafter, it is attached to the first mask M1 in the mask loading chamber 90 (circled number 2). Thereafter, after alignment and film formation, the mask M1 is separated in the mask separation chamber 113 and held in the mask storage device 310 in the mask transfer chamber 116 (circled number 3). On the other hand, after the substrate carrier C1 separates the substrate S1 in the substrate separation chamber 114, it moves again to the substrate loading chamber 117 and holds the eleventh substrate S11 (circled number 5).

As described above, in this embodiment, the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 are used in a specific combination. Therefore, in order to combine the mask M1 with the substrate carrier C1, the control unit 70 transfers the mask M1 from the mask transfer chamber 116 to the mask transfer chamber 90 in accordance with the timing (circled number 6) when the substrate carrier C1 enters the mask transfer chamber 90. move it. Here, the combination of the substrate carrier and the mask combined with the substrate S11 is the same as the combination before the mask was removed after the previous film formation was completed. At this time, masks M2 to M5 are stored in the mask transfer chamber 116 (circled number 7). By performing similar processing when other substrates are carried in, a combination of a specific substrate carrier 9 and a specific mask 6 is realized.

(Alignment according to combination)
In order to perform control according to the combination of the substrate carrier 9 and mask 6, the control unit 70 measures the amount of positional deviation (direction and distance of positional deviation) at the time of placement in advance, and stores it in a memory (for example, the recording unit 71). Record it. At that time, it is preferable to record the amount of positional deviation in association with substrate carrier identification information and mask identification information, which will be described later. Further, for each combination of substrate carrier 9 and mask 6, substrate carrier identification information and mask identification information may be recorded in association with the amount of positional deviation. Note that an offset amount that cancels out the positional deviation may be calculated and stored in the memory. For example, the positional relationship between the substrate mark 37 and the mask mark 38 during alignment is within a predetermined reference range as shown in FIG. 7(b), and the positional relationship after placement is as shown in FIG. 7(d). If the mark is outside the reference range, the amount of positional deviation is calculated based on the change in the positional relationship of the marks. Such measurement of positional deviation may be performed in a maintenance mode such as when installing the film forming apparatus 300 or during periodic inspection.

In alignment during actual film formation, the control unit 70 acquires the amount of positional deviation corresponding to the combination of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 from the memory at a timing before the substrate carrier 9 is placed. Then, using the in-plane moving means 11, the substrate carrier 9 is moved by an amount of offset that cancels out the positional shift. This makes it possible to correct positional deviations during assembly, thereby reducing the time required for alignment.

The control unit 70 stores and manages a unique ID (substrate carrier identification information) for identifying the substrate carrier 9 and a unique ID (mask identification information) for identifying the mask 6 in a memory. The control unit 70 determines the positions of the substrate carriers 9 and masks 6 in the film forming apparatus based on the initial positions of each substrate carrier 9 and each mask 6 and the movement information of each substrate carrier 9 and mask 6 using the transport means. can be specified. This makes it possible to control the specific combination of substrate carrier 9 and mask 6 as described above. However, the position specifying method is not limited to this, and for example, a wireless tag may be placed on the substrate carrier 9 or the mask 6, or image recognition processing may be performed.

It is preferable that the control unit 70 records the amount of positional deviation in the recording unit 71 for a specific combination of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6. In that case, the control unit 70 carries out the mask 6 from the mask transfer chamber 116 so that the combination of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 in the alignment chamber 100 is the combination whose positional deviation amount is recorded in the recording unit 71. be able to. Thereby, an appropriate amount of offset can be set depending on the combination of substrate carrier 9 and mask 6. The control unit 70 controls the control unit 70 from the mask transfer chamber 116 so that the pair of substrate carriers 9 and masks 6 separated from each other in the mask separation chamber 113 are stacked or placed again in the alignment chamber 100 in the same combination. It is also preferable to carry out the mask 6.

Note that the control unit 70 may control the combination of the substrate carrier 9 and the mask 6 by controlling the transportation of at least one of the mask 6 and the substrate carrier 9. Therefore, the control unit 70 may keep the circulation of the mask 6 within the apparatus constant and control the transport on the substrate carrier 9 side in accordance with the mask 6.

