KR100719330B1 - Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition equipment for the fabrication of organic light emission diode and liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

       The present invention relates to a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Apparatus, and more particularly, includes a plurality of process chambers, a load-lock chamber, and a heating chamber. And a clustered plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus including a transfer chamber for transferring substrates between the chambers, and improving productivity of the clustered plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus, that is, processing time per hour ( Designed to improve throughput, minimize fab footprint, reduce process gas (SiH4, NH3, H2, N2, PH3, etc.), and reduce power consumption Technology. The present invention is to change the structure and configuration of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus that processed the conventional glass substrate in a single unit in order to achieve the above-mentioned technical problem, so that the glass substrate can be processed in two units (Dual ) Clustered plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus of glass substrate processing method is implemented, and related general technology is provided.

Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition Chamber, Cluster, Load Lock Chamber, Transfer Chamber, Vacuum Robot

Description

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition equipment for the fabrication of organic light emission diode and liquid crystal display panel

1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention

3 is a cross-sectional view of the side of a load-lock chamber of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view of the front of a load-lock chamber of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view of a side of a heating chamber of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional view of a side of a process chamber of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: dual plasma deposition equipment 111: transfer chamber

112: vacuum robot 113: load-lock chamber

114: Heating Chamber 115: Process Chamber

116 Glass Substrate 117 Vacuum Robot End Effect

121: Load-lock Door 122: Gate Valve

130: Cooling Plate 131: Substrate Up-down Pin

151: Heating Slot 152: Protruding Pin of Heating Slot

153: Heating Cassette 161: Substrate Susceptor

162: Substrate Up-down Pin in Process Chamber

 The present invention improves productivity of the clustered plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus used in the manufacture of a large-scale liquid crystal display device and a next-generation organic light emitting diode type image display device. Clustered new technologies and structures suitable for achieving improvements, minimizing Fab. Foot Print, reducing process gas (SiH4, NH3, H2, N2, PH3, etc.), and power consumption. It is to provide a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus.

The present invention relates to a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition apparatus (hereinafter, abbreviated as a PECVD apparatus), and more particularly, a plurality of process chambers and a load-lock chamber, A clustered PECVD apparatus having a heating chamber and including a transfer chamber for transferring a substrate between these chambers.

    The clustered PECVD apparatus is mainly used for a process of depositing a thin film required to form a transistor of an organic light emitting diode and a liquid crystal display device using an amorphous silicon thin film transistor.

     In general, a liquid crystal display device refers to a non-light emitting device that injects a liquid crystal between a TFT array substrate and a color filter substrate, and obtains an image effect using the characteristics thereof, and an organic light emitting diode is a thin film transistor. It refers to a device that displays an image image by using an organic light emitting material applied to an array substrate or a metal wire array substrate to apply a voltage.

   The PECVD apparatus for thin film deposition during the manufacturing process of the organic light emitting diode and the liquid crystal display device injects a gas required for deposition into a vacuum chamber to set a desired pressure and a substrate temperature, and plasma the injected gas using RF power. A device that decomposes in a state and deposits on a substrate. The deposition mechanism is a first reaction in which gaseous compounds introduced into a chamber are decomposed, and decomposed gas ions and radical ions in an unstable ion state interact with each other. The secondary reaction is a third reaction step in which a thin film is formed after nucleation by interaction of atoms generated by recombination of gas ions and radical ions on a substrate to be deposited. The gaseous compound to be introduced depends on the type of film to be formed. In general, a mixed gas of SiH 4, H 2, NH 3, and N 2 is used for the silicon nitride film, and SiH 4 and H 2 are used for the deposition of the amorphous silicon film. In the formation of an impurity amorphous silicon film (n + a-Si) that increases electron mobility by doping, PH3 is added to the reaction gas for amorphous silicon. In the deposition process by the PECVD apparatus, the RF power, the deposition temperature, the gas inflow amount, and the distance between the electrode and the substrate determine the characteristics of the thin film. The PECVD apparatus has a technical aspect and specific gravity (process count) in a substrate manufacturing process for manufacturing a large liquid crystal display device and a next generation organic light emitting diode type image display device based on a thin film transistor array formed on a glass substrate. Carry out the most important and productivity-critical processes. In the following description, the configuration, operation and internal structure of the clustered PECVD apparatus will be described in detail.

