KR100521696B1 - Apparatus and method for forming polymer thin film with cyclic and photo assisted deposition - Google Patents

Abstract

A time-division photo assisted polymer thin film deposition apparatus and method are presented. According to an aspect of the present invention, a deposition apparatus includes a reaction chamber, a substrate support, a substrate cooling unit, and a showerer for alternately supplying a deposition source gas phase to participate in deposition of a polymer thin film and an activator gas phase for polymerization on a substrate. ring), including a light source that provides light to help activate the activator gas phase, and further comprising a deposition source container containing a deposition source for the deposition source vapor phase to be provided as a shower ring, Including an activator source cylinder, a heating source for heating the deposition source cylinder and the activator source cylinder, and a transfer path that allows the vapor phase and the activator vapor phase of the deposition source to be selectively transferred to the showering independently of each other over time. It is composed.

Description

Apparatus and method for forming polymer thin film with cyclic and photo assisted deposition}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to thin film deposition, and in particular, a large area of a polymer thin film employed in a polymer semiconductor device and / or a polymer light emitting device using a photo assisted method and by a time cyclic deposition method. The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for uniformly forming at low pressure.

Polymer thin films are employed to implement polymer semiconductor devices or polymer light emitting devices. Typical methods for forming such a polymer thin film include a spin coating method without using a vacuum deposition apparatus, an ink-jet method, and a vacuum deposition method using a polymer chemical vapor deposition apparatus. Among them, vacuum deposition such as polymer chemical vapor deposition is useful for forming polymer thin films for polymer semiconductor devices or polymer light emitting devices.

The polymer chemical vapor deposition method can be understood as a similar concept to the conventional chemical vapor deposition method, but a pyrolysis chamber for causing pyrolysis of the deposition material is provided between the source chamber, which is the source of deposition, and the deposition chamber where the deposition is performed. What is introduced is the unusual difference. An apparatus for forming a polymer thin film by using a polymer chemical vapor deposition method, a schematic configuration can be described as shown in FIG.

1 is a view schematically illustrating a conventional polymer thin film deposition apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vacuum pump 50 is connected to a process chamber 10 in which a deposition process is performed and a vacuum is formed. After maintaining a constant vacuum in the vacuum chamber 10 using the connected vacuum pump 50, the material of the polymer thin film material is evaporated from the source cylinder 40 which becomes the raw material 41 of the polymer thin film material.

The source cylinder 40 containing the polymer thin film material may be mainly composed of a cylindrical or square cylinder, which contains the polymer material to be deposited therein. The container used as the source container 40 is mainly composed of stainless steel, such as sus (SUS).

A heater (not shown) is wound around the container forming the source container 40 in a constant shape. When a certain amount of power is applied, the temperature around the container increases and the container also heats up. By a certain amount of vapor pressure it begins to evaporate into the gas phase of the polymer thin film material. The temperature of the source vessel 40 vessel can be measured by a thermocouple (not shown) installed in the vessel, which allows constant temperature control of the source vessel 40 to produce desired Evaporation rates can be obtained.

The vapor phase of the evaporated polymer material, i.e., the vapor phase of the source material, is transferred to the pyrolysis chamber 30, pyrolyzed to a high temperature in the pyrolysis chamber 30, and decomposed into a vapor phase material desired for deposition. This pyrolysed gaseous source material is mainly in the monomer phase. Thereafter, the pyrolyzed gaseous source material is transferred to the deposition chamber, condensed on the previously cooled substrate 20, and solidified on the substrate 20 as polymerisation of the monomers begins, It is formed into a thin film. By the deposition process, the polymer thin film is formed on the substrate 20.

In general, the polymer chemical vapor deposition method introduces a pyrolysis chamber 30 for pyrolysis of a source material, so that the deposition efficiency is relatively low, and it is very difficult to control the deposition rate with a large amount of pyrolysis. In addition, in the deposition chamber 10 in which deposition occurs, deposition occurs not only on the substrate 20 but also on the entire inner wall of the chamber 10. Accordingly, after performing the deposition process, the deposition chamber 10 must be opened in the atmosphere to remove unwanted film quality deposited on the inner wall of the chamber 10. This is recognized as a barrier to lowering productivity and obtaining a high quality thin film.

In the conventional polymer chemical vapor deposition technique, it is difficult to mass-produce high quality devices at low cost due to various problems listed above when manufacturing a polymer device using a polymer thin film. Therefore, the polymer chemical vapor deposition method has a problem in forming and mass-producing a high quality polymer thin film, and it is still insufficient in many technical areas to commercialize it.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a polymer thin film deposition apparatus capable of precisely controlling the thickness of a polymer thin film and manufacturing and commercializing a high quality polymer thin film.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, a polymer thin film deposition apparatus is configured to include a deposition unit and a source unit.

The deposition unit includes a reaction chamber in which a polymer thin film deposition reaction is to be performed, a substrate support unit installed in the reaction chamber to support a substrate on which the polymer thin film is to be deposited, a substrate cooling unit installed in the substrate support unit to cool the substrate, and the polymer thin film. A shower ring for alternately supplying a deposition source gas phase to participate in the deposition, an activator gas phase for polymerizing the deposition source onto the substrate, and light for activating the activator gas phase It can be configured to include a light help.

