KR101932943B1 - Material deposition system and method for depositing material in a material deposition system - Google Patents

Abstract

A vacuum deposition system 300 (400; 500) for depositing material on a substrate 121 is described. A vacuum deposition system (300; 400; 500) includes a vacuum chamber (110) having a chamber volume; And a material deposition arrangement (100) for providing a material to be deposited, wherein the material deposition arrangement (100) is located in the vacuum chamber (110) during deposition. The vacuum deposition system further includes a substrate support (126; 600) for supporting a substrate (121) having a substrate size within the vacuum chamber (110). The ratio of chamber volume to substrate size is 15 m or less. In addition, a method for depositing material on a substrate 121 in a vacuum deposition system 300 (400; 500) is described.

Description

[0001] MATERIAL DEPOSITION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEPOSITING MATERIAL IN A MATERIAL DEPOSITION SYSTEM [0002]

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention are directed to vacuum deposition systems and methods for depositing materials. Embodiments of the present invention are particularly directed to a vacuum deposition system having a material deposition arrangement in a vacuum chamber, and a method for depositing material on a substrate in a vacuum chamber.

Organic evaporators are tools for the production of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). OLEDs are special types of light emitting diodes in which the emissive layer comprises a thin film of certain organic compounds. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are used in the manufacture of television screens, computer monitors, mobile phones, other hand-held devices, etc. for displaying information. OLEDs can also be used for general spatial illumination. The range of possible colors, brightness, and viewing angles using OLED displays is greater than the range of colors, brightness, and viewing angles of conventional LCD displays because OLED pixels emit directly and do not use backlight to be. Thus, the energy consumption of OLED displays is significantly less than the energy consumption of conventional LCD displays. In addition, the fact that OLEDs can be fabricated on flexible substrates creates additional applications. A typical OLED display can include layers of organic material positioned between two electrodes, all deposited on a substrate, for example, to form a matrix display panel having individually energizable pixels . The OLED is typically disposed between two glass panels, and the edges of the glass panels are sealed to encapsulate the OLED therein.

[0003] There are a number of challenges encountered in the manufacture of such display devices. OLED displays or OLED lighting applications include, for example, a stack of several organic materials evaporated in a vacuum. The organic materials are deposited in a subsequent manner through the shadow masks. For the fabrication of high efficiency OLED stacks, simultaneous-evaporation or co-evaporation of two or more materials, such as host and dopant, which produce mixed / doped layers is required . In addition, it should be considered that there are several process conditions for the evaporation of highly sensitive organic materials.

[0004] Considering consumer demands and increased cost of ownership (CoO), the design of deposition systems is becoming a subject that needs to be considered more and more. For example, high process uptime is beneficial to the customers and, therefore, is a sales argument for deposition systems. However, often complicated processes make it difficult to satisfy the needs of the consumer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] In view of the foregoing, it is an object of embodiments described herein to provide a vacuum deposition system that overcomes at least some of the problems in the art, and a method for depositing material on a substrate .

[0006] In view of the foregoing, there is provided, in accordance with the independent claims, a material deposition arrangement (s), a vacuum deposition system, and a method for depositing material on a substrate. Additional aspects, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent from the dependent claims, the description, and the accompanying drawings.

[0007] According to one embodiment, a vacuum deposition system for depositing a material on a substrate is provided. The vacuum deposition system includes a vacuum chamber having a chamber volume, and a material deposition arrangement for providing a material to be deposited. The material deposition arrangement is located in the vacuum chamber during deposition. The vacuum deposition system further includes a substrate support for supporting a substrate having a bipinnite size in a vacuum chamber. The ratio of chamber volume to substrate size is 15 m or less, especially 10 m or less.

[0008] According to another embodiment, a vacuum deposition system for depositing a material on a vertically oriented substrate is provided. The vacuum deposition system includes a vacuum chamber having a chamber volume, wherein the vacuum chamber provides a pressure level of 10 ^-5 to 10 ^-7 mbar. The vacuum deposition system further includes a material deposition arrangement for providing a material to be deposited. The material deposition arrangement is located in the vacuum chamber during deposition and includes a crucible for evaporating material, and a linear distribution pipe in fluid communication with the crucible. The dispensing pipe provides outlets for guiding the evaporated material in the vacuum chamber. The material deposition arrangement is movable, and in particular rotatable, within the vacuum chamber. The vacuum deposition system further includes a substrate support for supporting a substrate having a substrate size within the vacuum chamber. The ratio of chamber volume to substrate size is 15 m or less, especially 10 m or less.

[0009] According to a further embodiment, a method for depositing material on a substrate in a vacuum deposition system is provided. A vacuum deposition system includes a vacuum chamber having a chamber volume and a material deposition arrangement. The method includes providing a vacuum chamber with a substrate to be processed having a substrate size, wherein the substrate has a chamber volume to substrate size ratio of 15 m or less, in particular 10 m or less / RTI > The method includes evaporating material in a material deposition arrangement; And guiding the vaporized material to the substrate.

[0010] Embodiments also relate to apparatus for performing the disclosed methods and apparatus portions for performing each of the described method steps. The method steps may be performed in hardware components, a computer programmed by appropriate software, any combination of the two, or any other method. In addition, embodiments in accordance with the present invention also relate to methods for operating the described apparatus. This includes method steps for performing all the respective functions of the device.

[0011] In the manner in which the above-recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments. The accompanying drawings relate to embodiments of the present invention and are described below.
IA shows a schematic diagram of a vacuum deposition system according to embodiments described herein.
1B shows a schematic view of a substrate holding device and substrate for a vacuum deposition system according to embodiments described herein.
Figure 2 shows a schematic view of a vacuum deposition system in accordance with the embodiments described herein.
Figure 3 shows a schematic side cross-sectional view of a vacuum deposition system in accordance with the embodiments described herein.
Figures 4A and 4B show a schematic view of a material deposition arrangement for a vacuum deposition system and a partial and more detailed view of a material deposition arrangement, in accordance with the embodiments described herein.
Figure 5A illustrates a material deposition arrangement for a vacuum deposition system in accordance with embodiments described herein.
Figure 5b shows a deposition system as is known.
Figures 6A-6C illustrate schematic diagrams of distribution pipes of a material deposition arrangement for a vacuum deposition system in accordance with embodiments described herein.
Figure 7 shows a flow diagram of a method for depositing material on a substrate, in accordance with embodiments described herein.