As described above, in this embodiment, by providing the mask storage device 310, the storage and transportation of the mask 6 can be managed and the timing of attachment to the substrate carrier 9 can be adjusted. As a result, since a specific substrate carrier 9 and mask 6 can be combined, offset processing can be performed that takes into account positional deviation during alignment, and processing time can be shortened and alignment precision can be improved.

[Example 2]
Next, Example 2 will be described. The same parts as those in Example 1 are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-line film forming apparatus 300 of this embodiment. In Example 1, the mask storage device 310 was arranged inside the mask transfer chamber 116 on the path for the masks 6 from the mask separation chamber 113 to the mask carry-in chamber 90. On the other hand, the mask storage device 310 of this embodiment is arranged so as to be movable to and from the mask transport chamber 116 along the path for transporting masks. According to this configuration, a large number of masks 6 can be stored regardless of the physical configuration of the chamber of the mask transfer chamber 116 or the size of the internal space.

[Example 3]
Next, Example 3 will be explained. The same parts as in Example 1 and Example 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-line film forming apparatus 300 of this embodiment. In the first embodiment, the mask storage device 310 was arranged on the route from the mask separation room 113 to the mask carrying-in room 90, and in the second embodiment, it was arranged along the route for transporting masks. On the other hand, the mask storage device 310 of this embodiment is connected to the mask carrying-in chamber 90 and is arranged at a position where the masks 6 can be carried in and out of the mask carrying-in chamber 90. According to this configuration, a large number of masks 6 can be stored regardless of the physical configuration of the chamber of the mask transfer chamber 116 or the size of the internal space. Furthermore, since the mask storage device 310 is directly connected to the mask loading chamber 90, the time required for loading and unloading can be shortened.

<Method for manufacturing electronic devices>
A method for manufacturing an electronic device using the above substrate processing apparatus will be described. Here, as an example of an electronic device, an example of an organic EL element used in a display device such as an organic EL display device will be described. Note that the electronic device according to the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a thin film solar cell or an organic CMOS image sensor. This example includes a step of forming an organic film on the substrate 5 using the above film forming method. Further, after forming the organic film on the substrate 5, there is a step of forming a metal film or a metal oxide film. The structure of the organic EL display device 600 obtained through such a process will be described below.

FIG. 12(a) is an overall view of the organic EL display device 600, and FIG. 12(b) is a cross-sectional view of one pixel. As shown in FIG. 12A, in the display area 61 of the organic EL display device 600, a plurality of pixels 62 each including a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a matrix. Each of the light emitting elements has a structure including an organic layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. Note that the pixel herein refers to the smallest unit that can display a desired color in the display area 61. In the case of the organic EL display device shown in the figure, a pixel 62 is configured by a combination of a first light emitting element 62R, a second light emitting element 62G, and a third light emitting element 62B, which emit light different from each other. The pixel 62 is often composed of a combination of a red light emitting element, a green light emitting element, and a blue light emitting element, but it may also be a combination of a yellow light emitting element, a cyan light emitting element, and a white light emitting element. There are no restrictions. Moreover, each light emitting element may be configured by laminating a plurality of light emitting layers.

In addition, the pixel 62 is configured with a plurality of light emitting elements that emit the same light, and one pixel is displayed using a color filter in which a plurality of different color conversion elements are arranged in a pattern so as to correspond to each light emitting element. It may be possible to display a desired color in the area 61. For example, the pixel 62 may be configured with at least three white light emitting elements, and a color filter may be used in which red, green, and blue color conversion elements are arranged to correspond to each light emitting element. Alternatively, the pixel 62 may be configured with at least three blue light emitting elements, and a color filter may be used in which red, green, and colorless color conversion elements are arranged to correspond to each light emitting element. In the latter case, by using a quantum dot color filter (QD-CF) that uses quantum dot (QD) material as the material constituting the color filter, it is possible to use a quantum dot color filter (QD-CF) that uses a quantum dot color filter. The display color gamut can be made wider than that of a display device.

FIG. 12(b) is a schematic partial cross-sectional view taken along line AB in FIG. 12(a). The pixel 62 includes a first electrode (anode) 64, a hole transport layer 65, one of the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B, an electron transport layer 67, and a second electrode (cathode) 68 on the substrate 5. It has an organic EL element comprising the following. Among these, the hole transport layer 65, the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, 66B, and the electron transport layer 67 correspond to organic layers. Further, in this embodiment, the light-emitting layer 66R is an organic EL layer that emits red, the light-emitting layer 66G is an organic EL layer that emits green, and the light-emitting layer 66B is an organic EL layer that emits blue. Note that when using a color filter or a quantum dot color filter as described above, the color filter or quantum dot color filter is arranged on the light exit side of each light emitting layer, that is, on the upper or lower part of FIG. 12(b). However, illustration is omitted.

