KR101087624B1 - Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition apparatus for flat panel display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display.

Specifically, the chamber is provided with a supply port and an exhaust port, the reaction region is defined therein; An electrode part provided at an upper end of the chamber and to which an RF voltage is applied; A susceptor provided to be elevated in a ground state at an inner lower end of the chamber, the substrate being seated, and a plurality of alignment pins protruding upward along an outer edge of the substrate; A shadow frame having a rectangular frame shape fixedly installed in the chamber to cover the substrate and the susceptor edge when the susceptor is raised, and a plurality of fastening grooves provided on a rear surface closely contacting the susceptor; Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for the manufacture of a flat panel display device including a plurality of bolt members having an aligning groove that can be inserted into each of the plurality of fastening grooves can be inserted into each of the alignment pins to provide.

Thus, despite repeated contact between the alignment pins of the susceptor and the alignment grooves of the shadow frame, particle generation can be suppressed.

Description

Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition apparatus for flat panel display device             

1 is a cross-sectional view of a typical plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention.

3A and 3B are enlarged cross-sectional views showing the assembled and disassembled states of the inner part of Fig. 2, respectively.

Figure 4 is a bottom exploded perspective view of the shadow frame of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

140: shadow frame 142: fastening groove

144,146: first and second parts 148: screw groove

150: bolt member 152: shaft

154: thread 156: head

157: expansion guide piece 158: insertion groove

The present invention relates to a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition apparatus (PECVD) for the manufacture of a flat panel display device (FPD), and more particularly to a chamber defining a sealed reaction region ( a susceptor that is lifted with a substrate supported therein, and a shadow frame fixedly fixed inside the chamber to cover and close the edges of the substrate and the susceptor when the susceptor is raised; In the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus comprising a), the present invention relates to a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device that can greatly reduce the occurrence of foreign matters due to physical contact between the susceptor and the shadow frame.

In recent years, as the society enters the information age in earnest, the display field for visually displaying various electrical signal information has been rapidly developed. Various flat panel display devices (FPDs) are introduced to quickly replace existing cathode ray tubes (CRTs).

Specific examples of such a flat panel display device include a liquid crystal display device (LCD), a plasma display panel device (PDP), a field emission display device (FED), and an electroluminescent display device. (Electro luminescence Display device: ELD) and the like, each of which has a flat panel display panel consisting of a pair of transparent substrates bonded to each other with a unique layer of fluorescence or polarization material therebetween as an essential component.

Recently, in particular, these flat panel display panels are arranged in a matrix manner, and then each matrix is independently controlled by a switching element such as a thin film transistor (TFT). matrix type) is widely used because of its excellent video reproducibility and color reproducibility. In the manufacturing process of a flat panel display device, a thin film deposition process for forming a thin film of a predetermined material on a substrate and a photolithography exposing selected portions of the thin film (photo lithography) process, the etching process of removing the exposed portion and patterning (patterning) to the desired form is included repeatedly.

In the dual film deposition process, sputtering of the physical method of directly colliding and adsorbing thin film particles on the surface of the substrate and inducing a radical chemical reaction on the upper surface of the substrate results in dropping the resulting thin film particles on the surface of the substrate. And Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of a chemical method of adsorption. In particular, the latter representative example is Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor using high energy and abundant radicals of plasma. Deposition: PECVD) can be mentioned.

1 is a cross-sectional structural view showing a general plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus, defining a closed reaction zone (A), the supply port 12 to which the external reaction gas is supplied, and an exhaust port capable of exhausting the inside ( A chamber (10) provided with 14 is an essential component, and an electrode portion 20 and a susceptor 30 are faced up and down with a substrate 2 interposed therebetween.

The dual electrode unit 20 is a backing plate (22) serving as one electrode for generating and maintaining a plasma by applying a RF (Radio Frequency) voltage, and a reaction gas which is located at the bottom thereof and supplied from the outside. It includes a shower head plate (24) in which a plurality of injection holes 26 are perforated so that the spray holes are uniformly distributed over the entire reaction area (A).

The susceptor 30 is electrically grounded to serve as a chuck supporting the substrate 2 and to serve as another electrode for generating and maintaining plasma, and an external elevator assembly 34. It is made to be able to go up and down by.

Accordingly, when the substrate 2 is brought into the chamber 10 and seated on the susceptor 30, the susceptor 30 is lifted by the elevator assembly 34 to move the substrate 2 to the shower head plate 24. At an interval, the reaction gas is injected through the injection hole 26 of the shower head plate 24 while RF voltage is applied to the backing plate 22.

