KR101710062B1 - The deposition material collection device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a deposition material collection apparatus which receives and collects deposition material, which escapes between substrates, among deposition material spread towards the substrates to form a thin film, comprising: a trap container; a trap container heating unit; a collector container; a discharge pipe; and a discharge pipe heating unit. The trap container is placed on one side of a substrate conveyor unit, which conveys a substrate in one direction in a deposition chamber; and has an opening unit whose surface in contact with the substrate conveyor unit is open. Deposition material, which has escaped from the substrate, among deposition material sprayed towards the substrate is accumulated inside the trap container. The trap container-heating unit heats the trap container up to a temperature which is the same or higher than a freezing point of the deposition material. The collector container is placed on the outside of the deposition chamber at a lower position than that of the trap container. The discharge pipe connects the trap container and the collector container. The discharge pipe-heating unit heats the discharge pipe up to a temperature which has the same or higher than a freezing point of the deposition material. The deposition material, which is accumulated in a solid state in the trap container, is liquefied by operation of the trap container-heating unit and the discharge pipe-heating unit; and is discharged to the collector container through the discharge pipe.

Description

[0001] The deposition material collection device [0002]

The present invention relates to a deposition material collecting apparatus, and more particularly, to a deposition material collecting apparatus that collects and collects a deposition material that escapes from a substrate among deposition materials sprayed onto a substrate to form a thin film.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in manufacturing a display panel such as a PDP, an LCD, and an OLED or manufacturing a solar panel such as CIGS, a vacuum deposition apparatus is used as a deposition method for forming a thin film on a substrate.

Such a vacuum deposition apparatus forms a thin film by causing an atomic or molecular deposition material to solidify on the surface of a substrate through a physical or chemical method in a vacuum deposition chamber.

1 is a view showing an example of a conventional vacuum vapor deposition apparatus.

1 (a), a conventional evaporation material supply device includes a deposition chamber C partitioned by a plurality of partitions, a substrate provided along a process progress line of the deposition chamber C, And a jetting unit V for jetting the deposition material M onto the substrate S to be transferred on the transfer unit T. [

In the conventional vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, a plurality of substrates S are transferred in a line at a predetermined interval on a substrate T. When the deposition unit V continuously deposits the deposition material M, The material M has escaped between the substrate S and the substrate S and adhered to the bottom and sides of the compartment R of the deposition chamber C. [

Therefore, there is a problem that the work and time are wasted because the work of releasing the vacuum inside the deposition chamber (C) and removing the deposition material (M) deposited inside the chamber (R) has to be done from time to time.

In addition, the vacuum release in the deposition chamber (C) means the interruption of the deposition process.

In addition, the materials used in the deposition process, particularly selenium, monosilane, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, which are used as reaction gases, are very reactive substances, and the vacuum deposition apparatus is corroded by these deposition materials, There was an issue that was shortened.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1118929 (Registered on Feb. 27, 2012, entitled: Apparatus and Method for Manufacturing Thin Film Solar Cell)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for depositing a deposition material on a substrate, And to provide a deposition material collection apparatus capable of maintaining the apparatus.

In order to attain the above object, a deposition material collecting apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that a substrate for transferring a substrate in one direction in a deposition chamber is disposed at one side of a transfer section, and the substrate has an opening A trap container in which an evaporation material that has escaped from the substrate among the evaporation materials sprayed on the substrate is accumulated therein; A trap container heating unit for heating the trap container to a temperature equal to or higher than a freezing point of the evaporation material; A recovery vessel disposed outside the deposition chamber to a position lower than the trap vessel; A discharge pipe connecting the trap container and the recovery container; And a discharge pipe heating unit for heating the discharge pipe to a temperature equal to or higher than a freezing point of the deposition material. The evaporation material accumulated in the solid state in the trap container is liquefied by driving the trap container heating unit and the discharge pipe heating unit, And a discharge pipe cooling part which is discharged to the recovery container through a discharge pipe and which is connected to the discharge pipe and cools the discharge pipe to a temperature lower than the freezing point of the evaporation material, The evaporation material in the discharge pipe is solidified by driving the discharge pipe cooling part, and the inside of the discharge pipe is closed.

The deposition material collecting apparatus according to the present invention may further include: a sensing unit coupled to the trap container to sense an amount of deposition material accumulated in the trap container; And a control unit for driving the trap container heating unit and the discharge pipe heating unit such that the deposition material accumulated in the trap container is discharged to the collection container when the amount of the deposition material measured by the sensing unit is equal to or more than a reference value have.