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

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

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

Next, the substrate 5 on which the insulating layer 69 has been patterned is carried into a first film forming apparatus, the substrate is held by a substrate holding unit, and the hole transport layer 65 is placed on the first electrode 64 in the display area. Deposit as a common layer. The hole transport layer 65 is formed by vacuum deposition. In reality, the hole transport layer 65 is formed to have a larger size than the display area 61, so a high-definition mask is not required. Here, the film-forming apparatus used in the film-forming in this step and in the film-forming of each layer below is the film-forming apparatus described in any of the above embodiments.

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

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

Subsequently, a second electrode 68 is formed on the electron transport layer 67. The second electrode may be formed by vacuum deposition or sputtering. Thereafter, the substrate on which the second electrode 68 is formed is moved to a sealing device, and a protective layer P is formed by plasma CVD (sealing step), thereby completing the organic EL display device 600. In addition, although the protective layer P was formed by the CVD method here, it is not limited to this, and may be formed by the ALD method or the inkjet method.

If the substrate 5 on which the insulating layer 69 has been patterned is exposed to an atmosphere containing moisture or oxygen from the time the substrate 5 on which the insulating layer 69 has been patterned is carried into the film forming apparatus until the film forming of the protective layer P is completed, the light emitting layer made of the organic EL material may There is a risk of deterioration due to moisture and oxygen. Therefore, in this example, the substrates are transferred into and out of the film forming apparatus under a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere.

6: Mask, 9: Substrate carrier, 90: Mask loading chamber, 100: Alignment chamber, 110: Film forming chamber, 113: Mask separation chamber, 300: Film forming apparatus, 310: Mask storage apparatus

Claims (11)

An in-line film forming apparatus that performs film formation by transporting a plurality of substrate carriers each holding a substrate and a plurality of masks,
a combination chamber in which a specific substrate carrier of the plurality of substrate carriers and a specific mask of the plurality of masks are laminated, or the specific substrate carrier is placed on the specific mask;
a recording unit that records the amount of positional deviation when the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask are stacked or placed;
an alignment unit that aligns the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask in the combination chamber using the amount of positional deviation recorded in the recording unit;
a film forming chamber that deposits a material through the specific mask to form a film on a substrate held by the specific substrate carrier and laminated or placed on the specific mask;
a separation chamber that separates the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask transported from the film forming chamber;
a mask storage room for temporarily storing the specific masks separated in the separation room;
Transporting at least one of the plurality of substrate carriers and the plurality of masks so that the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask, which were separated from each other in the separation chamber, are stacked or mounted again in the combination chamber. a control unit that controls;
An in-line film forming apparatus characterized by having: 2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mask storage chamber is arranged on a path from the separation chamber to the combination chamber. 2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mask storage chamber is arranged along a path from the separation chamber to the combination chamber. The mask storage room has a plurality of mask support parts each supporting one of the plurality of masks,
The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of mask support parts are arranged in a vertical direction. The mask storage room is
a cassette having a plurality of mask support parts each supporting one of the plurality of masks and arranged along the vertical direction;
4. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an elevating means for elevating and lowering the cassette. The alignment section includes an in-plane moving means for moving at least one of the substrate carrier and the mask in a plane parallel to the substrate held by the substrate carrier, and a relative distance between the substrate carrier and the mask. and distance changing means for changing the distance,
The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the in-plane movement means performs the movement including an offset amount based on the positional deviation amount recorded in the recording section. . The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the recording unit records the positional deviation amount in association with substrate carrier identification information for identifying the substrate carrier. . 8. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording unit records the positional deviation amount in association with mask identification information for identifying the mask. The recording unit records the positional deviation amount in association with substrate carrier identification information for identifying the substrate carrier and mask identification information for identifying the mask. 7. The film forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 6. The control unit is configured to transport the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask from the mask storage room so that the combination of the specific substrate carrier and the specific mask in the combination chamber is a combination in which the positional deviation amount is recorded in the recording unit. The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the mask is carried out. An electronic device manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing an electronic device using the film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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