The source unit may include a deposition source container containing a deposition source for the deposition source vapor phase to be provided to the shower ring, an activator source container containing an activator source to the activator vapor phase to be provided to the shower ring, and A heating unit for heating the deposition source cylinder and the activator source cylinder so that a deposition source gas phase is generated and the activator vapor is generated in the activator source cylinder, and the vapor phase of the generated deposition source and the generated activator gas phase. It may be configured to include a source portion including a conveying path which is selectively allowed to be transferred to the shower head independently of each other according to this time division and heated by the expansion of the heating portion.

The activator source may be a photoinitiator as an initiator to initiate polymerization.

The heating unit may be to independently heat the deposition source cylinder, the activator source cylinder and the transfer path.

The polymer thin film deposition apparatus may further include a dilution gas supply source for supplying a dilution gas during the deposition to the reaction chamber.

The apparatus may further include a transfer gas supply source selectively providing a transfer gas to the deposition source cylinder and the activator source cylinder over time so that the gaseous phase of the deposition source and the activator gas phase are transferred along the transfer path. Can be.

The transfer path may further include a bypass path through which the gaseous phase of the transfer gas or the deposition source or the activator gas phase bypasses the reaction chamber.

A plurality of valves installed at the transfer path to open and close the vapor phase and the activator gas phase of the deposition source to the shower head selectively independently of each other according to time division. It may be configured to include more.

When the components constituting the polymer thin film are multi-components, the deposition source cylinders may be introduced into a plurality of parallel installations each containing polymer deposition sources of different components.

The activator source can be introduced into a plurality of parallel installations containing activator sources of different components each capable of initiating a polymerization reaction for the polymer deposition sources.

The polymer thin film deposition method using the polymer thin film deposition apparatus includes heating a deposition source container containing a polymer deposition source material to generate a deposition source vapor phase, and maintaining the temperature at a predetermined temperature to prevent condensation of the vapor deposition source vapor phase. Transferring the deposition source gas phase through a furnace to a shower ring in the reaction chamber, dispensing the transferred deposition source gas phase through the shower onto a substrate introduced at a location opposite the shower ring to adsorb the deposition source. Forming a layer, heating an activator source container containing an activator for polymerizing the adsorption layer to generate an activator gas phase, and a transfer path maintained at a constant temperature to prevent condensation of the activator gas phase. Conveying said activator gas phase to said shower ring through said showered bow; Distributing the agent vapor in the adsorption layer of the deposition source and by the light emitted from the optical unit helps in the reaction chamber get help light can be carried out and forming a polymer thin film by polymerization with the adsorption layer.

Purge steps may be further performed after forming the adsorption layer of the deposition source and after the polymerizing step. The step of transferring the deposition source gas phase to the shower ring in the reaction chamber, the step of transferring the activator gas phase to the shower ring and the purge steps may be sequentially performed by time division of about 0.01 seconds to several hours. .

After forming the polymer thin film, heating a second deposition source container containing a second polymer deposition source material to generate a second deposition source gas phase, and a predetermined temperature to prevent condensation of the second deposition source gas phase. Transferring the second deposition source gas phase to the shower ring through a transfer path maintained in a furnace; distributing the transferred second deposition source gas phase onto the polymer thin film through the shower ring to form the second deposition source; Forming a second adsorption layer, heating a second activator source containing an activator to polymerize the second adsorption layer to generate a second activator gas phase, and condensation of the second activator gas phase Transporting the second activator gas phase to the shower ring through a transport path maintained at a constant temperature to prevent the damage, and transferring the transferred second activator gas phase through the shower ring. And dispersing on the second adsorption layer of the second deposition source and being helped by the light irradiated from the light helper to polymerize the second adsorption layer to form a second polymer thin film. have.

These steps may be repeated to grow the deposited polymer thin film to a desired thickness.

According to the present invention, a new concept of time division photopolymer polymer thin film deposition apparatus can be provided. By repeating the deposition by time division during the deposition process in such deposition equipment, it is possible to precisely control the thickness of the final polymer thin film. Accordingly, a high quality polymer thin film can be produced and commercialized.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, embodiments of the present invention may be modified in many different forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as limited by the embodiments described below. Embodiments of the present invention are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art.

An embodiment of the present invention presents a design of a new concept of time division light assist polymer thin film deposition apparatus. The polymer thin film deposition apparatus includes a process reaction chamber in which polymer thin film deposition is performed and a vacuum pump as a means for maintaining a constant vacuum in the reaction chamber. The apparatus also includes a photoactive source source containing a photoinitiator as a catalyst capable of activating the polymer state to be deposited, such as a deposition source vessel containing monomers, and a monomer state in which the polymer material is adsorbed onto the substrate, into the polymer. .