The evaporation material collecting apparatus according to the present invention may further include a valve coupled to the discharge pipe to open and close the discharge pipe, wherein when the evaporation material in the trap container is recovered to the recovery container, When the evaporation material in the recovery container is removed, the valve is locked so that the inside of the discharge pipe can be closed.

The apparatus for recovering a deposited material according to the present invention may further include a vacuum pump coupled to the recovery container to lower an inner pressure of the recovery container. When the recovery container is detached from the discharge pipe, So that the inside of the recovery container can be evacuated again.

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The evaporation material collecting apparatus according to the present invention further includes a trap container cooling unit coupled to the trap container to cool the trap container. When the evaporation material is sprayed from the spray unit, the trap container cooling unit is driven The trap container can be cooled.

A deposition material recovery apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a cover disposed inside the deposition chamber; And a cover driving unit coupled to one side of the deposition chamber to move the cover along the upper portion of the opening, wherein when the trap container heating unit heats the trap container, May be disposed above the opening.

According to the deposition material collecting apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the maintenance burden for removing the deposition material accumulated inside the deposition chamber, and can easily and safely treat the deposition material without entering the inside of the deposition chamber .

Further, according to the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention, since the evaporation material is treated without stopping the evaporation process, the equipment operation rate can be improved.

Also, according to the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the parts inside the deposition chamber and the drive mechanisms from being corroded by the evaporation material, thereby shortening the life of the equipment.

Further, according to the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention, by automatically driving the trap container heating unit, the discharge pipe heating unit, or the discharge pipe cooling unit according to the amount of the evaporation material contained in the trap container, the time and effort required for device operation can be reduced have.

Further, according to the deposition material collecting apparatus of the present invention, the deposition material in the collection container can be processed without affecting the vacuum state of the deposition chamber.

Further, according to the evaporation material recovery apparatus of the present invention, the recovery vessel can be separated and coupled without affecting the vacuum state of the deposition chamber.

Further, according to the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the deposition chamber from being contaminated by the minute evaporation material re-evaporated in the trap container.

In addition, according to the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the inside of the deposition chamber from being contaminated by the evaporated material removed from the trap container, or adhering to the lower part of the substrate and deteriorating the quality of the thin film.

Further, according to the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention, the function of the existing valve can be substituted through the cold / warm control unit.

1 is a view showing an example of a conventional vacuum vapor deposition apparatus,
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a deposition material collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a process of depositing a deposition material in the deposition material recovery apparatus of FIG. 2 during the transfer of the substrate,
FIG. 4 is a view partially showing the structure of the deposition material recovery apparatus of FIG. 2 in which a sensing unit and a control unit are additionally formed,
FIG. 5 is a view partially showing a structure in which the trap container cooling section is additionally provided in the constitution of the vapor-material collecting apparatus of FIG. 2,
6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the deposition material collecting apparatus in this embodiment,
FIG. 7 is a view showing a process of operating a cover and a cover driving unit constructed in addition to the vapor-material collecting apparatus of FIG. 2,
FIG. 8 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a deposition material collecting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention,
9 is a view showing that the inside of the discharge pipe is closed by the evaporated material solidified in the evaporated material recovery apparatus of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a deposition material collecting apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a structure of a deposition material collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a process of depositing a deposition material in the deposition material collecting apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a view partially showing that a sensing unit and a control unit are additionally formed in the deposition material recovery apparatus of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the trap container cooling unit is added to the configuration of the deposition material recovery apparatus of FIG. Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit of the evaporation material recovery apparatus in this embodiment, Fig. 7 is a view showing a cover constructed additionally to the evaporation material recovery apparatus of Fig. 2 and a cover drive unit FIG.

2 to 7, the deposition material collecting apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes an evaporation material (not shown) that escapes through the substrate S among evaporation materials M ejected onto the substrate S to form a thin film M and includes a trap container 100, a trap container heating unit 200, a recovery container 300, a discharge pipe 400, and a discharge pipe heating unit 410.

2 or 4, the trap container 100 is provided with a substrate for transferring the substrate S in one direction inside the deposition chamber C is disposed at one side of the transfer section T, And an opening 110 in which an adjacent surface is opened. The trap container 100 includes a plurality of side plates 130 coupled to an outer portion of the lower plate 120,

It is preferable that the side plate 130 is inclined with respect to the lower plate 120 so that the upper part of the trap container 100 becomes wide and becomes narrower toward the lower part. In the middle part of the lower plate 120, The discharge port 140 is formed so that the material M can be discharged. The shape of the trap container 100 may be a truncated pyramid shape as in the present embodiment, or alternatively may be a truncated cone shape or a hemispherical shape, and includes all the container surfaces capable of containing liquid.

