KR101884281B1 - OLED thermal vacuum evaporation system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus, in which partition walls are formed in a deposition chamber to form a plurality of divided spaces, thereby enabling different deposition processes to be simultaneously performed in each divided space. Accordingly, the number of deposition chambers is reduced, so that the device configuration is simplified, the installation area is reduced, and the production speed is increased.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an OLED thermal vacuum evaporation system,

The present invention relates to an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus, and more particularly, to an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus in which an interior of a deposition chamber is divided into a plurality of regions to perform a plurality of deposition processes at the same time.

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) refers to a self-emitting organic material that emits light by using an electroluminescent phenomenon that emits light when a current flows through a fluorescent organic compound. Since it can be driven at a low voltage and can be manufactured as a thin film, , Computer monitors, TVs, and the like.

The OLED display panel is manufactured by depositing an inorganic material for forming an electrode and an organic material for forming a light emitting layer or a transport layer on a thin plate made of glass or plastic and encapsulating the organic material. A deposition apparatus is used.

A thermal vacuum deposition apparatus is a device for forming a thin film by attaching evaporated particles to a surface of a substrate by applying heat to a source (deposition material) in a vacuum atmosphere. In a conventional thermal vacuum deposition apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, A plurality of deposition chambers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and an exit chamber 8 for carrying out a necessary number of deposition processes are provided in the transfer chamber 9 , A glove box 8a for carrying out the sealing process is connected to the carry-out chamber 8, and a transfer chamber 9 for transferring the source and the substrate between the chambers And a transfer robot 9a.

This is a structure applied to facilitate the transfer of the substrate by connecting the vacuum chambers to each other because the entire deposition process of the substrate is performed in a vacuum state and the sealing process is performed in an inert gas atmosphere in which moisture and oxygen are excluded.

However, in the conventional thermal vacuum deposition apparatus as described above, since only one material is deposited on one substrate in each of the deposition chambers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, a large number of deposition chambers are required .

Thus, in the conventional thermal vacuum deposition apparatus, the number of deposition chambers is excessively increased, resulting in not only an increase in equipment cost and a mounting area, but also a time-consuming process for moving the substrate between the chambers.

A cluster type thermal vacuum deposition apparatus having a plurality of deposition chambers as described above is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-0031111, Korean Patent Publication No. 2006-0061960, and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus in which the number of deposition chambers is reduced, thereby reducing facility cost and installation area and improving production speed .

It is another object of the present invention to provide an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus having a substrate transfer device capable of revolving and rotating a substrate inside a deposition chamber divided into a plurality of regions.

In addition, an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus having a device (a main shutter and a cell shutter) for preventing cross-contamination by different deposition materials in the deposition chamber to fabricate a high performance OLED device There is another purpose in providing.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing apparatus including a transfer chamber disposed at the center of the apparatus, a pretreatment chamber connected to one side of the transfer chamber and plasma-treating the surface of the substrate to remove foreign substances, And a plurality of divisional spaces are formed in the interior of the partition, and a deposition process for depositing a deposition material is sequentially performed while the substrate moves sequentially to the divisional spaces, wherein a plurality of deposition processes A glove box connected to one side of the transfer chamber and carrying out loading and unloading and sealing of the substrate, and a vacuum cleaner installed inside the transfer chamber, between the glove box and the pretreatment chamber and the deposition chamber And a transfer robot for transferring the substrate.

A plurality of the deposition chambers may be provided.

A plurality of deposition materials of the same type and different types are provided in the respective divided spaces of the deposition chamber.

An upper partition is provided on an upper portion of the partition wall of the deposition chamber to form an upper space separated from the partition space and an opening for opening each partition space to the upper space is formed in the upper partition, And a substrate transfer device for transferring the wafer to an upper portion of the opening of the space.

The substrate transfer apparatus includes an idle unit installed on the upper wall of the deposition chamber and a rotating unit provided on the idle unit.

The substrate transfer apparatus further includes an elevating unit provided in the rotating unit and a substrate mounting module provided in the elevating unit.

The revolving unit includes a main motor installed outside the upper wall of the deposition chamber, and a revolving member mounted at the lower end of the rotation shaft of the main motor inserted into the deposition chamber.

The rotating unit includes a sub motor mounted on the revolving member and a rotating member mounted on a lower end of the rotating shaft of the sub motor.

The elevating unit includes an air cylinder mounted on a rotating member and an elevating member mounted on a lower end of the cylinder rod of the air cylinder.