The apparatus further comprises a transfer tube having a heating heater section for heating the gas phases transferred from the source bins to the reaction chamber to a constant temperature. In addition, the apparatus comprises a shower ring which uniformly distributes a gaseous source material, for example, a monomer gaseous phase, onto the substrate to grow a thin film of organic material, ie, a polymer thin film, which is maintained and maintained at a constant temperature in the reaction chamber. a shower ring) and a substrate cooling portion for rapidly cooling the temperature of the substrate, and a substrate support portion capable of allowing rotation or up and down movement.

In addition, the apparatus can control the flow rate and the amount and rate of gas and gaseous polymer materials entering the reaction chamber, the polymer material in the monomer state, that is, the gaseous photoinitiator to activate the deposition source into the polymer And a control unit and a valve unit which can adjust the gas and polymer materials introduced into the reaction chamber, and time division of the photoinitiator.

In addition, for the use of such a photoinitiator may be further provided with a light helper that serves to activate the activator, such as photoinitiator by irradiating light onto the substrate. The photohelper serves to provide light of that particular wavelength or energy when the photoinitiator is activated by absorbing light of that particular wavelength or energy. Alternatively, the light helper serves to provide light, for example, infrared light, that can rapidly heat the substrate when the photoinitiator absorbs heat and, for example, absorbs infrared light and is activated.

2 is a view schematically illustrating a polymer thin film deposition apparatus and a deposition method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a polymer thin film deposition apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a reaction chamber 100 in which a deposition process of a polymer thin film is performed. A vacuum pump 200 is connected to form and maintain a certain level of vacuum in the reaction chamber 100. Vacuum pump 200 is a general rotary pump (rotary pump) to provide a pressure of about 0.001 to 100 Torr. In addition, the vacuum pump 200 may further include a turbo pump to improve the basic vacuum degree of the reaction chamber 100.

Between the vacuum pump 200 and the reaction chamber 100 may be connected to a vacuum discharge path 201 made of piping, and a trap (203) may be installed between the vacuum discharge path 201. The trap 203 is a by-product of any component remaining after forming the polymer thin film, for example, when a turbo pump is used as the vacuum pump 200, reaction by-products, such as water vapor, etc., which negatively affect the performance of the turbo pump. It is introduced in the form of a cold trap to selectively remove it. That is, by-products remaining without forming the polymer thin film are condensed in the trap 203 to prevent deterioration of the vacuum pump 200. Basically, the trap 203 is filled with liquid nitrogen or natural oil or fluorocarbon oil or the like for this condensation.

At the rear end of the trap 203, a throttle valve 205 is provided. The throttle valve 205 is located at the portion of the vacuum discharge passage 201 near the fastening portion between the reaction chamber 100 and the vacuum discharge passage 201. The throttle valve 205 serves to constantly adjust the pressure in the reaction chamber 100.

Meanwhile, a valve for switching between the reaction chamber 100 and a path for the bypass when the bypass is performed, that is, a quick switching valve for the process chamber: 208 ) Can be installed further. The quick switching valve 208 for the reaction chamber is a bypass gas to the reaction chamber 100 when the reaction gas or gaseous phase bypasses the reaction chamber 100 and is directly discharged to the vacuum discharge path 201. It is selectively closed to prevent the ingress of gas phases and optionally opens to open when vacuum evacuation from the reaction chamber 100 occurs. The operation of the quick switching valve 208 for the reaction chamber is controlled over time as the polymer thin film deposition process is performed in a time division manner.

The operation of the vacuum pump 200 allows the deposition source container 310 to be installed in the reaction chamber 100 in which the vacuum system is to be formed, in order to provide vapor phases of the reactant material, for example vapor phase of the deposition source material for polymer formation. The deposition source container 310 may be installed in a plurality depending on the number of polymer deposition materials when the polymer thin film is formed by requiring a plurality of polymer deposition materials, for example, monomers, that is, by polymerizing a plurality of monomers. It may be.

The deposition source container 310 is connected to the reaction chamber 100 through the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640. When a plurality of deposition source cylinders 310 are required, a plurality of deposition source vapor paths 640 may also be provided depending on the number of the deposition source cylinders 310. In this case, the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640 also has a branched shape so that the plurality of deposition source barrels 310 may alternately provide the reaction chamber 100 with different types of polymer deposition material or gases. branch type) are installed in parallel to be collected in the reaction chamber (100).

In addition, the vapor phase of the deposition source is selectively supplied to the reaction chamber 100 in front of the portion where the branched portion is collected, or by time division, the vapor phase of the selected deposition source is selectively selected only for a predetermined time. In order to be provided to the reaction chamber 100, a switching valve, for example, a deposition source process chamber in quick switching valve 641 for supplying the deposition source to the reaction chamber, is provided with an individual deposition source gas phase transfer path. 640 can be installed.

With this configuration, the gaseous phase of the polymer deposition material generated in the deposition source container 310 containing the polymer deposition material for forming the polymer thin film is transferred to the reaction chamber through the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640 together with the transfer gas. 100).