As a result, the reaction gas introduced into the reaction zone A is excited by plasma, and the resultant chemical reaction of radicals contained therein is deposited on the substrate 2 as a thin film. When the thin film deposition is completed, the susceptor 30 descends. After that, the reaction zone A is exhausted using the exhaust port 14 to prepare a new thin film deposition process following the replacement of the substrate 2.                         

Meanwhile, in the deposition mechanism using the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus, the plasma in the reaction zone A is prevented from being lost during the deposition of the thin film, thereby improving the uniformity of the thin film and unnecessarily the substrate 2. A shadow frame (40) is installed in the chamber 10 to suppress the deposition of a thin film at the edge, which is usually made of aluminum (Al) material, but the surface is anodizing for insulation. The specific shape has a rectangular frame that surrounds the side surface of the chamber 10 between the electrode unit 20 and the susceptor 30.

In addition, a plurality of alignment pins 32 protrude upward along the edge of the susceptor 30 outside the substrate 2 for contacting the shadow frame 40 and the susceptor 30 in position. A plurality of alignment grooves 42 are formed along the rear edge of the corresponding shadow frame 40 so that each alignment pin 32 is correspondingly inserted. Therefore, when the susceptor 30 rises, each of the alignment pins 32 is correctly inserted into the alignment grooves 42 of the shadow frame 40, so that the susceptor 30 and the shadow frame 40 are in contact with each other. In this case, only the in-situ contact is maintained during the process, so that the edges of the substrate 2 can be accurately covered and the loss of plasma can be prevented, thereby enabling reliable thin film deposition.

However, the general plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus of the above-described configuration has some unstable elements, one of which the alignment pin 32 of the susceptor 30 is inserted into the alignment groove 42 of the shadow frame 40. As the alignment pin 32 made of a ceramic material comes into contact with the alignment groove 42 made of aluminum, which is relatively weak in mechanical strength, it is frequently observed that the anodized surface is peeled off. As a result, particles, which are fine particles of the peeled pieces, are generated.

In addition, the foreign matter penetrates into the thin film while floating inside the chamber 10 and causes short between the metal wirings formed in the before and after processes, and thus, a general plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus is freed of the susceptor 30. Due to the material characteristics of the alignment grooves 42 of the inpin 32 and the shadow frame 40 and the foreign matter caused by the physical contact, the quality of the thin film may be degraded and defects may occur.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, despite the repeated contact between the alignment pin of the susceptor and the alignment groove of the shadow frame for the manufacture of a flat panel display device that can suppress the generation of foreign matter It is an object of the present invention to provide a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a chamber having a supply port and an exhaust port and a reaction zone defined therein; An electrode part provided at an upper end of the chamber and to which an RF voltage is applied; A susceptor provided to be elevated in a ground state at an inner lower end of the chamber, the substrate being seated, and a plurality of alignment pins protruding upward along an outer edge of the substrate; A shadow frame having a rectangular frame shape fixedly installed in the chamber to cover the substrate and the susceptor edge when the susceptor is raised, and a plurality of fastening grooves provided on a rear surface closely contacting the susceptor; Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device which is detachably assembled to the plurality of fastening grooves and includes a plurality of bolt members having an alignment groove into which each of the alignment pins can be inserted. To provide.

In this case, the alignment pin may be made of a ceramic material. In this case, a screw groove is formed on an inner surface of the fastening groove, and the bolt members are respectively formed with screw threads corresponding to the screw grooves on the outer surface to insert a screw into the fastening groove. A shaft; It includes a head provided at the end of the shaft and the alignment groove is formed on the outer surface facing the susceptor, the bolt member is preferably at least the head is of a ceramic material.

In addition, the head may be inserted into the fastening groove, and in this case, it may further include a circular guide piece of the same material that is extended and protruded to surround the end of the head, respectively in close contact with the shadow frame and the susceptor.

And the electrode unit and a backing plate to which the RF voltage is applied; A shower head plate provided at a lower end of the backing plate and having a plurality of injection holes perforated to uniformly inject the external reaction gas supplied to the supply port into the reaction region. The present invention will be described in more detail.

2 is a cross-sectional structural view of the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention, the chamber 110 defining the sealed reaction zone A and the electrode portion 120 and the susceptor facing up and down inside thereof. 130, the rectangular frame of the shadow frame 140 is fixedly installed to surround the inner surface of the chamber (110).

In more detail, first, the chamber 110 is a reaction vessel defining an inherently closed reaction region A, and a supply port for supplying an external reaction gas to the reaction region A. 112 and an exhaust port 114 for exhausting the reaction zone A. In the reaction region A, the substrate 2 as the object to be treated is mounted to deposit a thin film using plasma of the reaction gas.