[0012] Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments, and one or more examples of such various embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components. In general, only differences for the individual embodiments are described. Each example is provided by way of illustration and is not intended as a limitation. In addition, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may also be used in conjunction with other embodiments or with other embodiments to produce further embodiments. The description is intended to cover such modifications and variations.

[0013] According to the embodiments described herein, the vacuum chamber can be understood as being a vacuum evacuable chamber. For example, a vacuum chamber as referred to herein can be vacuum evacuated to a vacuum of about 10 ^-2 mbar to about 10 ^-7 mbar or 10 ^-8 mbar. In one example, the vacuum chamber may be vacuum evacuable to a vacuum of about 10 ^-5 mbar to about 10 ^-7 mbar. According to some embodiments, each of the vacuum pumps, filters, seals, sluices, particle traps, chamber walls each equipped with, etc., are provided in a vacuum chamber to ensure and maintain a vacuum in the vacuum chamber. As shown in FIG. Vacuum chamber volume "or " chamber volume" (which may be used as a synonym here) can be understood as being a vacuum evacuable volume of a vacuum chamber. In some embodiments, the volume of the vacuum chamber may be a volume that allows the substrate support and the material deposition arrangement to be housed.

[0014] According to some embodiments described herein, the substrate support can be understood as being a device capable of supporting a substrate in a vacuum chamber, such as a vacuum deposition chamber, in particular during deposition. In some embodiments, a substrate support as referred to herein may be capable of supporting a substrate holding device, such as a substrate carrier. For example, the substrate support in accordance with the embodiments described herein may include rails, roller systems, magnetic devices, clamping devices, positioning devices, and / or guiding devices for supporting a substrate or substrate holding device . According to some embodiments, the substrate support may be adapted to support a substrate having a defined size, or may be adapted to support such a substrate. For example, the dimensions of the substrate support can be adapted to the size of the substrate to be processed in a processing chamber, such as a vacuum processing chamber. In one example, the dimensions of the substrate support in at least one direction exceed the substrate size by up to 30% of the substrate size. In some embodiments described herein, the substrate can be processed in a state of being held in a substantially vertical orientation, wherein the size of the substrate support exceeds the size of the substrate in the vertical direction by up to 30% of the substrate size do. According to some embodiments, the substrate support size can be understood as corresponding to the dimension of the substrate support from the first side supporting the first side of the substrate to the second side supporting the second side of the substrate.

[0015] The term substrate size as used herein can be understood as the area of the substrate, particularly the area of the substrate facing the material deposition apparatus, when arranged in a deposition system. In one example, the substrate size can be understood as corresponding to the area to be coated with the material in the deposition system. According to some embodiments, a portion of the substrate size may be covered by a substrate holding device, such as a carrier, or a substrate support. In one example, the substrate size is the area of the substrate that is substantially rectangular or substantially square, wherein the thickness may be negligible. According to some embodiments, the substrate size in a vacuum deposition system as referred to herein may be formed by the size of two or more substrates that may be simultaneously provided in a vacuum chamber.

[0016] According to some embodiments, a vacuum deposition system is illustrated as exemplarily shown in FIG. 1A. The vacuum deposition system 400 is schematically shown to include a vacuum chamber 110 and a substrate support 600 within the vacuum chamber 110. According to some embodiments, the substrate support 600 may extend through the vacuum chamber 110. The substrate support 600 may allow the substrate to be guided into the vacuum chamber 110 and out of the vacuum chamber 110. In some embodiments, the substrate support 600 may allow the substrate to be guided into and out of the vacuum chamber on the same side, or alternatively, the substrate may be moved from the different sides of the vacuum chamber into and out of the vacuum chamber, To be able to do so. 1A shows a substrate 121 to be inserted into a vacuum chamber 110. Fig. For a better overall overview, the material deposition arrangement is not shown in the vacuum chamber 110.

[0017] In the example shown in FIG. 1A, a substrate support 600 provides a first side 601 and a second side 602. Each of the first side 601 and the second side 602 is configured to support one edge of the substrate 121 or one edge of the substrate holding device. Figure 1A illustrates, by way of example, a substrate support 600 having two sides. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments the substrate support may comprise only one side or may comprise more than two sides. It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the substantially vertical orientation of each side of the substrate support and the substrate is merely exemplary. In vacuum deposition systems according to the embodiments described herein, other or additional configurations may be used (e.g., angled or horizontal orientation for each adapted substrate support).

1A can be directly guided by the substrate support 600 while FIG. 1B shows that the substrate 121 is held by the substrate holding device 610 or the carrier 610 Lt; / RTI > For example, the substrate holding device 610 may be a type of frame that carries the substrate 121. [ A substrate holding device 610, illustratively shown in FIG. 1B, includes clamps 611 for attaching a substrate to a substrate holding device 610. According to some embodiments, the substrate holding device may use additional or other techniques for transporting the substrate, such as rails, additional clamps, magnetic fields or electric fields, fins, and the like. In one embodiment, the substrate holding device may be an E-chuck.

[0019] According to embodiments described herein, a vacuum deposition system for depositing a material on a substrate is provided. The vacuum deposition system includes a vacuum chamber having a chamber volume. In some embodiments, the vacuum chamber of the vacuum deposition system is a processing chamber in which deposition of material on the substrate occurs. According to some embodiments, the process chamber may be a process chamber adapted to deposit an organic material on a substrate. The vacuum deposition system further includes a material deposition arrangement for providing a material to be deposited on the substrate. Typically, at least a portion of the material deposition arrangement, or material deposition arrangement, is located in the vacuum chamber during deposition. The vacuum deposition system further includes a substrate support for supporting a substrate having a substrate size within the vacuum chamber. Typically, a substrate having a substrate size is a substrate to be coated by material deposition arrangement. The ratio of chamber volume to substrate size is 15 m or less, especially 10 m or less. According to the embodiments described herein, the substrate size can be measured in m ² , and the chamber volume can be measured in m ³ .