   FIG. 1 relates to the configuration of the most advanced clustered PECVD apparatus to date, and includes a vacuum chamber 12 in which a transfer chamber 11 is positioned at the center and transfers a glass substrate 16 in the middle of the transfer chamber. Is equipped. Around the transfer chamber 11, preheating is performed in advance before proceeding with the deposition process of the glass substrates and the two vacuum load lock chambers 13-1 and 13-2, which are required for loading and unloading the glass substrate. One heating chamber 14, five process chambers 15-1, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4, and 15-5, which are required for the heat treatment or subsequent heat treatment after the deposition process, are located. In some cases, two heating chambers may be provided for proper process sequence and bottle-neck elimination.

       In performing the process in the clustered PECVD apparatus, the glass substrate is transferred to an load lock chamber 13 from an external transfer device (not shown) and loaded into the load lock chamber, wherein the load lock chamber 13 has a plurality of Slots (not shown) are provided to load a plurality of glass substrates. When the loading of the glass substrate is completed, the door 21 of the load lock chamber is closed, and the gate valve 22 attached between the trans chamber 11 and the load lock chamber is in a closed state from the beginning. A vacuum pump (not shown) attached thereto is operated to vacuum the load lock chamber. When the vacuum of the load lock chamber 13 reaches a desired level (the degree of vacuum close to that of the transfer chamber), the gate valves 22-1 and 22-2 attached between the load lock chamber and the transfer chamber are opened and the vacuum is opened. The robot 12 operates to transfer the glass substrate from the load lock chamber to the heating chamber 14. The heating chamber is composed of a plurality of slots (not shown) and is designed to load a plurality of glass substrates. After the heated glass substrate is heated in the heating chamber 14 for a predetermined time, the process chamber ( 15-1,15-2,15-3,15-4,15-5) to deposit a thin film by PECVD. In this case, the thin films formed are silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon dioxide (SiO 2), amorphous silicon (a-Si), tetraethyl ortho silicate (TEOS) film, and the like, which are required to form a thin film transistor. Different layers are deposited on the same glass substrate. In this case, different thin films are continuously deposited in the same process chamber, but in general, only a single type of thin film is deposited in each process chamber. The glass substrates continuously heated in the heating chamber 14 are transferred to different process chambers 15, where the glass substrates are deposited and the thin film is completed. The glass substrates are transferred to the heating chamber 14 again according to the characteristics of the thin film. After the heat treatment (Post anneal) is also transferred directly to the load lock chamber for unload (Un-load). When all the glass substrates on which the desired thin film is deposited are collected in the load lock chamber, the gate valve 22 attached between the load lock chamber 13 and the transfer chamber 11 is closed and nitrogen gas (N 2) is injected into the load lock chamber. Release the vacuum. When the vacuum of the load lock chamber is released and becomes atmospheric pressure, the door 21 of the load lock is opened, all the glass substrates are put in the external glass substrate cassette, and then sent to the manufacturing process of the next step.

    As described above, the conventional clustered PECVD apparatus is the most essential process in the substrate manufacturing process that proceeds to manufacture a large liquid crystal display device and a next generation organic light emitting diode type image display device based on a thin film transistor array formed on a glass substrate. Its frequency of use is also higher than that of other fac- tory (Fab, ie, manufacturing process in Clean Room) devices, and the productivity of the clustered PECVD device is large. It's all about productivity. Therefore, the hourly process throughput of the clustered PECVD apparatus and the foot print in the fab are fundamental to the competitiveness of these industries.