The trap container heating unit 200 heats the trap container 100 to a temperature equal to or higher than the freezing point of the evaporation material M. The trap container heating unit 200 may be installed in the form of a heat wire surrounding the outside of the trap container 100. The trap container 100 may be heated by induction currents induced by a magnetic field such as induction, The trap container 100 can be heated.

When the evaporation material M is accumulated in the trap container 100 in a solid state over a predetermined amount, the trap container heating unit 200 heats the trap container 100 to a temperature higher than the solidification point of the evaporation material M, The deposition material M collected in the deposition chamber 300 can be liquefied and discharged to the recovery container 300.

The recovery vessel 300 is disposed outside the deposition chamber C to a position lower than the trap vessel 100. The recovery vessel 300 is provided with an inlet 310 at a lower portion thereof and is capable of opening and closing the upper surface of the recovery vessel 300 so that the upper portion thereof can be opened when the evaporation material M in the recovery vessel 300 is removed. .

The collection container 300 is disposed at a lower position than the trap container 100 so that the evaporation material M contained in the trap container 100 can be collected by the gravity into the collection container 100 300, respectively.

The discharge pipe 400 connects the discharge port 140 of the trap container 100 and the inlet 310 of the recovery container 300 to each other. It is preferable that a valve 600 for opening and closing the discharge pipe 400 is coupled to the discharge pipe 400 as shown in Figure 2. This is because when the discharge container 400 is separated from the discharge pipe 400, To prevent exposure to atmospheric pressure. That is, when the evaporation material M in the trap container 100 is recovered to the recovery container 300, the valve 600 is opened to open the inside of the discharge pipe 400, (M), the valve 600 is closed to close the inside of the discharge pipe 400. Therefore, the deposition material M in the recovery container 300 can be treated without affecting the vacuum state of the deposition chamber C. [

The discharge tube heating unit 410 heats the discharge tube 400 to a temperature equal to or higher than the freezing point of the evaporation material M.

The evaporation material M liquefied in the trap container 100 by the trap container heating unit 200 flows to the collection container 300 via the discharge pipe 400, The temperature of the evaporation material M in the discharge pipe 400 may be solidified and the discharge pipe 400 may be clogged by the solidified evaporation material M when the temperature of the discharge pipe 400 is lower than the freezing point of the evaporation material M.

Therefore, when the evaporation material M accumulated in the trap container 100 is liquefied by driving the trap container heating unit 200, the discharge pipe heating unit 410 is also driven together with the exhaust pipe 200 as well as the trap container 100 The flow of the evaporation material M from the trap container 100 to the recovery container 300 can be smoothly maintained while the evaporation material M is maintained in a liquid state.

3, the substrate M may be an evaporation material M not deposited on the substrate S among the evaporation materials M ejected from the ejection portion V provided on the other side of the transfer portion T, The evaporation material M accumulated in the trap container 100 and accumulated in the trap container 100 in the solid state is melted in the trap container heating unit 200 and discharged to the recovery container 300 through the discharge pipe 400 And is discharged.

The conventional vacuum deposition apparatus has no means for processing the deposition material M that has not been deposited on the substrate S among the deposition materials M ejected from the ejection section V. [ Therefore, the maintenance work for removing the deposition material M accumulated inside the deposition chamber C has to be performed at regular intervals. However, since the inside of the deposition chamber C contains harmful substances, Removing the deposition material (M) directly into the inside was risky, and the internal space was too narrow to work.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, since the deposition material M is not deposited inside the deposition chamber C but is discharged to the outside of the deposition chamber C (recovery vessel), the operator intrudes into the deposition chamber C The deposition material M can be simply and safely treated without the need for the deposition material M.

Particularly, the present invention treats the deposition material (M) while maintaining the vacuum inside the deposition chamber (C). If the vacuum state of the deposition chamber C is gradually released, there is a problem that not only the durability of the deposition apparatus is lowered due to repeated pressure changes but also it takes time to form the inside of the deposition apparatus again in a vacuum state . Also, if the vacuum state of the deposition chamber (C) is released, the deposition rate can not be performed and the equipment operating rate is lowered. On the other hand, the present invention can solve these problems by discharging the deposition material (M) to the outside of the deposition chamber (C).

The present invention can also prevent the deposition material M from escaping from the substrate S and the substrate S transported by the transfer section T, It is possible to prevent the internal parts and drive mechanisms from being corroded and shortening the life of the equipment.