In order to provide such a transfer gas to the deposition source cylinder 310, a transfer gas supply source 410 is connected to the deposition source cylinder 310 through the transfer gas transfer paths 610 and 620. In this case, when the use of the transfer gas is required in various elements, the transfer gas transfer paths 610 and 620 may be transported in a branched form with the transfer gas main transfer path 610 directly connected to the transfer gas supply source 410. The gas may be configured in the same form as the first subcarrier 620. In this case, when a plurality of deposition source cylinders 310 are installed, the first transfer gas first transport path 620 may be installed such that the plurality of transport gas main transport paths 610 are connected in parallel. Distributing valves for selective supply of the conveying gas, for example, a quick switching valve 421 for distributing the conveying gas, may be installed at the front end of the one-part conveying path 620.

In addition, in order to precisely and uniformly supply the supply gas to the deposition source container 310, various valves or flow meters are installed in the middle of the delivery gas delivery paths 610 and 620. For example, a regular valve 411 for transfer gas supply is installed at the front end of the transfer gas supply source 410, and a first flow rate controller 420 is provided at the rear end of the regular valve 411 for each transfer gas first. Installed in the middle of the sub-feed path 620 to precisely control the flow rate of the transport gas flow.

As the carrier gas, inert gases such as nitrogen, helium, argon, krypton, xenon, neon, and the like may be used. The transfer gas passes through the deposition source container 310 and supports the gaseous phase of the polymer deposition source vaporized in the deposition source container 310 to be transferred to the reaction chamber 100. The deposition source bin 310 vaporizes the polymer deposition material or source to be deposited to generate a polymer deposition source gas phase, and allows the polymer deposition source gas phase to be transferred to the reaction chamber 100 by the transfer gas.

Meanwhile, in order to polymerize, not only a polymer deposition source but also an activator source capable of initiating polymerization, such as a photoinitiator, must be sequentially supplied to the reaction chamber 100. Such photoinitiators are activated by absorbing light of a specific wavelength or specific energy, thereby activating a monomer to convert it into a polymer, ie, initiating polymerization. Such photoinitiators can also be used as activator sources. The activator source is sometimes also called thermal initiator in consultation when activated by heating, ie by absorbing wavelengths in the infrared region.

Polymer thin film deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a source cylinder for the photoinitiator, that is, the activator source cylinder 320 installed in parallel to the deposition source cylinder (310). The activator source container 320 is introduced as a source container containing an activator for polymerisation, such as a photoinitiator. The activator source container 320 may be provided in plural in parallel when there are a plurality of activators required for the reaction of the polymerization.

In order to supply such an activator to the reaction chamber 100 in the gas phase, the activator source container 320 and the reaction chamber 100 are provided with an activator gas phase transfer path 650. The activator gas phase transfer path 650 is coupled to the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640 in a portion adjacent to the reaction chamber 100. Thus, in order for the activator gas phase to be supplied to the reaction chamber 100 separately from the polymer deposition source gas phase supplied via the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640, a switching valve, for example, is placed in the middle of the activator gas phase transfer path 650. In addition, a quick switching valve 651 for supplying the activator to the reaction chamber is installed, and also, as described above in the middle of the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640 for selective supply of the polymer deposition source gas phase, 641 is installed.

By sequential or time division of the actuation of these quick switching valves 641, 651, the vapor phase of the deposition source and the vapor phase of the activator may be provided to the reaction chamber 100 in time division or sequentially.

In order to transfer the activator gas phase to the reaction chamber 100, transfer gas transfer paths 610 and 630 are installed between the transfer gas supply source 410 and the activator source cylinder 320. Such a transfer gas may likewise utilize the transfer gas described above for the transfer of the gaseous phase of the polymer deposition source. To this end, a transport gas second transport path 630 for forming a path to the activator source container 320 may be connected to the transport gas main transport path 610 directly connected to the transport gas supply source 410. have. At this time, in order to transfer the transport gas to the transport gas first secondary transport path 630 selectively with respect to the transport gas first secondary transport path 620, the transport gas distribution unit at the front end of the transport gas first secondary transport path 620. The quick switching valve 421 may be installed, and the quick switching valve 431 for distributing the transport gas may be installed at the front end of the second transport path 630 as well.

In order to precisely and uniformly supply the supply gas to the activator source container 320, a regular valve 411 for the supply gas supply is provided at the front end of the supply gas supply source 410, and a regular valve ( A second flow rate controller 430 is installed in the middle of the transfer gas second sub-path 630 at the rear end to precisely control the flow rate of the transfer gas flow.

Meanwhile, the deposition source cylinder 310 and / or the activator source cylinder 320 is made of stainless steel or quartz, such as sus.

Around the deposition source container 310 is provided with a heating block 500 in the form of a heating block (heating block) for heating the deposition source container 310 to vaporize the polymer deposition source injected into the deposition source container (310). . This heating unit 500 is not only the deposition source cylinder 310 as shown in FIG. 2, but also around the activator source cylinder 320 and the deposition source gas phase or / and activator gas phase transfer paths 640, 450. Can be extended to heat. For example, the heating part 500 may include a first heating part 510 around the deposition source container 310, a second heating part 520 around the activator source container 320, and transfer paths 640. , 650 may be composed of the third heating units 530. The first, second and third heating units 510, 520, 530 may be controlled independently of each other or interlockedly.

