KR101701356B1 - Sputtering device and method for depositing side of substrate easily - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method, and more particularly, to a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method capable of easily depositing an outer surface of a substrate by side deposition of the substrate.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method,

The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method, and more particularly, to a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method capable of easily depositing an outer surface of a substrate by side deposition of the substrate.

Sputtering is one of the thin film deposition methods widely used in cutting-edge industries such as semiconductors, displays, and MEMS.

Generally, a sputtering apparatus is composed of a vacuum chamber and a target for scattering the deposition material inside the vacuum chamber, and a substrate for deposition is placed at a position opposite to the target, and then sputtering is performed.

Further, the principle of sputtering is that the ionized plasma collides with the target inside the vacuum chamber, and the deposition of the target is carried out by causing the deposition material of the target to fall and deposit on the substrate.

Recently, a sputtering apparatus for improving sputtering efficiency has been developed by providing a magnet in a target and accelerating the rate at which an ionized plasma is drawn to a target.

On the other hand, in the case of sputtering, the evaporation material is scattered in the direction of free fall or collision with the plasma ions due to separation of the evaporation material from the target, So that side deposition is not easy.

That is, there is a problem that it is difficult to vapor-deposit the upper and side surfaces of the plate-like base material with a uniform thickness.

[Prior Art Literature]

[Patent Literature]

1. Korean Patent No. 1113303, 'Cylindrical Sputtering Cathode'

2. Korean Patent No. 1160680, 'Cylindrical Sputtering Cathode'

3. Korean Patent No. 1089372, 'Cylindrical Sputtering Cathode and Sputtering Apparatus Including It'

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sputtering apparatus and a sputtering method capable of depositing the upper and side surfaces of a base material with a uniform thickness, There is.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sputtering apparatus including a vacuum chamber and a target disposed in the vacuum chamber and sputtering an evaporated material coated on the outside toward a substrate, A substrate transporting means provided at a position opposite to the substrate transporting means for moving the substrate from one side of the vacuum chamber to the other side so as to pass the region where the deposition material is scattered; And an attitude control means provided in the substrate transporting means for controlling an attitude of the substrate placed on the substrate moving means.

In a preferred embodiment, the substrate is a substrate having a predetermined height and an edge bent at a side thereof, and the posture control means controls the posture such that the edge of the substrate faces the substrate transport direction.

In a preferred embodiment, the posture control means lifts the lower edge of the base of the base material up to a predetermined height, and controls the posture so that the edge of the base material faces the upper portion in the substrate transport direction.

In a preferred embodiment, the substrate transporting means reciprocates the substrate from one side of the vacuum chamber to the other side and reciprocates from one side to the other side, so that the region where the evaporation material is scattered passes a predetermined number of times.

In a preferred embodiment, the posture control means alternately turns the one side surface and the other side surface lower side of the substrate so that one side surface of the substrate facing the substrate conveyance direction faces the upper side in the substrate conveyance direction when the substrate reciprocates Lift to control posture.

In a preferred embodiment, the target includes: a cathode coated with an evaporation material on its outer side and positioned such that its rotation axis is in a direction crossing the substrate transport direction; And a magnet disposed on the inner side of the cathode and forming a magnetic field with a direction toward the predetermined direction on the rotation axis and causing the evaporation material to scatter in a direction in which the magnetic field is formed.

In a preferred embodiment, the magnet is fixed to the cathode, and the cathode rotates so that the magnetic field of the magnet faces the substrate to which it is transferred.

In a preferred embodiment, the magnet is separated from the cathode, and the magnet can rotate within the cathode so that the magnetic field being formed is directed to the substrate being transported.

In a preferred embodiment, the magnet may be composed of a plurality of magnets facing different positions on the substrate transfer line.

In a preferred embodiment, the target may be composed of a plurality of targets spaced apart from each other in the substrate transport direction.

In a preferred embodiment, the cathode is a cylindrical cathode having a circular cross section perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

In a preferred embodiment, the cathode may be a polygonal columnar cathode with a vertical cross section perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

In a preferred embodiment, the polycrystalline cathode is rotated so that the outer surface thereof faces the moving substrate.

In addition, the present invention can further provide a display panel, a touch panel, an LED device, and a solar cell panel having a deposition layer deposited by the sputtering apparatus.