Meanwhile, the collection container 300 may be separated from the discharge pipe 400, and the evaporation material M collected in the recovery container 300 may be recycled or discarded as a raw material according to the purity thereof. However, since the recovery vessel 300 is opened in the process of removing the evaporation material M in the recovery vessel 300, the internal pressure of the recovery vessel 300 becomes atmospheric pressure, The quality of the thin film formed on the substrate S may be deteriorated because the vacuum state of the deposition chamber C is affected.

Accordingly, it is preferable to further include a vacuum pump 500 coupled to the recovery container 300 to lower the internal pressure of the recovery container 300. When the recovery container 300 is separated from the discharge pipe 400 and then re-coupled to empty the deposition material M in the recovery container 300, the vacuum pump 500 is operated again to return the interior of the recovery container 300 to a vacuum As shown in FIG.

The present invention may further include a sensing unit 700 and a control unit 750 as shown in FIG. 4 or 6.

The sensing unit 700 is coupled to the trap container 100 to sense the amount of the deposition material M accumulated in the trap container 100. The sensing unit 700 may be a weight sensor (specifically, a load cell 710) coupled to a support 150 supporting a load of the trap container 100, as shown in FIG.

The control unit 750 drives the trap container heating unit 200 and the discharge pipe heating unit 410 to operate the trap container 100 or the discharge pipe heating unit 410 if the amount of the evaporation material M measured by the sensing unit 700 is equal to or greater than the reference value. The deposition material M accumulated in the trap container 400 is liquefied so that the deposition material M accumulated in the trap container 100 is discharged to the recovery container 300. It is possible to confirm the amount of the evaporation material M accumulated in the trap container 100 and save time and effort for driving the trap container heating unit 200 and the discharge pipe heating unit 410.

The present invention may further include a trap container cooling unit 800 as shown in FIG.

The trap container cooling unit 800 is coupled to the trap container 100 to cool the trap container 100. The trap container 100 is cooled by spraying the evaporation material M from the spray unit V to the surface of the trap container 100, The deposition material M in the gaseous state adhered to the trap container 100 is quickly quenched and held in the trap container 100. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the deposition chamber (C) from being contaminated by the minute evaporation material (M) re-evaporated in the trap container (100).

The trap container cooling unit 800 may be configured such that a cooling medium flows into a flow path formed inside the trap container 100 as shown in the drawing, or a Peltier device in which a temperature difference occurs at both ends of a conductor Various known technologies may be applied.

The present invention may further include a cover 900 and a cover driving unit 950 as shown in FIG.

The cover 900 is disposed inside the deposition chamber C in the form of a plate that can completely cover the opening 110 of the trap container 100.

The cover driving unit 950 is coupled to one side of the deposition chamber C to move the cover 900 along the upper portion of the opening 110. The cover driving unit 950 may utilize a cylinder as shown, a linear driving motor and a rack gear may be combined, or various other known driving methods may be applied.

The cover 900 is disposed on the upper portion of the opening 110 by driving the cover driving unit 950 when the trap container 100 is heated by the trap container heating unit 200, The evaporation material M collected in the evaporation source M is prevented from evaporating and being separated from the trap container 100. The evaporation material M in the deposition chamber C may be detached from the trap container 100 while the trap container 100 is being heated by the trap container heating unit 200. [ The deposition material M separated from the trap container 100 may contaminate the inside of the deposition chamber C or adhere to the lower portion of the substrate S to deteriorate the quality of the thin film.

Hereinafter, the evaporation material collecting apparatus 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The same components as those of the deposition material collecting apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted for the deposition material collecting apparatus 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The deposition material collecting apparatus 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include a discharge pipe cooling unit 650 as shown in FIG.

The discharge pipe cooling unit 650 is coupled to the discharge pipe 400 to cool the discharge pipe 400 to a temperature equal to or lower than a freezing point of the deposition material M.

When the evaporation material M in the recovery container 300 is removed, the deposition material M in the discharge pipe 400 is solidified by driving the discharge pipe cooling unit 650, The deposition material M1 in the liquid phase flowing in the deposition chamber 400 is hardened and solidified so that the inside of the discharge tube 400 is closed by the solidified deposition material M2.

That is, as a principle of opening and closing the discharge pipe 400 by using a phase change of the evaporation material M flowing inside the discharge pipe 400, rather than opening and closing the discharge pipe 400 by a separate mechanical opening / closing valve, The function of the existing on-off valve can be substituted through the valve 650.

The deposition material recovery apparatus of the present invention configured as described above can reduce the maintenance burden on the deposition chamber for removing the deposition material because the deposition material is not deposited inside the deposition chamber but is discharged to the outside of the deposition chamber , It is possible to obtain an effect that the evaporation material can be simply and safely processed without the operator entering the inside of the deposition chamber.