[0020] Embodiments described herein are particularly directed to evaporation of materials in a vacuum deposition system, such as evaporation of organic materials for manufacturing OLED displays on large area substrates. According to some embodiments, large area substrates, or substrate holding devices supporting one or more substrates, i.e., large area carriers, may have a size of at least 0.174 m ² . In other examples, the vacuum deposition system has GEN 5 corresponding to about 1.4 m ² substrates (1.1 mx 1.3 m), GEN 7.5 corresponding to about 4.29 m ² substrates (1.95 mx 2.2 m), about 5.7 m ² substrates (2.8 m x 3.05 m), or even about 8.7 m ² substrates (2.85 m x 3.05 m). Larger generations, such as GEN 11 and GEN 12, and corresponding substrate areas can similarly be implemented. In one embodiment, the substrate support can be configured to support a substrate having a size of about 3 mx about 3 m. According to some embodiments, the substrate size (i.e., substrate area) may be up to 15 m ² , such as typically from about 1 m ² to about 12 m ² , more typically from about 1 m ² to about 10 m ² , And even more typically up to a substrate size of about 2 m ² to about 10 m ² . According to exemplary embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate thickness may be 0.1 to 1.8 mm, and the holding arrangement for the substrate may be adapted for such substrate thicknesses. However, in particular, the substrate thickness may be about 0.9 mm or less, such as 0.5 mm or 0.3 mm, and the holding arrangement is adapted for such substrate thicknesses.

[0021] According to some embodiments, the chamber volume to substrate size is typically from about 0.3 m to about 15 m, more typically from about 1 m to about 10 m, and even more typically from about 2 m to about 10 m 10 m. According to some embodiments, the chamber volume to substrate size ratio is typically less than 15 m or less than 10 m, more typically less than 5 m, and even more typically less than 3 m. According to some embodiments described herein, the chamber volume of the material deposition arrangement is typically from about 3 m ³ to about 100 m ³ , more typically from about 3 m ³ to about 50 m ³ , and even more typically, Can be from about 5 m ³ to about 30 m ³ . In some embodiments, the chamber volume may be between 10 m ³ and 15 m ³ , such as between about 12 m ³ and 13 m ³ .

[0022] According to the embodiments described herein, a material deposition system as described herein is beneficial with respect to CoO, particularly with regard to the space used for material deposition systems in the production line. For example, a process chamber volume to substrate size ratio of less than 15 m allows smaller spaces to be occupied by the material deposition system. The smaller space occupied by the material deposition system may allow arranging more material deposition systems in the production line than known systems allow. Providing more material deposition systems to the production line makes production more flexible and enables higher throughput. The higher flexibility provided by the material deposition system according to the embodiments described herein can be used to increase the spectrum of the products provided. Increasing the throughput of coated substrates can increase the efficiency of production. The effects described can additionally cause an adapted, say, reduced cost of a single product, allowing to provide clients with lower costs.

[0023] A plurality of features may be useful for realizing or increasing the effects described above. For example, simultaneous provision of two substrates to a vacuum chamber, and in particular deposition on a substantially vertically oriented substrate, can increase the effects of the material deposition system according to the embodiments described herein. Additionally, a movable material source arrangement that can be moved (e.g., translational, rotational, or both) within a vacuum chamber, as will be described in detail below, may be useful for realizing the vacuum deposition system described herein have. According to some embodiments, an optimized distance between a substrate support and a material deposition arrangement (e.g., a material source) may enable the owner of a vacuum deposition system as described herein to benefit from the effects described above . For example, an optimized nozzle design may allow reducing the distance between the substrate support and the source of material without losses in the uniformity and quality of the deposited material. According to some embodiments described herein, a clearly directed plume of evaporated material to be deposited may be adapted to adapt the vacuum chamber to the substrate size in an optimized manner and to minimize the chamber volume to substrate size ratio . Additional or other examples of features of a vacuum deposition system, which may be advantageously used in a vacuum deposition system according to embodiments described herein, are described below. According to some embodiments described herein, typically two, and more typically three, of the plurality of features described herein for a vacuum deposition system is 15 m or less, in particular 10 m or less Can be used for an even better realization of the chamber volume to substrate size ratio.

[0024] The vacuum deposition systems shown below are examples of systems that can provide a chamber volume to substrate size ratio of 15 m or less. Figure 2 illustrates a vacuum deposition system in accordance with the described embodiments. The deposition system 300 of FIG. 2 includes a material deposition arrangement 100 in place in a vacuum chamber 110. According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the material deposition arrangement is configured for translational movement and / or rotation about an axis. The material deposition arrangement 100 may include one or more evaporation crucibles 104 and one or more distribution pipes 106. Two evaporation crucibles and two distribution pipes are shown in Fig. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, two substrates 121 are illustratively provided in the vacuum chamber 110. Typically, a mask 132 for masking layer deposition on a substrate may be provided between the substrate and the material deposition arrangement 100. In some embodiments, the mask has a size of a pixel mask, such as typically from about 10 μm to about 50 μm, more typically from about 15 μm to 40 μm, and even more typically from about 15 μm to about 30 μm (E. G., The diameter or minimum dimension of the cross-section). In one example, the size of the mask openings is about 20 μm. In another example, the mask openings have an extension of about 50 [mu] m x 50 [mu] m. The organic material is evaporated from the distribution pipes 106. The distribution pipe may be understood herein to include an enclosure having openings such that the pressure in the distribution pipe is higher than, for example, at least one order of magnitude higher than the pressure outside the distribution pipe. In one example, the pressure in the dispensing pipe may be about 10 ^-2 to about 10 ^-3 mbar. In some embodiments, the pressure in the vacuum chamber may be between 10 ^-5 mbar and 10 ^-7 mbar.