The present invention also provides a sputtering method for performing a sputtering process using the sputtering apparatus, wherein a substrate having a predetermined height and a corner bent at a side thereof is placed on the substrate transporting means so as to be located at one side of the inside of the vacuum chamber Placing the edge of the substrate so as to face in the transport direction; And depositing a deposition material on an outer surface of the substrate by causing the deposition material to scatter in the target and transferring the substrate to the other side of the vacuum chamber through a region where the deposition material is scattered To the sputtering target.

In a preferred embodiment, the step of depositing the deposition material includes reciprocating the substrate from one side of the inside of the vacuum chamber to the other side of the substrate.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the step of placing the substrate on the substrate transporting means includes raising the lower end of the substrate in the transport direction to a predetermined height so that the transport direction side of the substrate faces the upper portion of the substrate transport direction.

In a preferred embodiment, the step of depositing the evaporation material is performed such that, when the substrate reciprocates, one side surface of the substrate facing the substrate transport direction faces one side of the substrate and the other side The bottom is alternately lifted up to the top.

In a preferred embodiment, the step of causing the deposition material to be deposited varies the direction in which the magnetic field is generated so that the magnetic field generated in the target is directed toward the substrate when the substrate moves.

The present invention has the following excellent effects.

According to the sputtering apparatus and the sputtering method of the present invention, since the posture can be controlled so that the side edges of the substrate face the direction in which the evaporation material is scattered, the side and top surfaces can be deposited with uniform thickness.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining deposition of a substrate in a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
3 is a view for explaining deposition of a substrate moving from one side to the other side in a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a view for explaining an overall process example of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view showing another example of a magnet of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
6 is a view showing another example of a target of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
7 is a view showing another example of a cathode of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Although the terms used in the present invention have been selected as general terms that are widely used at present, there are some terms selected arbitrarily by the applicant in a specific case. In this case, the meaning described or used in the detailed description part of the invention The meaning must be grasped.

Hereinafter, the technical structure of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but may be embodied in other forms. Like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

1, a sputtering apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a vacuum chamber 110, a target 120, (130) and an attitude control means (140).

Further, the present invention may further provide a substrate having a deposition layer deposited by the sputtering apparatus 100 separately from the sputtering apparatus 100.

The substrate may be, for example, a display panel, a touch panel, an LED device (panel), or a solar cell panel. The deposition layer may be an electrode layer, an antireflection layer, a protective layer, or the like. The display panel includes an LCD panel, an OLED panel, and the like.

The vacuum chamber 110 is a chamber capable of forming a vacuum atmosphere therein, and provides a space in which a substrate for a sputtering process can be placed.

Although not shown, the chamber 110 may be provided with a vacuum pump for evacuating the inside of the chamber 110 and a gas supply device for supplying gas for plasma formation.

The target 120 is provided inside the vacuum chamber 110, and an evaporation material, which is a material for deposition, is coated on the outside.

Further, the target 120 is provided such that the rotation axis thereof is directed in a direction (for example, orthogonal direction) crossing the substrate transport direction.

The target 120 includes a cathode 121 coated with an evaporation material on the outside and a magnet 122 disposed inside the cathode 121 and forming a magnetic field in a direction crossing the axis of rotation of the cathode 121 ).

1, the cathode 121 may be a cylindrical cathode having a vertical cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis, and may include a polygonal columnar cathode 120 having a polygonal vertical cross section with respect to the rotation axis, as shown in FIG. 7 ').

In addition, the magnetic field of the magnet 122 causes the ionized plasma to accelerate toward the cathode 121 to collide with it, and the deposition material is scattered in the direction in which the plasma ions impinge. In other words, the deposition material of the target 120 may scatter in the direction of the magnetic field of the magnet 122.

That is, the magnet 122 has a directionality and forms a magnetic field, and the deposition material of the target 120 is directionally scattered toward a direction in which a magnetic field is formed.

5, the magnets 122a, 122b, and 122c may be formed of a plurality of magnets 122a, 122b, and 122c. In this case, the magnets 122a, 122b, And are provided to look at different positions on the trajectory.

In other words, the magnets 122a, 122b, and 122c are provided inside the cathode 120 while looking at different directions about the rotational axis of the target 120.

In this case, the cathode 121 or the magnets 122a, 122b, and 122c may be deposited without rotating the substrate.

Also, the magnet 122 may rotate together with the cathode 121, and the cathode 121 may rotate independently while being fixed.

6, the target 120 may include a plurality of targets 120a, 120b, and 120c. In this case, the targets 120a, 120b, and 120c may be spaced apart from each other And can be provided side by side.