In particular, the third heating unit 530 that heats the transfer paths 640 and 650 may include a deposition source gas or an activator gas that is transferred from the deposition source container 310 or the activator source container 320. In order to prevent condensation in the 650, the transfer paths 640 and 650 may be installed to surround the valves installed thereon.

Meanwhile, the transfer gas transfer paths 620 and 630 connected to the deposition source container 310 or the activator source container 320 may include one or more holes at the ends extending into the source containers 310 and 320. It may have a (hole). Through these holes the transport gas is drawn into the source bins 310, 320. In addition, the vapor transfer paths 640 and 650 may also include one or more holes in the ends extending into the source bins 310 and 320. Through these holes, the vapor deposition source or vapor phase activators may be uniformly controlled and introduced into the transfer paths 640 and 650 by the transfer gas. The shape of these holes may have the form of a circle, square or polygon. These holes may have a size of about 1 mm to about 10 mm.

Meanwhile, in order to perform polymer thin film deposition on the reaction chamber 100, the transfer gas is flowed through the deposition source container 310 before the polymer deposition source gas phase is transferred to the reaction chamber 100, or the activator gas phase is transferred. Prior to this, the bypass step is performed first. This bypass may be a bypass of the activator gas phase or the polymer deposition source gas phase, or may be a bypass of the transfer gas.

First, the bypass of the deposition source gas phase and the activator gas phase, the bypass of the deposition source gas phase, first, deposition source out quick switching valve (311) installed in front of the deposition source cylinder 310 (deposition source out quick switching valve: 311) ) And the deposition source in quick switching valve (313) and the deposition source bypass quick switching valve (681) to open the bypass through the deposition source. To this end, a first bypass path 680 directly connecting between the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640 and the vacuum discharge path 201 is installed as a pipe. The deposition source bypass quick switching valve 681 is installed in the middle of the first bypass passage 680 to control the opening and closing of the first bypass passage 680.

After bypassing, the deposition source bypass quick switching valve 681 is closed and the deposition source gas phase transfer path 640 is opened by opening the deposition source process chamber in quick switching valve 641. The reaction chamber 100 provides a polymer deposition source gaseous phase mixed with the transfer gas. At this time, all of the gas transfer line lines and the deposition source chamber 310 after the first flow controller 420 may be independently heated by the heating unit 500 in the form of a heating block, thereby preventing condensation during transfer. Occurrence can be prevented. In this case, the heating unit 500 heats the transfer path and the valves so that the temperature rises from about room temperature to about 500 ° C.

To describe the activator gas phase bypass, first, the activator source out quick switching valve 321 and the activator source in quick switching valve 323 and the activator source bypass quick installed in front of the activator source container 320 The switching valve 691 is opened to bypass the activator source gas phase. To this end, a second bypass passage 690 which connects directly between the activator source gas phase transfer passage 650 and the vacuum discharge passage 201 is similarly installed as a pipe. The activator source bypass quick switching valve 691 is installed in the middle of the second bypass passage 690 to control the opening and closing of the second bypass passage 690.

After bypassing, the activator source bypass quick switching valve 691 is closed, and the activator source reaction chamber 100 is opened through the activator source gas phase transfer path 650 to open the quick switching valve 651. The activator, ie, the thermal initiator gaseous phase, mixed in the furnace transfer gas is provided. At this time, all of the gas flow path lines and the activator source container 320 after the second flow controller 430 may be heated independently or interlocked by the heating unit 500 in the form of a heating block, thereby condensing during the transfer. The occurrence of can be prevented. In this case, the heating unit 500 may heat the transfer path and the valves so that the temperature rises from about room temperature to about 500 ° C.

Meanwhile, referring back to FIG. 2, when the polymer deposition source gas phase is provided to the reaction chamber 100, the deposition apparatus may be configured to provide a dilution gas together. That is, the dilution gas supply source 450 for providing the dilution gas is connected to the reaction chamber 100 through the dilution gas transfer path 670 and the transfer path 640 connected thereto. In order to precisely and uniformly supply the dilution gas supply to the reaction chamber 100, a regular valve 451 for dilution gas supply is installed in the middle of the dilution gas transfer path 670, and the rear end of the regular valve 451. The dilution gas flow rate controller 453 is installed to precisely control the flow rate of the dilution gas flow. A quick switching valve 671, which is a source chamber gas of the dilution gas line, is installed at the rear end of the flow controller 453 to control the shut-off of the dilution gas by opening and closing, and a quick opening / closing at the front of the flow controller 453. The switching valve 673 is provided.

Diluent gas is introduced to adjust the overall pressure of the reaction chamber 100, and when the deposition source gas or activator gas enters the reaction chamber 100 through the transfer paths (640, 650) to form a polymer thin film, It is supplied to allow deposition or formation of such polymer thin films to be performed at low pressure. Examples of such diluent gases include nitrogen, helium, argon, krypton, xenon, and neon, which are inert gases, and ammonia or methanol, which is a reactive gas, and hydrogen, which is a gas that hardly reacts with polymeric materials or organics. .