[0025] According to embodiments described herein, substrates may be coated with an organic material in an essentially vertical position. 2 is a plan view of an apparatus including a material deposition arrangement 100. The apparatus shown in FIG. Typically, the dispensing pipe is a linear vapor dispensing showerhead. According to some embodiments, the distribution pipe provides an essentially vertically extending line source. According to the embodiments described herein that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, what is essentially vertical can be 20 ° or less, such as 10 ° or less, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > vertical direction. ≪ / RTI > The deviation can be provided, for example, since the substrate support having slight deviation from the vertical orientation can cause a more stable substrate position. It is also contemplated that the substrate orientation during deposition of the organic material is essentially vertical, which is considered to be different from the horizontal substrate orientation. According to other embodiments, a vacuum deposition system may be a vacuum deposition system for depositing material on an essentially horizontally oriented substrate. For example, the coating of the substrate in a vacuum deposition system can be performed upwards or downwards.

[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a vacuum deposition system 300 for depositing an organic material in a vacuum chamber 110. The material source 100 is provided to be movable in the vacuum chamber 110, in particular, to be rotatable and / or provided on a track, e.g., a looped track or a linear guide 320. The track or linear guide 320 is configured for translational movement of the material source 100. In some embodiments, the material deposition arrangement may be adapted to be rotatable, in particular rotatable about an axis of the material deposition arrangement. According to different embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, a drive for rotation or translational movement is provided in the material source 100, in the vacuum chamber 110, or in combination thereof Can be provided. Figure 2 shows a valve 205, such as a gate valve, for example. Valve 205 allows vacuum sealing for adjacent vacuum chambers (not shown in FIG. 2). The valve can be opened for transport of the substrate 121 or the mask 132 into or out of the vacuum chamber 110.

[0027] According to some embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, additional vacuum chambers, such as maintenance vacuum chambers 210, are provided near the vacuum chamber 110. In some embodiments, vacuum chamber 110 and maintenance vacuum chamber 210 are connected to valve 207. The valve 207 is configured to open and close the vacuum seal between the vacuum chamber 110 and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. The material deposition arrangement 100 can be transferred to the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 while the valve 207 is in the open state. (E.g., a fresh or fully filled) material deposition arrangement, e.g., a material source, can be guided through the valve 207 (e.g., from the maintenance vacuum chamber 210) to the vacuum chamber 110. Thereafter, the valve may be closed to provide a vacuum seal between the vacuum chamber 110 and the maintenance vacuum chamber 210. When the valve 207 is closed, the maintenance vacuum chamber 210 is vented and opened for maintenance of the material deposition arrangement 100, without destroying the vacuum in the vacuum chamber < RTI ID = 0.0 & . High process uptime can be the result. The arrangement of vacuum chambers and maintenance chambers may contribute to a chamber volume to substrate size ratio of 15 m or less.

[0028] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, two substrates 121 are supported on respective transport tracks in the vacuum chamber 110 in the embodiment shown in FIG. In some embodiments, transport tracks 131 for the masks are provided. According to some embodiments, the distance between the substrate support and at least one of the distribution pipes is less than 250 mm. In Figure 2, the distance is indicated by the distance 101 between the nozzle or substrate support 126 and the outlet or nozzle of the distribution pipe 106 of the material deposition arrangement or material source 100. In addition, two tracks are provided for providing masks 132 on top. The coating of the substrates 121 may be masked by respective masks 132. According to exemplary embodiments, the masks 132, i.e., the first mask 132 corresponding to the first substrate 121 and the second mask 132 corresponding to the second substrate 121, And is provided to the mask frame 131 for holding the mask 132.

[0029] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate 121 may be supported by a substrate support 126 coupled to the alignment unit 112. Alignment units 112 configured to adjust the position between the substrate 121 and the mask 132 relative to each other allow for proper alignment of the masking during the deposition process, which results in an excellent chamber volume to substrate size ratio, For example the high quality of LED display manufacturing or OLED display manufacturing.

[0030] Material deposition systems as described herein can be used in a variety of applications. For example, various applications may include OLED device fabrication including processing steps in which one, two, or more organic materials are evaporated simultaneously. In the case of the example shown in Figure 2, two distribution pipes and corresponding evaporation crucibles can be provided next to each other. Thus, the material deposition arrangement 100 may also be referred to as a material deposition arrangement array, for example, where more than one kind of organic material is evaporated at the same time. As described herein, the material deposition array array itself may be referred to as a material source for two or more organic materials, for example, a material deposition array array may be formed by evaporating three materials and depositing May be provided to deposit. According to some embodiments, the material deposition array of arrays can be configured to simultaneously provide the same material from different material sources.

[0031] According to some embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the distribution pipe or evaporation tube of the material deposition arrangement may be configured such that the openings or nozzles of the distribution pipe are as close as possible It can be designed in a triangular shape. Making the apertures or nozzles of the dispensing pipe as close to each other as possible is advantageous in that, for example, for the simultaneous evaporation of two, three, or even more different organic materials, Lt; / RTI > mixing. At the same time, the triangular shape to be described in detail below can also contribute to an improved chamber volume to substrate size ratio, as provided by the material deposition system according to the embodiments described herein.

While the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 provides a deposition apparatus with a movable source, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments described above can also be applied to deposition apparatuses in which the substrate is moved during processing. For example, substrates to be coated may be guided and driven along stationary material sources.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a schematic side cross-sectional view of a material deposition system 500 in accordance with the embodiments described herein. The material deposition system 500 includes a vacuum chamber 110. According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrate 121 shown in the vacuum chamber 110 may be supported by a substrate support having rollers 403 and 424 . The embodiment shown in Fig. 3 shows two substrates 121 provided in a vacuum chamber 110. Fig. Also, in particular for embodiments involving several material deposition arrangements 100 in a vacuum chamber, at least three substrates or at least four substrates may be provided. Sufficient time for exchanging the substrate, i. E., Transporting the new substrate into the vacuum chamber and transporting the processed substrate out of the vacuum chamber, will result in a greater number of material deposition arrangements, and thus a material deposition system (Not shown).