Next, the electrode unit 120 is provided on the upper portion of the reaction region A in the chamber 110, and a backing plate serving as one electrode for generating and maintaining plasma is applied with RF high voltage. 122 and a shower head plate 124 through which a plurality of injection holes 126 are perforated so that the reaction gas introduced from the supply port 112 is uniformly sprayed over the entire area of the reaction zone A. Include.

The susceptor 130 which can be lifted and lowered by an external elevator assembly 134 while supporting the substrate 2, which is an object to be processed, is provided at the bottom of the reaction region A inside the chamber 110. It faces the electrode unit 120 with the substrate 2 interposed therebetween, and maintains an electrically grounded state to serve as another electrode for generating and maintaining plasma. In addition, a heat generating means such as a heater may be built into the susceptor 130.

In addition, between the electrode unit 120 and the susceptor 130 is provided with a shadow frame 140 of the rectangular frame surrounding the inner surface of the chamber 110, the substrate (2) when the susceptor 130 is raised Then, the edge of the susceptor 130 is covered to prevent the loss of plasma and to suppress unnecessary thin film deposition on the edge of the substrate. The shadow frame 130 is made of aluminum, but the surface is anodized for electrical insulation.

Accordingly, in the plasma thin film deposition apparatus according to the present invention, when the substrate 2 is loaded into the reaction region A of the chamber 110 and seated on the susceptor 130 in the lowered state, the susceptor may be formed by the elevator assembly 134. 130 is raised to closely contact the edges of the substrate 2 and the susceptor 130 to the back of the shadow frame 140. Subsequently, the reaction gas flows into the reaction region A inside the chamber 110 through the supply port 112, and at the same time, the RF voltage is applied to the backing plate 122 of the electrode unit 120. Due to the potential difference between and the reaction gas in the reaction zone (A) is excited to the plasma.

As a result, the high energy of the plasma and the resultant chemical reaction of abundant radicals are dropped and adsorbed onto the surface of the substrate 2 and deposited as a thin film. When the thin film deposition is completed, the susceptor 130 is lowered again through the exhaust port 114. The reaction zone A is evacuated and the substrate 2 is taken out to prepare for the progress of the thin film deposition process on another substrate.

The reaction gas will depend on the type of the thin-film desired, to the deposition of silicon nitride for example SiH _4, H _2, NH _3, is used a mixed gas of N _2, the amorphous silicon film deposited is SiH _4, H ₂ Ph ₃ is added to the reaction gas for amorphous silicon when the impurity amorphous silicon film (n + a-Si) for doping phosphorus (P) to increase electron mobility is formed.

On the other hand, this description is based on the general technical idea, the present invention in particular the substrate of the upper surface of the susceptor 130 to guide the in-position contact with the shadow frame 140 when the susceptor 130 is raised (2) A plurality of alignment pins 132 made of a ceramic material protrudes upward along the outer edge, and the rear surface of the shadow frame 140 in close contact with each other corresponds to each of the plurality of alignment pins 132. The plurality of bolt members 150 are coupled to each other, and an alignment groove 158 in which the alignment pins 132 of the susceptor 130 are inserted into each of the bolt members 150 is provided. It is done.

That is, in the plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention, the alignment groove 158 into which the alignment pin 132 of the susceptor 130 can be inserted is directly on the rear surface of the shadow frame 140 as compared with the general case. Instead of being provided, a plurality of bolt members 150 are fastened to the shadow frame 140, and the alignment grooves 158 are formed in the bolt members 150, respectively. Member 150 is characterized in that detachably assembled to the shadow frame 140, which is shown in Figure 3a and 3b and the shadow frame 140 showing the disassembly and assembly state by expanding the inner portion of Figure 2 The bottom and the bolt member 150 fastened thereto will be described with reference to the perspective view of FIG.

As shown, a plurality of fastening grooves 142 are formed at the bottom of the shadow frame 140 according to the present invention, and bolt members 150 are inserted and fastened to each other. At this time, it is preferable that the screw grooves 148 are formed on the inner surfaces of the respective fastening grooves 142.

The bolt member 150 inserted into the fastening groove 142 includes a shaft 152 and a head 156 provided at an end thereof, similarly to a general bolt shape, along the outer surface of the double shaft 152. The thread 154 corresponding to the screw groove 148 formed on the inner surface of the fastening groove 142 of the shadow frame 140 is formed. Accordingly, each bolt member 150 is inserted into the fastening groove 142 from the end of the shaft 152 with the head 156 at the bottom, and the susceptor 130 to the outer surface of the head 156 exposed to the outside. An insertion groove 158 into which the alignment pin 132 may be inserted is formed.