In conclusion, when the polymer deposition process is performed, the quick switching valve 671 of the dilution gas line is opened to adjust the overall pressure in the reaction chamber 100.

The gas phase transfer paths 640 and 650 extending into the reaction chamber 100 are collected at the front end of the reaction chamber 100 and connected to the shower ring 110 installed above the reaction chamber 100. Accordingly, the shower ring 110 provides a reactive gas, such as a deposition source gas phase or an activator source gas phase.

The shower ring 110 is deposited on the substrate (not shown) on the substrate support 130 installed below the chamber 100 so as to face the shower ring 110. The source gas phase and / or activator gas phase is dispensed to grow and deposit a thin polymer film on the substrate. The substrate support 130 may include a lift pin 135 that supports a wafer or a substrate entered into the reaction chamber 100 and seats the substrate support 130.

In this case, the substrate may be formed of a material such as a metal, a semiconductor, an insulator, a plastic, or the like, and the shape may be any shape such as a circle, a square, a rectangle, and the like. In particular, the plastic substrate may be modified in a roll-to-roll form. The increased degree of freedom in the form of such a substrate is mainly due to the introduction of a showering or the like, which can uniformly distribute and provide a reaction gas, for example, a deposition source gas phase, on a large-area substrate.

The lift pin 135 is moved up and down by a pin cylinder (not shown) which may be provided in the support shaft 160 supporting the substrate support 130 so that the substrate is positioned on the substrate support 130. Induce to settle on. In addition, it may also serve to adjust the distance between the shower ring 110 and the substrate. The support shaft 160 may be configured to be connected to a motor or the like outside the chamber 100 to provide a driving force for rotating, raising or lowering the substrate support 130.

The shower ring 110 is introduced in detail in the form of multiple rings, for example in the form of a double ring in which two rings overlap. The body of such a ring is equipped with a number of injection holes (not shown) to allow even distribution of the reaction gas per area.

The shower ring 110 may be made of stainless steel or quartz, and the ring shape may be circular or square. In addition, the injection hole provided in the ring body of the shower ring 110 serves to inject gas or gaseous phase, these injection holes may be formed in a diameter size of about 0.01mm to 50mm.

In addition, the shower ring 110 may include a shower ring heating unit for heating the shower ring 110 as necessary. Alternatively, as will be described later, the light irradiated from the light helper 120 provided in the embodiment of the present invention rapidly heats the substrate so that the polymerization initiator introduced on the substrate absorbs the heat or light to be activated. When the light is intended to be, for example, light in the infrared region, the shower ring 110 may be heated by the light, so that a separate shower heating unit may not be introduced. The heating of the shower ring 110 is to prevent condensation in the shower ring 110 when the vapor phases are distributed through the shower ring 110.

The shower ring 110 evenly distributes and reacts the reaction gases, the polymer deposition source gas phase, or the activator gas phase to the substrate to be mounted on the substrate support 130, thereby providing the adsorption of the polymer deposition source gas phase and the provision of the activator gas phase. It is possible to greatly improve the thickness uniformity of the polymer thin film grown and deposited by the polymerization reaction. The shower ring 110 has a planar shape of a circular or square shape to uniformly supply the polymer deposition source gas phase, the activator gas phase and the dilution gas onto the substrate.

Meanwhile, a substrate cooling unit 150 for cooling the substrate support 130 may be installed below the substrate support 130. Although not shown in detail, the substrate cooling unit 150 may include cooling lines to cool the substrate support 130 to cool the temperature of the substrate, thereby uniformly adsorbing the polymer deposition source onto the substrate. To allow the polymer thin film to be deposited.

On the other hand, inside the chamber 100, for example, a photo assisting part 120 is introduced above the inside of the chamber 100 opposite to the substrate support 130. The light helper 120 serves to irradiate light onto the substrate mounted on the substrate support 130. By irradiation of such light, the substrate can be heated rapidly, or a polymerization initiator such as a photoinitiator, which is an activator gas phase introduced on the substrate by this light, can be activated. The monomer adsorbed on the substrate by the activity of this photoinitiator can be converted into a polymer.

The light helper 120 may be installed at a position capable of irradiating light required on the substrate, but may be introduced above the chamber 100 on the shower ring 110 as shown in FIG. 2. As such, when the light helper 120 is introduced, light may be irradiated onto the substrate into an empty space between the shower rings 110 to help polymerize the polymer deposition source on the substrate.

On the other hand, after the formation of the polymer thin film in the reaction chamber 100, pipes between each deposition source container 310 or / and the activator source container 320 and the reaction chamber 100, for example, deposition source gas phase transfer path ( 640 or the deposition source out quick switching valve 311 or the activator source out quick switching valve 321, deposition source or activator source in quick switching to clean the activator gas phase transfer path 650 or the like. Close valve 313 or 323, deposition source or activator source bypass quick switching valve 681 or 691, and quick switching valves 641 that are reaction chambers with deposition source or activator purge quick switching valve 315 or 325. Or 651 is opened to transfer an appropriate amount of inert gas, i.e., the transfer gas, towards the reaction chamber 100, thereby sending the transfer lines and all by-products remaining in the reaction chamber out of the reaction chamber 100.