[0034] FIG. 3 shows a first transport track for the first substrate 121 and a second transport track for the second substrate 121. A first roller assembly is shown on one side of the vacuum chamber 110. The first roller assembly includes rollers 424. In addition, the transport system includes a magnetic guiding element 524. Similarly, a second transport system with rollers and a magnetic guiding element is provided on the opposite side of the vacuum chamber. According to some embodiments, the rollers may be provided on the first side 601 of the substrate support and the magnetic guiding elements may be provided on the second side 602 of the substrate support, as exemplarily shown in Fig. . In the example shown in FIG. 3, the substrate 121 is held by the substrate holding device 421 or the carrier 421. The upper portions of the carriers 421 are guided by the magnetic guiding elements 524. Similarly, according to some embodiments, the mask frames 131 may be supported by the rollers 402 and the magnetic guiding elements 503. Two material evaporators 102a and 102b are additionally shown in Fig.

[0035] According to the embodiments described herein, the plurality of features described with respect to FIG. 2 and / or FIG. 3 may contribute to providing a chamber volume to substrate size ratio of 15 m or less. For example, rotating material deposition arrangements, which may also be displayed as a material source, help reduce the ratio of chamber volume to substrate size. Additionally or alternatively, two substrates in a vacuum chamber, with one material source arrangement in between, can contribute to the chamber volume to substrate ratio ratio described. According to some embodiments, the ratio of chamber volume to substrate size can be further reduced if two or more substrates are present in the vacuum deposition chamber to form a substrate size together. In addition, the resulting transfer or transport of the substrate in the vacuum chamber as well as the substrate support occupying the minimum space within the vacuum chamber is useful for achieving a chamber volume to substrate size ratio of 15 m or less.

[0036] FIG. 4A illustrates additional features of a plurality of features that help improve the chamber volume-to-substrate size ratio. FIG. 4A illustrates a side view of a material deposition arrangement 100 for a material deposition system according to embodiments described herein. An embodiment of the material deposition arrangement as shown in Figure 4A includes a first material source having a first material evaporator 102a, a second material source having a second material evaporator 102b, and a third material evaporator 102c, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI > In one embodiment, each of the material evaporators 102a, 102b, and 102c may provide different materials. In another embodiment, each of the material evaporators may provide the same material, or some of the material evaporators may provide the same material, while other portions of the material evaporators provide different materials. According to some embodiments, the material evaporators 102a, 102b, and 102c may be crucibles configured to evaporate the material to be deposited on the substrate. The material evaporators 102a, 102b, and 102c are in fluid communication with the distribution pipes 106a, 106b, and 106c, respectively. The material evaporated by one of the material evaporators can be discharged from the material evaporator and flow into each of the distribution pipes.

[0037] As can be seen in FIG. 4A, each of the distribution pipes 106a, 106b, and 106c includes a plurality of nozzles 712. Through the plurality of nozzles, the evaporated material is discharged and is guided to a substrate (not shown) to be coated. Fig. 4B shows an enlarged view of section A of the third distribution pipe 106c shown in Fig. 4A. The partial view shown in Fig. 4b shows the dispensing pipe 106c and the nozzle 712 of one of the plurality of nozzles of the dispensing pipe 106c. Nozzle 712 provides opening 713 or passage, and the vaporized material may pass through such opening 713 or passage. As shown in FIG. 4B, the opening 713 of the nozzle 712 provides an opening length 714. According to some embodiments, the aperture length 714 can be measured along the longitudinal or longitudinal axis of the nozzle, especially in a direction corresponding to the average fluid direction exiting the nozzle. In one embodiment, the nozzle opening length 714 may be substantially perpendicular to the length (or linear) direction of the dispensing pipe. According to the embodiments described herein, each nozzle of the dispensing pipes may have a diameter of 2: 1 or greater (e.g., greater than 2.5: 1, 3: 1, 5: 1 or even 5: May have an opening length to size ratio, or only a portion of the nozzles of the distribution pipes may have a stated length to size ratio. According to some embodiments, the size of the nozzle (or nozzle opening) can be described as the minimum dimension of the cross section of the nozzle. For example, in the case where the nozzle has a substantially circular cross-section, the size of the nozzle may correspond to the diameter of the nozzle opening.

[0038] The term "substantially vertical" can be understood as including deviations from accurate vertical alignment by as much as 15 degrees. According to some embodiments, additional terms indicated as " substantially "in the following description may include deviations of up to 15 [deg.] From the indicated angular arrangement, or deviations of about 15% of one dimension.

[0039] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the nozzles of the distribution pipes or material deposition arrangements referred to herein are designed to form a plume having a profile of a cos ⁿ shape Where n is, in particular, greater than four. In one example, the nozzle is designed to form a plume with a profile of a cos ⁶ shape. The nozzles that achieve the cos ⁿ forming plume of the evaporated material may be useful if a narrow shape of the plume is desired. For example, a deposition process comprising masks for a substrate with small openings (e.g., openings having a size of about 20 [mu] m) can benefit from a plume of narrow cos ⁶ geometry, Material utilization can be increased by passing through the openings of the mask without diffusing on the mask. According to some embodiments, the nozzle may be designed such that the relationship between the length of the nozzle and the diameter of the passage of the nozzle is in a defined relationship such as 2: 1 or more. According to additional or alternative embodiments, the passage of the nozzle may include steps, slopes, collimator structure (s), and / or pressure stages to achieve a beneficial flume shape. The improved directionality of the vapor plume provided by the nozzle design as described in the embodiments herein may allow to further reduce the chamber volume to substrate size ratio.