The bolt member 150 is made of the same ceramic material as the alignment pins 132 of the susceptor 130, and according to the purpose, only the head 156 contacting the alignment pins 132 is made of ceramic material. It may be done.

In this case, preferably, the head 156 of the bolt member 150 is more advantageously inserted into the fastening groove 142 to prevent the loss of plasma due to the proximity of the susceptor 130 and the shadow frame 140. The fastening groove 142 of the first portion 144 in which the shaft 152 is inserted and the second portion in the rear direction of the shadow frame 140 having a larger diameter so that the head 156 can be inserted ( 146, and the susceptor 130 and the shadow frame 140 when the head 156 of the bolt member 150 is fully inserted into the second part 146 of the fastening groove 142. Since there is a possibility of another foreign material directly in contact with this, an annular guide piece 157 may be provided that is extended to protrude around the end of the head 156 to be in close contact with the shadow frame 140.

The annular guide piece 157 is also preferably made of the same ceramic material as the head 156 or the alignment pin 132.

Therefore, since the alignment pins 132 of the susceptor 130 are inserted into the insertion grooves 158 formed in the head 156 of the bolt member 150 made of the same material, the alignment pins 132 are different from the conventional ones. There is no fear that the anodized surface of the shadow frame 140 may be detached during the process of being inserted into the insertion groove 158, and moreover, the shadow frame 140 and the susceptor 130 may be substantially at the ends of the head 156. Since the protruding annular guide piece 157 is closely interposed therebetween, the possibility that the anodized surface material of the shadow frame 140 is detached during this process is further reduced.

Furthermore, even when the susceptor 130 and the shadow frame 140 are not in contact with each other, the shadow pin 132 is in contact with the annular guide piece 157 of the head 156, unless the error range is large. There is no fear that the surface material of the frame 140 will be detached.

The bolt member 150 is detachably assembled to the shadow frame 140 in a screw manner so that the bolt member 150 can be easily replaced in case of breakage.

Meanwhile, in the above description, the plurality of fastening grooves 142 formed in the shadow frame 140, the plurality of bolt members 150 inserted therein, and the alignment pins 132 of the susceptor 132 corresponding thereto are illustrated in FIG. As shown in Fig. 4, the substrate 2 is preferably positioned outside the four edges, similarly to the general case.

Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus according to the present invention described above was inserted into the back of the shadow frame bolt member made of the same ceramic material as the alignment pin of the susceptor and formed in each of the alignment grooves, the same material as the general case Susceptors and shadow frames are used, but despite this, there is an advantage that the possibility of foreign matters due to the removal of the surface material of the shadow frame is greatly reduced.

At this time, each bolt member can be easily attached or detached to the shadow frame by screw method, so it is easy to replace when broken. Especially, the susceptor and shadow frame are fixed by additionally installing an annular guide piece that surrounds the head of the bolt member. Even if the position is not contacted, there is an advantage to reduce the possibility of foreign matter.

Claims (7)

A chamber having a supply port and an exhaust port and having a reaction zone defined therein; An electrode part provided at an upper end of the chamber and to which an RF voltage is applied; A susceptor provided to be elevated in a ground state at an inner lower end of the chamber, the substrate being seated, and a plurality of alignment pins protruding upward along an outer edge of the substrate; A shadow frame having a rectangular frame shape fixedly installed in the chamber to cover the substrate and the susceptor edge when the susceptor is raised, and a plurality of fastening grooves provided on a rear surface closely contacting the susceptor; A plurality of bolt members are detachably assembled to the plurality of fastening grooves, and provided with an alignment groove into which the respective alignment pins can be inserted. Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device comprising a. The method of claim 1, The alignment pin is a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device made of a ceramic material. The method according to claim 1 or 2, A screw groove is formed on the inner surface of the fastening groove, Each of the bolt members includes: a shaft having a screw thread corresponding to the screw groove formed on an outer surface thereof and screwed into the fastening groove; Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device including a head which is provided at the end of the shaft and the alignment groove is formed on the outer surface facing the susceptor. The method of claim 3, The bolt member is a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device wherein at least the head is a ceramic material. The method of claim 4, wherein The head is plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device is inserted into the fastening groove. The method of claim 4, wherein Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for manufacturing a flat panel display device further comprises an annular guide piece of the same material is extended to project the end of the head is in close contact with the shadow frame and the susceptor, respectively. The method of claim 1, The electrode unit and the backing plate to which the RF voltage is applied; Plasma chemical vapor deposition for the manufacture of a flat panel display device including a shower head plate provided at the bottom of the backing plate and having a plurality of injection holes for uniformly injecting external reaction gas supplied to the supply port into the reaction region. Device.

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