The substrate transfer means 130 is provided at a position facing the target 120 in the vacuum chamber 100 and transfers the substrate 10 to be deposited.

More specifically, the substrate transporting unit 130 transports the substrate 10 from one side of the vacuum chamber 100 to the other side, passes the scattering region b of evaporation material scattered from the target 120, do.

Further, the substrate 10 is a substrate having a predetermined height and a side surface, and the side surface may have a curved edge 11.

Further, although the substrate transporting means 130 is shown as being composed of a conveyor belt, any substrate transport means can be used as long as the substrate can be transported on a flat surface.

The posture control means (140) controls the posture of the substrate (10) on the substrate conveyance means (130).

For example, the posture control means 140 may be a multi-degree-of-freedom stage provided in the substrate conveying means 130.

2, the posture control means 140 controls the side edge 11 of the substrate 10 to face the substrate conveyance direction m and the lower edge of the edge 11 of the substrate 10 to a predetermined height Raise to the top.

That is, the posture control means 140 positions the side edge 11 of the substrate 10 on the substrate conveyance means 130 so as to observe the upper side (diagonal direction) of the substrate conveyance direction.

This is to allow the deposition material (a) to be effectively deposited on the edge portion of the substrate when the substrate 10 passes through the deposition material scattering region.

Therefore, the side surface and the upper surface of the substrate can be deposited at the same thickness at the same time.

Referring to FIG. 3, the substrate 10 can be deposited while reciprocating from one side of the vacuum chamber 110 to the other side, from one side to the other side.

When the substrate 10 moves from one side to the other side of the vacuum chamber 110, the side edge 11 of the substrate 10 is lowered and the other side edge 12 of the substrate 10 is moved in the substrate transport direction The upper side is raised so that the other side edge 12 is also deposited to an appropriate thickness.

The posture control unit 140 controls the posture control unit 140 to reciprocate the deposition material scattering region b while rotating the substrate 10 so that the deposition material can be uniformly deposited on the entire side surface of the substrate 10 .

Hereinafter, the sputtering method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The sputtering method of the present invention is such that the substrate 10 is first placed on the substrate transfer means 130 so that the substrate 10 is located at one side of the inside of the vacuum chamber 110, The posture is controlled so that the side edge 11 faces the upper end in the substrate transport direction (I).

The magnet 122 of the target 120 may rotate about the rotation axis c so that the direction of the magnetic field is directed toward the substrate 10. However, the magnet 122 may be fixed so as to be directed downward, and as shown in FIG. 5, when the magnets 122 are constituted by a plurality of magnets 122, the magnet 122 may be fixed and generate a magnetic field.

Next, the evaporation material is scattered in the target 120, and the substrate transporting means 130 transports the substrate 10 through the inner central part of the vacuum chamber 110 (II), the vacuum chamber 110 And transferred to the other side (III).

At this time, the magnet 122 may be rotated to look at the substrate 10 to be transferred.

The posture control means 140 may be moved while maintaining the posture of the substrate 10 as it is. When the posture control means 140 is transferred to the inner central portion of the vacuum chamber 110, the side edges 11 The upper surface of the substrate 11 is lowered and the upper surface of the substrate 11 is leveled and the other side edge 12 is raised to be transferred to the other side of the vacuum chamber 110 when passing the center.

This is for the purpose of depositing the deposition material with a uniform thickness on the side surface and the upper surface of the substrate 10.

Next, the substrate transfer means 130 transfers the substrate 10 to the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 through the central portion of the vacuum chamber 110 (V) (V). In this case, When the substrate 10 is positioned in the center of the vacuum chamber 110, the upper surface of the substrate 10 is leveled and the other side edge 12 is lowered and the side edge 11 is raised The posture can be controlled so as to view the evaporated material.

The substrate transporting means 130 may regulate the deposition thickness by repeatedly moving the substrate 10 from the inner side to the other side of the vacuum chamber 110 several times.

When the substrate 10 is reciprocally moved, the posture control means 140 controls the posture of the substrate 10 so that the side surface of the substrate 10 alternately faces one side surface and the other side so as to face the substrate transfer direction or the central portion of the vacuum chamber 110 Descend.

6, when a plurality of the targets 120 are provided, the target 120b positioned at the center of the vacuum chamber 110 may be positioned so that the magnet may face the vertical lower portion, The targets 120a and 120c may be fixedly positioned so as to face the end of the substrate transporting unit 130, respectively.