[0040] FIG. 5A illustrates a material deposition arrangement according to embodiments described herein, which illustratively includes three material deposition arrangements 100a, 100b, and 100c. The material deposition arrangement may be a material deposition arrangement as described in the embodiments herein. The deposition system of FIG. 5A additionally shows a substrate 121 to be coated with the vaporized material and a mask 132 to mask the substrate 121. 5A schematically illustrates how the vaporized material 802 escapes and leaves the material deposition arrangements 100a, 100b, and 100c, particularly, the nozzles of the material deposition arrangements. According to the embodiments described herein, the vaporized material 802 is diffused when leaving the material deposition arrangement and entering the vacuum volume of the deposition chamber. Nozzles having a length-to-size ratio of 2: 1 or greater allow to have a limited diffusion of the evaporated material, for example, by including an angle of about 30 degrees or less. In Figure 5b, a comparison with a deposition system as is known shows that the evaporated material 803 contains an angle of about 60 [deg.].

[0041] As can be seen by the examples shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the material deposition arrangement according to the embodiments described herein can provide a smaller distribution spread of the evaporated material, To coat the substrate, it allows the vaporized material to be more precisely guided to the substrate, and more specifically, to the mask openings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the high accuracy of the material deposition may allow to reduce the chamber volume to substrate size ratio to a reduction in the chamber volume to substrate size ratio, for example, to 15 m or less, especially 10 m or less .

[0042] According to the embodiments described herein, the distance between the distribution pipes 106a, 106b and / or between the distribution pipes 106b, 106c is typically less than 50 mm, more typically 30 mm , And even more typically less than 25 mm. According to some embodiments, the distance between different dispense pipes 106a, 106b, and 106c can be measured from the center point of the opening of the nozzle of each dispensing pipe to the center point of the opening of the nozzle of the other dispensing pipe. In some embodiments, the distance 200 between the nozzles of the dispensing pipes may be a substantially horizontal distance.

[0043] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, material deposition arrangements or material sources may be configured such that the direction of distribution of the vapor plume (e.g., the average distribution direction) As shown in FIG. According to further embodiments, the average direction of dispensing of the nozzles has a minimum distance between the substrate to be coated and the nozzle outlet, in particular between the substrate to be coated and the point of the nozzle outlet situated on the longitudinal axis or longitudinal axis of the nozzle Can be described as following along the line.

[0044] In accordance with the embodiments described herein, it is possible to use parallel arrangements of dispensing directions of different nozzles, and in particular to use nozzles having a length to size ratio of 2: 1 or more This can help to improve the uniformity and predictability of the behavior of the evaporated material when discharged from the nozzle. For example, the direction of the evaporated material may be substantially parallel to the direction of another or adjacent evaporated material to allow for regular and uniform collision of the evaporated material on the mask and / or the substrate. In one example, different components of different dispense pipes may have substantially the same impingement angle on the mask and / or substrate, particularly a substantially vertical impingement angle on the mask and / or the substrate. The creation of a coating of one or more components can be performed in a more precise manner with the material deposition arrangement according to the embodiments described herein. Additionally, material deposition arrangements including the parallel arrangements described above of dispensing directions, in accordance with the embodiments described herein, can be used to provide a uniform mixture of different components, when different components are used in different material sources . As noted above, finer and more uniform deposition may allow to reduce the chamber volume to substrate size ratio, since smaller spaces need to be used to achieve uniform deposition. In known systems, uniform deposition of material on a substrate or uniform mixing of different materials is only possible by providing a large space between the substrate and the material deposition arrangement.

[0045] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the dispensing pipe may have a substantially triangular cross-section, which has a chamber volume to substrate size ratio of 15 m or less As well as providing additional features that help to provide. 6A shows an example of a cross section of the distribution pipe 106. Fig. The distribution pipe 106 has walls 322, 326, and 324 surrounding the inner hollow space 710. The wall 322 is provided at the outlet side of the material source, where the nozzles 712 are provided. The cross section of the dispensing pipe may be described as being essentially triangular, i.e. the main section of the dispensing pipe corresponds to a part of the triangle and / or the cross section of the dispensing pipe is rounded corners or cut- Lt; / RTI > As shown in Fig. 6A, for example, the corner of the triangle on the discharge side is cut off.

[0046] Additionally or alternatively, in consideration of the triangular shape of the material source, the area irradiated toward the mask is reduced.

The width of the discharge pipe side of the distribution pipe, for example, the dimension of the wall 322 in the cross section shown in FIG. 6A, is indicated by an arrow 352. In addition, other dimensions of the cross-section of the distribution pipe 106 are indicated by arrows 354 and 355. [ According to the embodiments described herein, the width of the outlet side of the distribution pipe is 30% or less of the largest dimension of the cross section, e.g., 30% of the larger of the dimensions indicated by arrows 354 and 355, to be. Considering the shape and dimensions of the dispensing pipe, the nozzles 712 of the neighboring dispensing pipes 106 may be provided with a smaller distance. The smaller distances improve the mixing of the organic materials evaporated immediately next to each other. According to some embodiments, the improved mixing provided by the triangular distribution pipes can be used to reduce the distance between the substrate support (or the substrate during deposition) and the material source or material deposition arrangement. The reduced distance between the substrate support and the source of material may in turn be used to improve the chamber volume to substrate size ratio.

[0048] FIG. 6b shows an embodiment in which two distribution pipes are provided next to each other. Thus, a material deposition arrangement having two distribution pipes as shown in Figure 6b can evaporate two organic materials next to each other. As shown in FIG. 6B, the shape of the cross-section of the distribution pipes 106 allows the nozzles of neighboring distribution pipes to be disposed in close proximity to each other. According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the first nozzle of the first distribution pipe and the second nozzle of the second distribution pipe may have a diameter of 30 mm or less, such as 5 mm to 25 mm . ≪ / RTI > More specifically, the distance of the first outlet or nozzle to the second outlet or nozzle may be 10 mm or less.

[0049] According to some embodiments described herein, the distance between the first nozzle of the first distribution pipe and the second nozzle of the second distribution pipe may be measured as the smallest distance between the longitudinal axes of the respective nozzles have. In one example, the minimum distance between the longitudinal axes of each of the nozzles is measured at the outlet of the nozzles (i.e., the position at which the vaporized material leaves the nozzle). Figure 6C shows a partial view (C) of the arrangement shown in Figure 6B. 6C shows an example of two nozzles of the distribution pipes 106a and 106b, wherein the distance 200 between the nozzles, at the outlet of each nozzle, Is measured between the longitudinal axis 201 of the first nozzle of the first distribution pipe 106a and the longitudinal axis 202 of the second nozzle of the second distribution pipe 106b. According to some embodiments, the longitudinal axis of the nozzle as referred to herein extends along the longitudinal direction of the nozzle.