In addition, the deposition material recovery apparatus of the present invention configured as described above can treat the deposition material without interrupting the deposition process while maintaining the vacuum state inside the deposition chamber, so that the equipment operation rate can be improved have.

In addition, the evaporation material recovery device of the present invention configured as described above can prevent the evaporation material from escaping out of the substrate, thereby preventing the parts and driving mechanisms inside the deposition chamber from being corroded by the evaporation material, The effect can be obtained.

The evaporated material recovery device of the present invention configured as described above can automatically drive the trap container heating unit, the discharge pipe heating unit, or the discharge pipe cooling unit according to the amount of the evaporation material contained in the trap container, Can be reduced.

In addition, the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above can open and close the valve coupled to the discharge pipe depending on whether or not the evaporation material is recovered, so that the evaporation material in the recovery container It is possible to obtain an effect that can be processed.

Further, in the deposition material recovery apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the pressure of the recovery container is vacuumed through the vacuum pump coupled to the recovery container, so that the recovery container can be cleaned without affecting the vacuum state of the deposition chamber. It is possible to obtain an effect of separating and coupling.

In addition, the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention configured as described above has the effect of preventing the deposition chamber from being contaminated by the minute evaporation material re-evaporated in the trap container by cooling the trap container by the trap container cooling section Can be obtained.

When the trap container is heated by the trap container heating unit, the evaporation material recovery device of the present invention configured as described above may cover the opening of the trap container with the cover so that the evaporation material contained in the trap container is not evaporated It is possible to prevent the inside of the deposition chamber from being contaminated by the deposition material separated from the trap container or from sticking to the lower part of the substrate and deteriorating the quality of the thin film.

In addition, the evaporation material collecting apparatus of the present invention configured as described above can obtain the effect of replacing the function of the existing valve through the discharge pipe cooling unit.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, but can be implemented in various forms of embodiments within the scope of the appended claims. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

1: Deposition material recovery device
100: Trap container
200: Trap container heating section
300: collection container
400: discharge pipe
410: outlet pipe heating section
500: Vacuum pump
600: Valve

Claims (7)

A substrate for transferring the substrate in one direction from the inside of the deposition chamber is disposed on one side of the transfer section, and the substrate has an opening in which a surface adjacent to the transfer section is opened, and an evaporation material, A trap container for storing the trap container;
A trap container heating unit for heating the trap container to a temperature equal to or higher than a freezing point of the evaporation material;
A recovery vessel disposed outside the deposition chamber to a position lower than the trap vessel;
A discharge pipe connecting the trap container and the recovery container; And
And a discharge tube heating unit for heating the discharge tube to a temperature equal to or higher than a freezing point of the evaporation material,
The evaporation material accumulated in a solid state in the trap container is liquefied by driving the trap container heating unit and the discharge pipe heating unit and is discharged to the recovery container through the discharge pipe,
And a discharge pipe cooling unit coupled to the discharge pipe to cool the discharge pipe to a temperature equal to or lower than a freezing point of the evaporation material,
Wherein when the evaporation material in the recovery container is removed, the evaporation material in the discharge pipe is solidified by driving the discharge pipe cooling part, and the inside of the discharge pipe is closed. The method according to claim 1,
A sensing unit coupled to the trap container and sensing an amount of deposition material accumulated in the trap container; And
And a control unit for driving the trap container heating unit and the discharge pipe heating unit so that the evaporation material accumulated in the trap container is discharged to the collection container when the amount of the evaporation material measured by the sensing unit is equal to or greater than a reference value And the deposition material is recovered. The method according to claim 1,
And a valve coupled to the discharge pipe to open and close the discharge pipe,
When the evaporation material in the trap container is recovered to the recovery container, the valve is opened to open the inside of the discharge pipe. When the evaporation material in the recovery container is removed, the valve is closed and the inside of the discharge pipe is closed And the vapor deposition material is recovered. The method of claim 3,
And a vacuum pump coupled to the recovery container to lower the internal pressure of the recovery container,
Wherein the vacuum pump is operated when the recovery container is detached from the discharge pipe and is coupled again, thereby forming a vacuum state inside the recovery container. delete The method according to claim 1,
And a trap container cooling unit coupled to the trap container to cool the trap container,
Wherein when the deposition material is sprayed from the spraying portion, the trap container cooling portion is driven to cool the trap container. The method according to claim 1,
A cover disposed inside the deposition chamber; And
And a cover driving unit coupled to one side of the deposition chamber to move the cover along the upper portion of the opening,
Wherein when the trap container heating portion heats the trap container, the cover is disposed on the upper portion of the opening portion by driving the cover driving portion.

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