The substrate mounting module is mounted on the elevating member.

The rotating speed of the sub motor can be controlled to adjust the rotating speed of the substrate.

And a main shutter for opening and closing the opening is provided in the upper partition wall.

A cell shutter having the same number of evaporation materials as that of the evaporation material is provided at the lower part of the partition space to open and close the upper portion of each evaporation material.

As described above, according to the present invention, since a plurality of divided spaces are formed in the process chamber, that is, inside the deposition chamber, a plurality of deposition processes can be performed simultaneously, thereby greatly reducing the number of deposition chambers constituting the deposition apparatus .

Therefore, the configuration of the deposition apparatus is simplified and the size is reduced, thereby reducing the facility cost and the installation area.

Further, a plurality of vapor deposition processes can be performed at the same time, and time is not consumed for transferring the substrates between the vapor deposition chambers, thereby improving the production speed.

In addition, since the substrate transfer device capable of revolving and rotating the substrate is provided, the substrate can be more easily transferred between the plurality of divided spaces in one deposition chamber, and the deposition material can be more uniformly deposited on the substrate The quality of the product (OLED) is improved.

In addition, a cell shutter is provided on the upper portion of each deposition material, and a main shutter is provided in the opening of each divided space to prevent contamination by other deposition materials other than the deposition material used in the deposition process, There is an effect that it can be improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus.
2 is a schematic view of an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a four-part view of a deposition chamber according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a), (b), and (c) are two, three, and five split states of a deposition chamber, respectively.
Fig. 5 is an installation view of a substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate between divided spaces of a deposition chamber. Fig.
6 is a plan view of the substrate transfer device.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. The thicknesses of the lines and the sizes of the components shown in the accompanying drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation.

In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and these may vary depending on the intention of the user, the operator, or the precedent. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a structural view of an OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention. The OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention includes a transfer chamber 10 disposed at the center of the apparatus, A pretreatment chamber 20 connected to each side, a first deposition chamber 30, a second deposition chamber 40 and a glove box 50.

The chambers have pumps and valves for controlling the degree of internal vacuum and for injecting and discharging inert gas.

The transfer chamber 10 is connected to each of the chambers surrounding the chamber, and a gate for opening and closing the chambers is provided at a connection portion with the chambers.

A transfer robot (11) is provided inside the transfer chamber (10) so as to transfer substrates between the chambers. The transfer robot 11 can rotate the arm holding the substrate, move it up and down, and move it back and forth so that the substrate can be taken from one of the chambers and transferred to another chamber.

The pretreatment chamber 20 is subjected to a plasma pretreatment to remove foreign substances on the surface of the substrate.

The first deposition chamber 30 and the second deposition chamber 40 perform an actual deposition process for forming an OLED substrate, such as a hole transport material deposition, a light emitting material deposition, an electron transport material deposition, and a metal material electrode deposition.

The glove box 50 performs loading and unloading of the substrate to prevent external air from penetrating into the chambers of the vacuum and inert gas atmosphere during loading and unloading of the substrate. In the glove box 51, a sealing process is performed in which an electrode is protected by covering a substrate with a capsule in an inert gas atmosphere.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of sub-spaces are formed in the substantial process chambers for depositing the deposition material, that is, the first deposition chamber 30 and the second deposition chamber 40.

For example, the first deposition chamber 30 and the second deposition chamber 40 are formed with barrier ribs 35 and 45 which divide the space into mutually orthogonal spaces. The inner space of the first deposition chamber 30 and the second deposition chamber 40 is partitioned into four divided spaces by the partition walls 35 and 45 in the first divided space 31 and 41, The second divided spaces 32 and 42, the third divided spaces 33 and 43, and the fourth divided spaces 34 and 44, respectively. The partition walls 35 and 45 completely block the space between adjacent partitioned spaces when viewed in a plan view.

In each of the deposition chambers 30 and 40, the substrate sequentially moves from the first partitioning spaces 31 and 41 to the fourth partitioning spaces 34 and 44. That is, the substrate transferred from the previous process is introduced into the first divided spaces 31 and 41, and sequentially passes through the second divided spaces 32 and 42 and the third divided spaces 33 and 43, (34, 44) to the next process. Such a sequential process may be performed for one substrate and for each of the plurality of divided spaces in the deposition chambers 30 and 40, the respective deposition processes may proceed at the same time. That is, a plurality of deposition processes for a plurality of substrates can be performed simultaneously in one deposition chamber (30, 40).