[0050] According to some embodiments described herein, the opening or passage of the nozzle through which the evaporated material flows during the evaporation process to reach the substrate to be coated is typically from about 1 mm to about 10 mm, more typically May have a size of from about 1 mm to about 6 mm, and even more typically from 2 mm to about 5 mm. According to some embodiments, the dimensions of the passageway or opening may refer to the smallest dimension of the cross-section, e.g., the diameter of the passageway or opening. In one embodiment, the size of the opening or passage is measured at the outlet of the nozzle. According to some embodiments described herein, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, an opening or passage may be created in the tolerance zone H7, for example, from about 10 [mu] m to about 18 [ Can be generated.

[0051] In some embodiments, the material deposition arrangement or material source may be an evaporator or an evaporation furnace. The evaporation crucible may be configured to receive the organic material to be evaporated and to evaporate the organic material. According to some embodiments, the material to be evaporated may comprise at least one of ITO, NPD, Alq ₃ , Quinacridone, Mg / AG, starburst materials, and the like.

[0052] Typically, the substrate may be made of any material suitable for material deposition. For example, the substrate may be formed of any material or combination of materials that can be coated by a deposition process, such as glass (e.g., soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, etc.), metal, polymer, ceramic, compound materials, ≪ / RTI > and the like.

[0053] According to some embodiments, a vacuum deposition system is provided for depositing material on a vertically oriented substrate. The vacuum deposition system includes a vacuum chamber having a chamber volume. Typically, the vacuum chamber provides a pressure level of about 10 ^-5 to about 10 ^-7 mbar, for example, by vacuum pumps or particle traps. The vacuum deposition system further includes a material deposition arrangement (or material source) for providing the material to be deposited. The material deposition arrangement may be located within the vacuum chamber and may include a crucible for evaporating the material. The material deposition arrangement may further include a linear distribution pipe in fluid communication with the crucible. The dispensing pipe typically provides outlets (or nozzles) for guiding the vaporized material in the vacuum chamber. In some embodiments, the material deposition arrangement may be movable within a vacuum chamber. The material deposition system may further include a substrate support for supporting a substrate having a substrate size within the vacuum chamber. According to the embodiments described herein, the ratio of chamber volume to substrate size is 15 m or less.

[0054] According to some embodiments, a method for depositing material on a substrate in a vacuum deposition system is provided. The vacuum deposition system may include a vacuum chamber having a chamber volume and a material deposition arrangement. FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of a method 700 according to embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, the vacuum deposition system referred to in the method can be a vacuum deposition system as described above, and in particular a vacuum deposition system including one or more of the features described with respect to Figures 1-6 Lt; / RTI >

[0055] At box 710, method 700 includes providing a vacuum chamber with a substrate to be processed having a substrate size. The substrate is typically provided in a vacuum chamber having a chamber volume to substrate size ratio of 15 m or less. In some embodiments, the substrate may be provided to be coated in a substantially vertical orientation. At box 720, method 700 includes evaporating material in the material deposition arrangement. According to some embodiments, one or more different materials can be evaporated at the same time. In one example, evaporating the material can include evaporating the material to produce an OLED product. For example, the material deposition arrangement may include a crucible that can be heated to a temperature of about 100 [deg.] C to about 600 [deg.] C to evaporate the material to be deposited on the substrate. At box 730, the evaporated material is guided to the substrate. For example, the vaporized material may be guided through a plurality of nozzles that allow for good mixing of materials to be ejected from different material deposition arrangements and to reduce the distance between the substrate support and the material source or material deposition arrangement .

[0056] According to some embodiments, the method may further comprise moving the material deposition arrangement within the vacuum chamber. For example, the material deposition arrangement may be translated, translational, or a combination of translational and rotational movement. In one embodiment, the material source is moved in translation along a track having a curved course such that the change in angular position of the material source is achieved by translational movement.

[0057] In one example, the method further comprises providing two substrates in one vacuum deposition chamber and evaporating the material from one or two material deposition arrangements to coat the two substrates in the vacuum chamber . For example, one material deposition source may be movably arranged in a vacuum chamber, and alternately allows the evaporated material to be guided to one of the two substrates. According to some embodiments, providing one or two substrate (s) may comprise providing one or two substrate (s) to a substrate support. In some embodiments, the substrate support is arranged within a distance from the outlet (or nozzles) of the material deposition arrangement of about 250 mm or less.

[0058] In some embodiments, the vapor plume of vaporized material may have a cos ⁿ -type shape, where n is, in particular, greater than 4, such as 6. The nozzles of the deposition arrangement may be designed to allow a cos ⁶ -plane flume shape. For example, the nozzles may have an opening length to opening size ratio of about 2: 1 or more. In one embodiment, two or more distribution pipes are provided, wherein the distance between two adjacent distribution pipes is about 30 mm or less. According to some embodiments, the nozzles of the different dispense pipes may provide a substantially parallel, average dispensing direction.

[0059] According to some embodiments, the use of a material deposition system as described herein is provided. In particular, a material deposition system may be used in a cluster system for several deposition systems, maintenance chambers, load lock chambers, mask providing units, coordination units, and the like.

[0060] A plurality of features for a vacuum deposition system have been described above. (But not limiting features), a vacuum chamber for housing two substrates simultaneously (or having two substrate supports for two substrates), a vacuum chamber between the material deposition arrangement and the substrate support (Including, for example, a defined distance (e.g., less than 250 mm), a nozzle aperture length to aperture size ratio, a distance between nozzles of different dispense pipes, and a parallel arrangement of dispensing directions) Deposition arrangements or material sources, and vertically aligned substrates during deposition have been described. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the choice of two or three features from a plurality of features can contribute to a chamber volume to substrate size ratio to be 15 m or less, especially 10 m or less, Can be improved.