To this end, purge gas delivery paths 625 and 635 bypassing the deposition source container 310 and the activator source container 320, respectively, to the delivery gas delivery paths 620 and 630 and the gaseous delivery paths 640 and 650. ), Install a separate bypass path that connects directly.

On the other hand, when pre-treatment of the polymer film of a single component and the deposition of a multi-component polymer thin film by installing one or more multiple deposition source cylinders 310 and one or more multiple activator source cylinders in parallel, The number of deposition source bins 310 or the number of activator source bins 320 can be expanded. By this extension the conveying paths can also be extended. In addition, in order to control the thickness of the thin film and the amount of pretreatment or the degree of doping, the polymer thin film is deposited using a time division method. The valves use quick switching valves that are on-off with an operating precision of approximately 0.01 to 0.05 seconds.

An example of the process of depositing a polymer thin film by a time division method using a light assisted polymer thin film deposition apparatus presented in an embodiment of the present invention may be illustrated as follows.

Referring back to FIG. 2, first, the deposition source out quick switching valve 311, the deposition source in quick switching valve 313, and the polymer deposition source reaction chamber in the quick switching valve 641 are opened to open the polymer deposition source container 310. Is operated to supply a gaseous polymer deposition source, for example, a gaseous monomer, onto the substrate introduced into the reaction chamber 100 to adsorb the gaseous monomer. At this time, due to the adsorption characteristics, the monomer is substantially adsorbed into a single layer. For this adsorption process, the substrate cooling unit 150 may operate to cool the substrate.

Secondly, the first source purge quick switching valve 315 and the deposition source reaction chamber gas quick switching valve 641 are opened, and only the transfer gas is supplied to the reaction chamber 100 to purge the reaction chamber 100. In addition, the first purge process may be performed such that a residual polymer deposition source gaseous phase or the like is sent out of the reaction chamber 100.

During the first purge process, the activator source out quick switching valve 321, the activator source in quick switching valve 323 and the activator source bypass quick switching valve 691 are opened to directly activate the activator gas phase. Transfer to vacuum pump 200 allows the generation and flow of activator gas phase to remain in a steady state. In this case, the quick switching valve 651 which is the activator source reaction chamber may be kept locked.

Third, the activator source out quick switching valve 321, the activator source in quick switching valve 323 and the activator source chamber in quick switching valve 651 are opened to adsorbent layer of the polymer source adsorbed with the activator gas phase. That is, it is provided on the monomer layer which is preferably a single layer.

In addition, the light helper 120 may provide the required light, for example, the required wavelength band or energy, on the substrate, that is, on the adsorption layer, such that the activator gas phase, for example, the photoinitiator gas phase, is activated to proceed polymerization. The branch provides light or infrared light. Even when the polymerization initiator is a thermal initiator, it is activated by absorption of infrared rays or light heating. At this time, the temperature or energy substantially required for the activity of the initiator is obtained by the light irradiated from the light helper 120.

In this way, the monolayer of the adsorbed single layer is polymerized by the activity of the polymerization initiator together with the irradiation of the light to the light helper 120 to form a polymer layer.

In the polymerization process, the deposition source out quick switching valve 311, the deposition source quick switching valve 313, and the deposition source reaction chamber quick switching valve 641 may be locked.

Fourth, the second source purge quick switching valve 325 and the quick switching valve 651, which is an activator reaction chamber, are opened to provide an inert gas, which is a transfer gas, into the reaction chamber 100, thereby providing a residual activator gas phase or reaction. A second purge process of sending a by-product and the like out of the reaction chamber 100 is performed. During the second purge process, the deposition source out quick switching valve 3115, the deposition source in quick switching valve 313, and the deposition source bypass quick switching valve 681 are opened to transfer the vapor deposition source gas directly to the vacuum pump 200. Inducing the flow of the deposition source gas phase to maintain a steady state state.

By repeating these four processes, a single component polymer thin film can be deposited. At this time, by the time-division deposition process, the deposited final polymer thin film can be adjusted very precisely the thickness and doping amount of the thin film. Accordingly, a polymer thin film having a uniform thickness and a doping distribution can be deposited.

On the other hand, this process can also be applied to form a multi-component polymer thin film. That is, as described above, the first polymer thin film is deposited by performing a deposition process on the first polymer deposition source, and after that, the deposition process is performed on the first polymer thin film on the second polymer deposition source as described above. A multi-component polymer thin film may be formed by performing a process of depositing a second polymer thin film on, for example.

Meanwhile, when the polymer thin film is deposited, a pretreatment process is required. When the pretreatment process is a process using an organic source, the organic material source can be deposited into the reaction chamber to vaporize the organic source and provide it to the reaction chamber. Can be installed just like In addition, transfer paths and quick switching valves for selectively transferring the organic source gas phase to the reaction chamber 100 according to time division may be further installed. Moreover, if necessary, when an activator for activation of the organic source gas phase is separately required, an organic activator source container for this may also be installed as in the activator source container 320.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated in detail through the specific Example, this invention is not limited to this, It is clear that the deformation | transformation and improvement are possible by the person of ordinary skill in the art within the technical idea of this invention.