In each of the divided spaces 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 42, 43, 44, a plurality of evaporation vessels (crucibles or boats) The crucible for organic matter may be divided into the low-temperature cell 101, the medium-temperature cell 102 and the high-temperature cell 103 depending on the heating temperature, and the metallic source evaporating boat 104 is specifically made of tungsten. These evaporation vessels are heated by electrical resistance heat to evaporate the deposition material contained therein. In each of the divided spaces, only the vaporizing container containing the substance to be vapor-deposited can be selectively heated to perform the deposition process of the substance.

In accordance with the deposition process sequence, that is, the deposition sequence of the deposition material, the division spaces 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, 42, 43 and 44 can be used as follows. For example, the first partitioning space 31 and the second partitioning space 32 of the first deposition chamber 30 deposit the hole transporting material, and the third partitioning space 33 and the fourth partitioning space 34 The first and second subdividing spaces 41 and 42 of the second deposition chamber 40 deposit the electron transporting material and the third subdividing space 43 and the third subdividing space 43. [ The fourth partition space 44 can be used as a deposition space for depositing a metal material to form an electrode (cathode).

3 illustrates the case where the deposition chamber is divided into four, but the deposition chamber may be divided into two, three and five, as shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C. The number of the divided spaces in the deposition chamber can be appropriately adjusted according to the design intention and needs of the apparatus, and the type of the deposition process performed in each of the deposition chambers can be appropriately changed according to the number of the divided spaces. It is therefore of course possible to change the number of deposition chambers.

Even when the inside of the deposition chamber is divided into two, three, and five divisions, the evaporation vessels for evaporating the necessary evaporation materials are arranged in the respective divided spaces in the required number according to the process order.

In the deposition chamber (30, 40), a substrate transfer device (200) is provided for transferring a substrate between divided spaces. The substrate transfer apparatus 200 is provided with the same substrate transfer apparatus 200 as that of the first substrate processing apparatus 100. The substrate transfer apparatus 200 is a substrate processing apparatus, A revolving unit 230 installed on the revolving unit 220 and a lifting unit 230 installed on the revolving unit 220. The revolving unit 230 and the revolving unit 230 are installed in the first deposition chamber 30, And a substrate mounting module 240 mounted on the substrate mounting part 240.

The idle unit 210 includes a main motor 211 installed on the upper part of the upper portion of the first deposition chamber 30 and a revolving member 213 mounted on the rotating shaft 212 of the main motor 211.

The rotating shaft 212 is inserted into the inner space of the first deposition chamber 30 through the upper wall of the first deposition chamber 30 and the central portion of the idle member 213 is mounted at the lower end thereof.

The idle member 213 is a disk-like part and is rotated when the main motor 211 is operated.

Reference numeral 214 denotes a cover for covering the upper portion of the idle member 213 to protect components provided on the upper surface of the idle member 213 against the outside.

The rotating unit 220 includes a sub motor 221 mounted on the upper surface of the idle member 213 and a rotating member 223 mounted on the rotating shaft 222 of the sub motor 221.

The sub motors 221 are provided in the same number as the number of divided spaces of the first deposition chamber 30. Further, each of the sub motors 221 is installed at the same distance in the radial direction from the center of the idle member 213, and equally spaced in the circumferential direction (see FIG. 6).

The rotating shaft 222 of the sub motor 221 penetrates through the idle member 213 and protrudes downward and the center portion of the rotating member 223 is mounted on the lower end of the rotating shaft 222. The rotating member 223 is rotated when the sub motor 221 is operated.

The lifting unit 230 includes an air cylinder 231 mounted on the upper surface of the rotating member 223 and a lifting member 233 connected to the end of the cylinder rod 232 of the air cylinder 231.

At least two air cylinders 231 are provided and are disposed at positions opposite to each other at the same distance from the center of the revolving member 223. And when they are three or more, they are equally spaced in the circumferential direction of the rotating member 223.

The cylinder rod 232 of the air cylinder 231 passes downward through the rotating member 223 and the elevating member 233 is mounted on the lower end of the cylinder rod 232 and is moved upward and downward by the operation of the air cylinder 231 .

The air cylinder 231 is configured such that when the elevating member 233 is located outside the divided space and the cylinder rod 232 is protruded (descended) when the cylinder rod 232 is pulled And has a stroke that can be located inside the space.