The present invention improves the productivity of the clustered PECVD apparatus used in the manufacture of the above-mentioned large liquid crystal display device and the next-generation organic light emitting diode type image display device, that is, the following technical problem, Conventional glass substrates designed to achieve improvements in efficiency, minimization of Fab. Foot Print, reduction of process gas (SiH4, NH3, H2, N2, PH3, etc.) consumption, and power consumption. It is a technology that drastically improves the productivity limit of PECVD which was processed in units of 1 sheet.

The present invention provides a dual substrate so that the glass substrate can be processed in two units by greatly changing the structure and configuration of the PECVD apparatus which processed the conventional glass substrate in one unit in order to achieve the above technical problem. A clustered PECVD apparatus employing a processing method is implemented and related technologies are provided. In the following description, the configuration, operation and internal structure of the dual substrate processing clustered PECVD apparatus will be described in detail.

   2 is related to the configuration and structure of the clustered PECVD apparatus 100 of the present invention. A transfer chamber 111 having five sides of a pentagonal shape is located at a central portion thereof, and a glass substrate ( The vacuum robot 112 which carries 116 is mounted. Around the transfer chamber 111, two vacuum load lock chambers 113, which are required for loading and unloading the glass substrate, are attached to one side of the transfer chamber up and down, and the other four sides of the glass are attached. One heating chamber 114 and three processing chambers 115-1, 115-2, and 115-3 are required to preheat the substrate before the deposition process or to perform the subsequent heat treatment after the deposition process. In some cases, the process chamber 115 may be further attached instead of the heating chamber 114. Here, the load lock chamber 113, the heating chamber 114, and the process chambers 115-1, 115-2, and 115-3 are designed to seat two glass substrates, respectively, and the vacuum robot 112 is simultaneously used. It is designed to handle 2 glass substrates. Specifically, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are diagrams illustrating the structure of the load lock chamber, respectively, and show side cross-sectional views of the load lock chamber and cross-sectional views of the transfer chamber, respectively. In the figure, the load lock chambers 113-1 and 113-2 are configured to overlap each other, and each of the load lock chambers 113 includes a cooling plate 130 for cooling the glass substrate that has been heated during the process in the process chamber 115. There are a plurality of fins 131 supporting the glass substrate. Here, the cooling plate moves up and down vertically. That is, it is normally located at the bottom but moves vertically upward to closely contact with the substrate placed on the fin 131 when cooling the glass substrate, and when removing the cooled substrate from the load lock chamber, the robot hand It moves downward to reach between the substrate and the cooling plate. In addition, a vacuum pump (not shown) and a gas vent line are attached to the load lock chamber to bring the load lock chamber into a vacuum state and an atmospheric pressure state.