As described above, using the time-division polymer thin film deposition method and the low pressure time-division polymer thin film deposition apparatus used therein, the polymer thin film can be precisely deposited and uniformly deposited on a large area substrate, Deposition rates can also be improved.

In addition, when the polymer thin film is formed of one or more components consisting of different sub thin films, or when the organic thin film is doped with the polymer thin film, a time division method may be used to precisely control the thickness and composition of the polymer thin film.

1 is a view schematically illustrating a conventional polymer thin film deposition apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a time division photopolymer polymer thin film deposition apparatus and method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (13)

A reaction chamber in which the polymer thin film deposition reaction is to be performed, A substrate support part installed in the reaction chamber to support a substrate on which the polymer thin film is to be deposited; A substrate cooling unit installed in the substrate support to cool the substrate; A shower ring to alternately supply a deposition source gas phase to participate in the deposition of the polymer thin film and an activator gas phase for polymerizing the deposition source onto the substrate, and Light helper that provides light by irradiating light for activating the gaseous phase of the activator Deposition unit comprising; And A deposition source container containing a deposition source for the deposition source vapor phase to be provided to the showering, An activator source container containing an activator source for the activator gas phase to be provided to the showering, A heating unit for heating the deposition source cylinder and the activator source cylinder so that the deposition source gas is generated in the deposition source cylinder and the activator gas is generated in the activator source cylinder, and And a source portion including a transfer path allowing the gaseous phase of the generated deposition source and the generated activator gaseous phase to be selectively transferred independently to each other according to time division and heated by expansion of the heating portion. Polymer thin film deposition apparatus characterized in that. The method of claim 1, Wherein said activator source is a photoinitiator as an initiator to initiate polymerization. The method of claim 1, Wherein the heating unit independently heats the deposition source cylinder, the activator source cylinder, and the transfer path. The method of claim 1, And a dilution gas supply source for supplying a dilution gas during the deposition to the reaction chamber. The method of claim 1, And a transfer gas supply source selectively providing a transfer gas to the deposition source cylinder and the activator source cylinder over time so that the gaseous phase of the deposition source and the activator gas phase are transferred along the transfer path. Polymer thin film deposition apparatus. The method of claim 5, And the transfer path further includes a bypass path through which the gaseous phase of the transfer gas or the deposition source or the activator gas phase bypasses the reaction chamber. The method of claim 1, A plurality of valves installed at the transfer path to open and close the vapor phase and the activator gas phase of the deposition source to the shower head selectively independently of each other according to time division. Polymer thin film deposition apparatus further comprises. The method of claim 1, The deposition source container is a polymer thin film deposition apparatus, characterized in that introduced when a plurality of components constituting the polymer thin film is installed in parallel with each other containing the polymer deposition sources of different components, respectively. The method of claim 8, Wherein the activator source cylinders are introduced into a plurality of parallel installations containing activator sources of different components each capable of initiating a polymerization reaction with respect to the polymer deposition sources. Heating the deposition source vessel containing the polymer deposition source material to generate a deposition source vapor phase; Transferring the deposition source gas phase to a shower ring in a reaction chamber through a transfer path maintained at a constant temperature to prevent condensation of the deposition source gas phase; Distributing the transferred deposition source gas phase through the shower ring on a substrate introduced at a position opposite the shower ring to form an adsorption layer of the deposition source; Generating an activator gas phase by heating an activator source container containing an activator for polymerizing the adsorption layer; Transferring the activator gas phase to the shower ring through a transport path maintained at a constant temperature to prevent condensation of the activator gas phase; And Distributing the transferred activator gas phase through the shower onto the adsorption layer of the deposition source and polymerizing the adsorption layer by light assisted by light irradiated from the light helper in the reaction chamber to form a polymer thin film. Polymer thin film deposition method comprising a. The method of claim 10, And further purging steps after forming the adsorption layer of the deposition source and after the polymerizing step. The method of claim 11, The step of transferring the deposition source gas phase to the shower ring in the reaction chamber, the step of transferring the activator gas phase to the shower ring and the purge steps are performed sequentially by time division of about 0.01 seconds to several hours. Polymer thin film deposition method. The method of claim 10, wherein after forming the polymer thin film Heating a second deposition source vessel containing a second polymer deposition source material to generate a second deposition source gas phase; Transferring the second deposition source gas phase to the shower via a transfer path maintained at a constant temperature to prevent condensation of the second deposition source gas phase; Distributing the transferred second deposition source gas phase through the shower ring onto the polymer thin film to form a second adsorption layer of the second deposition source; Heating a second activator source container containing an activator for polymerizing the second adsorption layer to generate a second activator gas phase; Transferring the second activator gas phase to the shower ring through a transport path maintained at a constant temperature to prevent condensation of the second activator gas phase; And Distributing the transferred second activator gas phase through the shower ring on the second adsorption layer of the second deposition source and being polymerized by the light irradiated from the light helper to polymerize the second adsorption layer. The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a second polymer thin film.