[0061] While the foregoing is directed to some embodiments, other and further embodiments may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the claims that follow.

Claims (20)

A vacuum deposition system (300; 400; 500) for depositing material on substrates (121)
A vacuum chamber 110 having a chamber volume;
A material deposition arrangement (100) positioned within the vacuum chamber (110) to provide a material to be deposited and during deposition; And
Two substrate supports (126, 120) for supporting substrates (121) having a substrate size formed by the size of two or more substrates in the vacuum chamber (110);
/ RTI >
Wherein the ratio of the chamber volume to the substrate size is 15 m or less,
The material deposition arrangement 100 comprises two or more crucibles 102a, 102b and 102c and a plurality of crucibles 102a, 102b and 102c in fluid communication with the crucibles 102a, Or more linear distribution pipes 106a, 106b, 106c,
Wherein a distance between the material deposition arrangement 100 and the substrate support of at least one of the two substrate supports 126 is less than 250 mm,
Wherein a first one of the two or more linear distribution pipes (106a, 106b, 106c) and a second one of the two or more linear distribution pipes (106a, 106b, 106c) The distance between the second nozzles of the pipe is less than 50 mm,
Vacuum deposition system. The method according to claim 1,
The vacuum deposition system 300 is a vacuum evaporation system and the material deposition arrangement includes evaporators 102a, 102b, and 102c for evaporating materials to be deposited on the substrates 121, / RTI >
Vacuum deposition system. The method according to claim 1,
The substrate supports 126 and 600 may each be configured to allow holding or guiding a substrate holding device 610 that exceeds the substrate size by at most 30%
Vacuum deposition system. 3. The method of claim 2,
The substrate supports 126 and 600 may each be configured to allow holding or guiding a substrate holding device 610 that exceeds the substrate size by at most 30%
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The substrate size being substrate areas of two or more substrates facing the material deposition arrangement 100,
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Wherein the chamber volume is defined by a vacuum evacuable volume of the vacuum chamber (110)
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Each of the substrate supports 126,600 may include a substrate holding device 610 that allows holding or guiding the substrate holding device 610,
Vacuum deposition system. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the substrate holding device is an E-
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The vacuum deposition system (300; 400; 500) is configured to deposit material on two or more vertically aligned substrates (121)
Vacuum deposition system. delete 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Wherein the material deposition arrangement 100 is a material deposition arrangement array that is a material source for two or more organic materials,
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Further comprising one or more nozzles (712) in the distribution pipes (106a, 106b, 106c) of the material, wherein at least one nozzle (712) has an opening having an opening length and an opening size, Provides a nozzle length to nozzle size ratio of 2: 1 or greater,
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The material deposition arrangement 100 is movable within the vacuum chamber 110,
Vacuum deposition system. 13. The method of claim 12,
The material deposition arrangement 100 is rotatable within the vacuum chamber 110,
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The two substrate supports are configured to support the substrates 121 having a size of up to 3 m by 3 m.
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Further comprising two masking stations,
Vacuum deposition system. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The vacuum deposition system is configured to deposit material on vertically oriented substrates 121,
The vacuum chamber 110 provides a pressure level of 10 ^-5 to 10 ^-7 mbar,
The linear distribution pipes 106a, 106b, 106c provide outlets for guiding the evaporated material in the vacuum chamber 110,
The material deposition arrangement (100) is movable within the vacuum chamber,
Vacuum deposition system. A vacuum deposition system (300; 400; 500) for depositing material on vertically oriented substrates (121)
A vacuum chamber (110) having a chamber volume, said vacuum chamber (110) providing a pressure level of 10 ^-5 to 10 ^-7 mbar;
A material deposition arrangement (100) for providing a material to be deposited, the material deposition arrangement (100) being located in the vacuum chamber (110) during deposition and comprising two or more crucibles (102a, 102b, 102c), two or more linear distribution pipes 106a (106a, 102b, 102c) that are in fluid communication with the crucibles and are provided next to each other and provide vents for guiding the vaporized material in the vacuum chamber , 106b, 106c), the material deposition arrangement (100) being movable within the vacuum chamber; And
Two substrate supports 126 and 600 for supporting substrates 121 having a substrate size formed by the size of two or more substrates in the vacuum chamber 110,
/ RTI >
Wherein the ratio of the chamber volume to the substrate size is 15 m or less,
Wherein a distance between the material deposition arrangement 100 and the substrate support of at least one of the two substrate supports 126 is less than 250 mm,
Wherein a first one of the two or more linear distribution pipes (106a, 106b, 106c) and a second one of the two or more linear distribution pipes (106a, 106b, 106c) The distance between the second nozzles of the pipe is less than 50 mm,
Vacuum deposition system. CLAIMS 1. A method for depositing material on substrates in a vacuum deposition system (300; 400; 500) comprising a vacuum chamber (110) having a chamber volume and a material deposition arrangement (100)
Providing substrates (121) to be processed having a substrate size formed by the size of two or more substrates in the vacuum chamber (110), the substrates (121) having a chamber volume of 15 m or less Provided in a vacuum chamber (110) having a ratio of substrate to size;
Evaporating material in the material deposition arrangement (100); And
The step of guiding the evaporated material 802 to the substrates 121
Lt; / RTI >
The material deposition arrangement 100 includes two or more crucibles 102a, 102b, 102c and two or more crucibles 102a, 102b, 102c in fluid communication with the crucibles 102a, And more than the linear distribution pipes 106a, 106b, 106c,
The distance between the material deposition arrangement 100 and the substrate support of at least one of the two substrate supports 126, 600 is less than 250 mm, and
Wherein a first one of the two or more linear distribution pipes (106a, 106b, 106c) and a second one of the two or more linear distribution pipes (106a, 106b, 106c) The distance between the second nozzles of the pipe is less than 50 mm,
A method for depositing a material. 20. The method of claim 19,
Further comprising moving the material deposition arrangement (100) within the vacuum chamber (110)
A method for depositing a material.

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