The substrate mounting module 240 is mounted on an upper surface or a lower surface of the elevating member 233 and has a structure capable of mounting a substrate (not shown). The substrate mounting module 240 has a suitable structure for stably mounting the substrate according to the shape of the substrate, and its structure is not an object of the present invention, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

An upper partition wall 36 separating the divided space from the upper space provided with the substrate transfer device 200 is provided at an upper portion of the partition wall 35 forming the divided space, Openings 37a and 37b are formed to open to the space.

A main shutter 310 capable of opening and closing the openings 37a and 37b is provided on the outer side of the upper partition wall 36. [ It goes without saying that the main shutter 310 is configured so as not to interfere with the cylinder rod 232 of the air cylinder 231 even when the elevating member 233 is closed in a state where it is descended to the inside of the divided space.

A deposition material (100) is provided in a lower part of the partition space, and a cell shutter (320) is provided on an upper part of the deposition material (100) to block a rising path of the evaporated deposition material. The cell shutter 320 functions to open or close the upper portion of the deposition material 100.

As described above, a plurality of deposition materials 100 may be provided in one partition space, and the cell shutters 320 may be installed in the same number so as to operate independently for each deposition material 100 .

The main shutter 310 and the cell shutter 320 may be designed to have various structures such as a rotating member or a linear movement type using a driving force of a motor, an air cylinder, have.

The substrate transfer apparatus 200 is operated as follows.

When the main motor 211 is operated, the revolving unit 220, the elevation unit 230, and the substrate mounting module 240 are rotated together because the revolving member 213 is rotated. Therefore, since the substrate placed on the substrate mounting module 240 revolves on the upper portions of the divided spaces, the operation of the main motor 211 can be controlled to move the substrate to the upper portions of the openings 37a and 37b of the divided spaces . That is, when the deposition process is completed in one divided space, the main motor 211 may be operated to move the substrate to another neighboring divided space.

When the sub motor 221 is operated, the rotating member 223 is rotated, so that the elevation unit 230 and the substrate mounting module 240 are rotated. The substrate is rotated by this rotation. Accordingly, the substrate can be continuously rotated by operating the sub-motor 221 during the deposition process, and the deposition material can be more uniformly deposited on the entire deposition surface of the substrate than when the substrate is stationary.

In addition, the rotation speeds of the respective sub motors 221 can be adjusted differently, thereby adjusting the rotation speed of the substrate to be different for each divided space to deposit a plurality of substrates at different speeds in one deposition chamber It is possible to do.

The lift unit 230 is used to lower or raise the substrate into the divided space. The operation of the air cylinder 231 is controlled to lower the elevating member 233 to move the substrate mounting module 240 into the divided space to move the substrate to the inside of the divided space, that is, the deposition position. Also, when the elevating member 233 is raised, the substrate mounting module 240 is moved upward and the substrate can be moved to the outside of the divided space.

Accordingly, when the idle unit 210 is operated to move the substrate to another divided space, the substrate is moved upward to the upper portion of the divided space, and when the deposition process is performed while the rotating unit 220 is operated, The process can be proceeded in a state in which it is lowered inward.

The transfer robot 11 which moves between the transfer chamber 10 and the deposition chambers 30 and 40 in a state in which the air cylinder 231 is operated to raise the substrate mounting module 240 out of the divided space, May be used to load or unload the substrate from the substrate mounting module 240. [

Further, although the air cylinders 231 belonging to one elevating unit 230 are simultaneously controlled to operate, each of the elevating units 230 can be individually operated and controlled.

Meanwhile, the main shutters 310 can be operated to open and close the openings 37a and 37b of the divided spaces. That is, when the substrate is lowered into the divided space and then the main shutter 310 is closed to close the openings 37a and 37b, the evaporation material is evaporated through the openings 37a and 37b, It is possible to prevent the devices located in the upper space or the standby substrate from being contaminated by the deposition material rising in the divided space under deposition.

In addition, since the cell shutters 320 are individually provided for each of the plurality of evaporation materials 100 provided in the divided space, only the upper portion of the evaporation material 100 to be evaporated is opened and the upper portions of the other evaporation materials are blocked, It is possible to prevent the mistaken deposition of the evaporation material other than the intended one.

As described above, in the OLED thermal vacuum deposition apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of divided spaces are formed in a deposition chamber for performing a deposition process, and a substrate transfer apparatus for transferring a substrate to each of the divided spaces.