However, the outer targets 120a and 120c may be fixed and positioned so that the magnets face the central portion of the substrate transfer means 130, respectively.

However, the magnets of the targets 120a, 120b, and 120c may independently rotate to vary the direction of the magnetic field and perform deposition.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the cathode of the target 120 is a polycrystalline cathode 120 ', the outer surface of the target 120 may be rotated toward the moving substrate 10 to perform deposition.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation in the present invention. Various changes and modifications will be possible.

100: Sputtering apparatus 110: Vacuum chamber
120: target 121: cathode
122: magnet 130: substrate transporting means
140: posture control means

Claims (22)

delete A sputtering apparatus comprising a vacuum chamber and a target disposed in the vacuum chamber and adapted to be deposited by spattering an outer coated material toward the substrate,
A substrate transporting means provided at a position facing the target in the vacuum chamber and moving the substrate from one side of the vacuum chamber to the other side so as to pass the region through which the deposition material is scattered; And
And posture control means provided in the substrate transfer means for controlling an orientation of the substrate placed on the substrate moving means,
The substrate is a substrate having a predetermined height and having a corner bent to the side,
Wherein the posture control means controls the posture so that the side edge of the substrate faces the substrate transport direction.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the posture control means lifts the lower edge of the base of the base material up to a predetermined height and controls the posture so that the edge of the base material faces the upper portion in the substrate conveyance direction.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the substrate transporting means reciprocates the substrate from one side of the vacuum chamber to the other side and reciprocates from one side to the other side so that the region where the evaporation material is scattered passes a predetermined number of times.
5. The method of claim 4,
The posture control means controls the posture by alternately lifting one side surface and the other side surface lower side of the substrate upward so that one side surface of the substrate facing the substrate conveyance direction faces the upper side in the substrate conveyance direction when the substrate reciprocates Wherein the sputtering apparatus is a sputtering apparatus.
6. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
The target:
A cathode that is coated on the outer side with an evaporation material and positioned such that the rotation axis thereof is in a direction crossing the substrate transport direction; And
And a magnet disposed on the inner side of the cathode and forming a magnetic field with a direction toward the predetermined direction on the rotation axis and causing the deposition material to scatter in a direction in which the magnetic field is formed.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the magnet is fixed to the cathode and the cathode rotates so as to face the substrate to which the magnetic field of the magnet is transferred.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the magnet is separated from the cathode and the magnet rotates within the cathode so that the magnetic field to be formed is directed to the substrate being transported.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the magnet is comprised of a plurality of magnets facing different positions on the substrate transfer line.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the target is comprised of a plurality of targets spaced apart from one another in the substrate transport direction.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the cathode is a cylindrical cathode having a circular cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis.
The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the cathode is a polygonal columnar cathode having a vertical cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis.
13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the polycrystalline cathode is rotated so as to look at a substrate on which an outer surface of the polycrystalline cathode moves.
A display panel having a deposition layer deposited by a sputtering apparatus.
A touch panel having a deposition layer deposited by a sputtering apparatus.
7. An LED device having a deposition layer deposited by a sputtering apparatus according to claim 6.
A solar cell panel having a deposition layer deposited by a sputtering apparatus.
A sputtering method for performing a sputtering process using the sputtering apparatus of claim 6,
Placing a substrate having a predetermined height and a curved edge on a side thereof on the substrate transfer means so as to be located at one side of the inside of the vacuum chamber so that the edge of the substrate faces the transfer direction; And
And depositing a deposition material on an outer surface of the substrate by causing the deposition material to scatter in the target and transferring the substrate to the other side of the vacuum chamber through a region where the deposition material is scattered, .
19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein depositing the deposition material comprises:
And reciprocating the substrate from one side of the inner side of the vacuum chamber to one side of the other side of the vacuum chamber.
20. The method of claim 19,
Wherein the step of placing the substrate on the substrate transporting means comprises:
The lower end of the substrate in the conveying direction is raised to a predetermined height so that the conveying direction side of the substrate faces the upper portion in the substrate conveying direction.
21. The method of claim 20,
Wherein depositing the deposition material comprises:
Wherein one side of the substrate and the other side of the other side of the substrate are alternately lifted upward to be deposited so that one side of the substrate facing the substrate transport direction faces the top of the substrate transport direction when the substrate reciprocates .
22. The method of claim 21,
Wherein depositing the deposition material comprises:
Wherein a direction of the magnetic field is changed so that a magnetic field generated in the target is directed to the substrate when the substrate moves.

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