      Operation of the dual glass substrate processing clustered PECVD apparatus of the present invention proceeds as follows. First, when the load lock doors 121-1 and 121-2 are opened under the atmospheric pressure of the load lock chamber 113, the glass substrate 116 is transferred to the load lock chamber by an external transport device (not shown), and the pins are opened. (131) is put on. At this time, the cooling plate 130 is in a down state. The next glass substrate is then loaded side by side with the first glass substrate in the same way. Next, after the load lock door 121 is closed, the load lock chamber 113 is operated by a vacuum pump (not shown) to make a vacuum state. When the vacuum of the load lock chamber 13 reaches a desired level (the degree of vacuum close to that of the transfer chamber), the gate valves 122-1 and 122-2 attached between the load lock chamber and the transfer chamber are opened and the vacuum robot 112 is opened. ) Is operated to simultaneously transfer two glass substrates from the load lock chamber to the heating chamber 114. Here, the end effect 117 of the vacuum robot 112 at the center of the transfer chamber 111 is configured so that two glass substrates can be placed side by side. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the heating chamber 114. The heating chamber is designed such that a plurality of heating slots 141 may put two glass substrates on each side, and a heater capable of supplying heat to each heating slot ( And a pin 152 for supporting the glass substrate. On the other hand, the entire heating slot is contained in the heating cassette 153 and the heating cassette is configured to move up and down for easy access of the glass substrate. By repeating the above operation, each glass substrate is loaded in several heating slots of the heating chamber, and the glass substrate is heated to the process chambers 115-1, 115-2, and 115-3 described in FIG. The transfer is performed to deposit a thin film on the glass substrate. In this case, two glass substrates are simultaneously transported, and the process chamber 115 is configured such that two glass substrates are simultaneously seated. On the other hand, the transfer from the transfer chamber to the process chamber and the operation in the process chamber in detail, the gate valve 122-3, 122-4, 122 between the transfer chamber 111 and the process chamber 115 when the glass substrate is moved to the process chamber -5) is opened and the robot in the transfer chamber takes out two glass substrates in the heating chamber 114 and sends them to the process chamber, puts them on the substrate up-down pin 162 in the process chamber, and the end effect 117 exits. The gate valve 122 is closed. Subsequently, the susceptor 161 for supplying heat to the substrate is vertically raised to come into contact with the glass substrate, and the vacuum pump is operated to bring the process chamber into a vacuum state, while simultaneously heating the substrate through the susceptor and supplying the process gas to generate high frequency power. The plasma of the applied and supplied gas is excited to deposit a desired thin film. In this case, the thin films formed are silicon nitride (SiNx), silicon dioxide (SiO 2), amorphous silicon (a-Si), tetraethyl ortho silicate (TEOS) film, and the like, which are required to form a thin film transistor. Different layers are deposited on the same glass substrate. The glass substrates continuously heated in the heating chamber 114 are simultaneously transferred to two different process chambers 115 each at the same time, where the deposition is performed and the glass substrate on which the thin film is formed is again heated according to the characteristics of the thin film chamber 114. After the heat treatment (Post anneal) and immediately to the load lock chamber for unload (Un-load). When two glass substrates on which the desired thin film is deposited are loaded into the load lock chamber at the same time, the gate valve 122 attached between the load lock chamber 113 and the transfer chamber 111 is closed, and the cooling plate 130 is vertically raised toward the substrate. In order to contact the glass substrate to cool the glass substrate, nitrogen gas (N2) is injected into the load lock chamber to release the vacuum state. After the vacuum of the load lock chamber is released and becomes atmospheric, the door 121 of the load lock is opened, the glass substrate is unloaded by using an external transport device, and then mounted on all external glass substrate cassettes. Send it to the manufacturing process.

In addition, the configuration and operation of the dual glass substrate processing clustered PECVD apparatus of the present invention is not only a chemical vapor deposition apparatus but also a plasma dry etching used to selectively remove thin films formed by the PECVD apparatus during other manufacturing processes. The present invention is also applicable to sputtering devices used to form devices and conductive metal films.

   As such, when the new type dual substrate processing clustered PECVD apparatus according to the present invention is used for manufacturing a large liquid crystal display device and a next generation organic light emitting diode type image display device, Foot print is not greatly increased, but two substrates can be processed at the same time, improving the throughput per hour, and process gases per substrate (SiH4, NH3, H2, N2, PH3, etc.) ), And the power consumption can be expected, which greatly improves the overall productivity.

Claims (21)