Therefore, even in one deposition chamber, it is possible to install the same or different types of deposition materials in each divided space and simultaneously perform a plurality of deposition processes, thereby reducing the number of deposition chambers.

As the number of deposition chambers is reduced as described above, the number of deposition chambers is reduced as compared with the entire thermal vacuum deposition apparatus, and related equipment such as pumps, piping and valves are reduced, thereby greatly simplifying the structure of the apparatus and reducing its size.

Accordingly, not only the equipment cost (the cost required for equipment manufacturing and installation) is reduced, but also the installation area is greatly reduced.

Further, the deposition process of several stages can be performed at the same time, and the movement distance and time of the deposition process can be reduced because the substrate moves between the divided spaces in one chamber rather than when the substrate moves between the independent deposition chambers which are independent of each other. And the productivity is improved.

As described above, since simultaneous deposition using a multi-chamber can be performed, the present invention can simultaneously deposit OLED devices for mobile use and OLED devices for TVs to confirm the application range and functional characteristics of the developed materials in a short time, There are advantages to be able to.

In addition, since the substrate can be rotated during the deposition by the rotating unit 220 of the substrate transfer device 200, the deposition material can be more uniformly deposited on the entire deposition surface of the substrate, .

Further, in the present invention, the substrate can be lowered into the divided space by the lifting unit 230, and the main shutter 310 is closed in this state, thereby closing the openings 37a and 37b in the divided space, It is possible to prevent another space (the upper space of the upper partition wall 36) other than the divided space from being contaminated by the evaporation material.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is understandable. Accordingly, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the following claims.

10: Transfer chamber 11: Transfer robot
20: pretreatment chamber 30: first deposition chamber
40: second deposition chamber 31, 41: first partitioning space
32, 42: second partition space 33, 43: third partition space
34, 44: fourth partition space 35, 45:
36: upper partition wall 37a, 37b: opening
50: glove box
100: Deposition material 101: Low temperature cell
102: medium temperature cell 103: high temperature cell
104: Boat
200: substrate transfer device 210: idle unit
211: main motor 212: rotating shaft
213: revolution member 220: rotation unit
221: Sub motor 222:
223: rotating member 230: elevating unit
231: air cylinder 232: cylinder rod
233: lifting member 240: substrate holding module
310: main shutter 320: cell shutter

Claims (13)

A transfer chamber disposed in the center of the apparatus;
A pretreatment chamber connected to one side of the transfer chamber to remove foreign substances by plasma-treating the surface of the substrate;
A plurality of divisional spaces are formed in the interior of the transfer chamber, and a deposition process for depositing a deposition material is sequentially performed while the substrate sequentially moves to the divisional spaces, A deposition chamber in which a plurality of deposition processes are simultaneously performed;
A glove box connected to one side of the transfer chamber and carrying out loading and unloading and sealing of the substrate;
And a transfer robot installed inside the transfer chamber for transferring the substrate between the glove box and the pretreatment chamber and the deposition chamber,
An upper partition is provided on an upper portion of the partition wall of the deposition chamber to form an upper space separated from the partition space and an opening for opening each partition space to the upper space is formed in the upper partition, And a substrate transfer device for transferring the substrate to an upper portion of the opening of the space. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a plurality of the deposition chambers are provided. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a plurality of deposition materials of the same type and different types are provided in the respective divided spaces of the deposition chamber. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the substrate transfer apparatus includes an idle unit provided in an upper wall of the deposition chamber and a rotating unit provided in the idle unit. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the substrate transfer device further comprises an elevation unit installed in the rotating unit and a substrate mounting module provided in the elevation unit. The method of claim 6,
Wherein the revolving unit includes a main motor disposed outside the upper wall of the deposition chamber, and a revolving member mounted at a lower end of the rotation axis of the main motor inserted into the deposition chamber. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the rotating unit includes a sub motor mounted on the revolving member and a rotating member mounted on a lower end of the rotating shaft of the sub motor. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the elevating unit includes an air cylinder mounted on a rotating member and an elevating member mounted on a lower end of a cylinder rod of the air cylinder. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the substrate mounting module is mounted on the elevating member. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the rotation speed of the sub motor is controlled to adjust the rotation speed of the substrate. The method according to claim 1,
And a main shutter for opening and closing an opening in the upper partition wall. The method of claim 3,
Wherein a cell shutter is provided at a lower portion of the divided space to open and close the upper portions of the evaporation materials.

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