In a clustered plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus A transfer chamber equipped with a robot; A load-lock chamber attached to the transfer chamber; A heating chamber attached to the transfer chamber; The load lock chamber including a process chamber attached to the transfer chamber, Heating chamber, process chamber is configured to accommodate two glass substrates at the same time Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus. The method of claim 1, Plasma chemistry characterized by attaching two load lock chambers to the transfer chamber Deposition equipment        The transfer chamber of claim 1, wherein the transfer chamber has a five-sided shape.        Located in the center of the transfer chamber, the furnace for transporting a glass substrate        Equipped with a bot, two per side of the transfer chamber        The load lock chambers are overlapped and attached up and down, and on the other side,        A heating chamber with layers (slots) is attached, with the remaining three sides of the process chamber        Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus is attached. The method of claim 1, The load lock chamber is provided with a cooling plate for cooling the glass substrate, the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus, characterized in that the cooling plate is moved vertically up and down when loading and unloading the glass substrate. The method of claim 1, The heating chamber is provided with a heating cassette having a plurality of layers (slots) to accommodate a plurality of glass substrates, the heating cassette is characterized in that the vertical vertical movement. In a clustered plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus The load chamber includes a transfer chamber equipped with a robot, a load-lock chamber attached to the transfer chamber, and a process chamber attached to the transfer chamber. Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus characterized in that it is configured to accommodate two glass substrates at the same time. 7. The plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 6, wherein two load lock chambers are superimposed and attached to the transfer chamber.        The transfer chamber of the pentagonal form with five sides is centered on a center.        Located in the center of the transfer chamber, the robot for transporting a glass substrate        Are equipped with two load lock chambers on one side of the transfer chamber.        Burs are overlapped and attached up and down, and the remaining three sides are attached to the process chamber.        Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus. The method of claim 6, The load lock chamber is provided with a cooling plate for cooling the glass substrate, the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus, characterized in that the cooling plate vertically moves up and down when the glass substrate is rolled and unloaded. The method of claim 6, The heating chamber is provided with a heating cassette having a plurality of layers (slots) to accommodate a plurality of glass substrates, the heating cassette is characterized in that the vertical vertical movement. In Clustered Plasma Dry Etcher A transfer chamber including a robot, a load-lock chamber attached to the transfer chamber, and a heating chamber attached to the transfer chamber; And a process chamber capable of performing an etching process attached to the transfer chamber, wherein the load lock chamber, the heating chamber, and the process chamber are configured to simultaneously hold two glass substrates. Plasma dry etching device. 12. The plasma dry etching apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein two load lock chambers are overlapped and attached to the transfer chamber.        12. The transfer chamber according to claim 11, wherein the five-sided pentagonal transfer chamber is at the center.        In the center of the transfer chamber is a robot for transporting a glass substrate        And two load lock chambers on one side of the transfer chamber        Overlapping and attached up and down, another side has several layers (slots)        The heating chamber is attached, and the remaining three sides of the plasma is attached to the process chamber        Do dry etching device. The method of claim 11, The load lock chamber is provided with a cooling plate for cooling the glass substrate, the plasma dry etching apparatus, characterized in that the cooling plate vertically moves up and down when the glass substrate is rolled and unloaded. The method of claim 11, The heating chamber is provided with a heating cassette having a plurality of layers (slots) so as to settle a plurality of glass substrates, the heating cassette is characterized in that the vertical vertical movement of the plasma dry etching apparatus. Clustered Plasma Dry Etching Apparatus The load chamber includes a transfer chamber equipped with a robot, a load-lock chamber attached to the transfer chamber, and a process chamber attached to the transfer chamber. Plasma dry etching apparatus, characterized in that configured to be placed on the two glass substrates at the same time. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein two load lock chambers are superimposed and attached to the transfer chamber.        17. The pentagonal transfer chamber of claim 16, wherein the transfer chamber has a five-sided pentagonal shape.        In the center of the transfer chamber is a robot for transporting a glass substrate        Two load lock chambers on one side around the transfer chamber        Are overlapped and attached up and down, and the remaining three sides are attached to the process chamber.        Rasma dry etching device. The method of claim 16, The load lock chamber is provided with a cooling plate for cooling the glass substrate, the plasma dry etching apparatus, characterized in that the cooling plate vertically moves up and down when the glass substrate is rolled and unloaded. The method of claim 16, The heating chamber is provided with a heating cassette having a plurality of layers (slots) so as to settle a plurality of glass substrates, the heating cassette is characterized in that the vertical vertical movement of the plasma dry etching apparatus. delete

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