KR102038816B1 - Apparatus of depositing thin film of oganic light emitting diode and method of manufacturing light emitting diode - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention comprises a plurality of process chambers extending in one direction; The organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus includes a substrate transport robot and a mask transport robot that are respectively configured on both sides with the plurality of process chambers interposed therebetween.

Description

Apparatus of depositing thin film of oganic light emitting diode and method of manufacturing light emitting diode

The present invention relates to an organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus and an organic light emitting device manufacturing method.

As the information society develops, the demand for display devices for displaying images is increasing in various forms. Recently, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), and organic light emitting diodes Various flat display devices such as OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes) are being utilized.

Among these flat panel display devices, organic light emitting devices have advantages of miniaturization, light weight, thinness, and low power driving, and are widely used in recent years.

The organic light emitting element is composed of an anode and a cathode functioning as an electrode and a plurality of organic material layers formed between these electrodes. In depositing a thin film constituting an organic light emitting device, a cluster type thin film deposition apparatus or an in-line type thin film deposition apparatus has been mainly used.

In the cluster type thin film deposition apparatus, a vacuum chamber in which a substrate transport robot is installed is located at the center, and a process chamber is arranged around the vacuum chamber. Each of the process chambers includes a mask magazine (ie, a mask reservoir) and a mask transport robot for thin film deposition.

In the inline type thin film deposition apparatus, the process chamber is arranged in an inline form along the substrate transfer direction, and the thin film deposition process is sequentially performed according to the arrangement of the process chamber with the substrate mounted on the tray. Each of the process chambers includes a mask magazine and a mask transfer robot for thin film deposition.

However, the conventional cluster type thin film deposition apparatus and the inline type thin film deposition apparatus have various problems.

First, although both types of mask takeout frequency are significantly lower than the substrate takeout frequency, the mask magazine and the mask transfer robot are disposed in each process chamber, thereby causing an increase in the cost of the deposition apparatus.

In the case of the cluster type, the maximum number of process chambers that can be mounted per cluster is limited to about 8, and in the case where more process chambers are required, a plurality of clusters are additionally manufactured and a substrate moving passage chamber is provided between the clusters. Should be provided. As a result, the cost of the deposition apparatus is increased, and when it is necessary to proceed with one cluster system, the process time becomes longer because all processes must be completed in a limited cluster chamber. Moreover, the cluster requires a significant area, resulting in a decrease in space efficiency.

And, in the case of the inline type, it is not easy to change the process order, and a balance bottle neck is generated according to the deviation of the process time per process chamber. The impact of bottlenecks reduces overall production. In order to prevent this, in order to balance the processing time between processes, an additional process chamber and a buffer chamber are required to compensate for the deviation, thereby causing a cost increase. Furthermore, there is a limitation in the substrate transport path, and if a problem occurs in any one of the process chambers, a problem arises in that the entire process must be stopped.

As described above, the conventional organic light emitting diode thin film deposition apparatus has various problems in terms of cost and efficiency, and thus, an improvement is required.

The present invention has a problem to provide a method that can improve the cost and efficiency of the organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of process chambers extending in one direction; The organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus includes a substrate transport robot and a mask transport robot that are respectively configured on both sides with the plurality of process chambers interposed therebetween.

Here, the process chamber may include a gate valve configured on each of the substrate transport robot side and the mask transport robot side.

At least one of the substrate transfer robot and the mask transfer robot may be used.

A load lock chamber configured at one side of the substrate transport space to which the substrate transport robot moves; At least one mask magazine in which a plurality of masks are stored; And a flip chamber for inverting the substrate.

The substrate transport robot and the mask transport robot may include a vacuum chamber is disposed.

In another aspect, the present invention includes the step of depositing a plurality of thin films of the organic light emitting device using a thin film deposition apparatus, the thin film deposition apparatus, a plurality of process chambers extending in one direction; The organic light emitting device manufacturing method includes a substrate transport robot and a mask transport robot that are respectively configured on both sides with the plurality of process chambers interposed therebetween and move in one direction.

Here, the process chamber may include a gate valve configured on each of the substrate transport robot side and the mask transport robot side.

At least one of the substrate transfer robot and the mask transfer robot may be used.

The thin film deposition apparatus includes a load lock chamber configured at one side of a substrate transport space to which the substrate transport robot moves; At least one mask magazine in which a plurality of masks are stored; And a flip chamber for inverting the substrate.

The thin film deposition apparatus may include a vacuum chamber in which the substrate transfer robot and the mask transfer robot are disposed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve various problems of the conventional thin film deposition apparatus.

First, compared with the conventional cluster type apparatus, the mask transfer robot and the mask magazine are required for each process chamber in the conventional cluster type apparatus. In contrast, the apparatus of the present invention can cope with a plurality of process chambers with a single mask transport robot and a mask magazine.

In addition, in the conventional cluster type apparatus, when the thin film deposition process is increased, additional equipment is required because additional clusters must be additionally provided. In contrast, in the apparatus of the present invention, it is sufficient to increase the number of process chambers.

As such, compared to the conventional cluster type device, the device of the present invention can be made a significant improvement in cost and space.

Next, in comparison with the conventional inline type device, the mask transport robot and the mask magazine are required for each process chamber in the conventional inline type device. In contrast, the apparatus of the present invention can cope with a plurality of process chambers with a single mask transport robot and a mask magazine.

In addition, in the conventional in-line type device, the process proceeds according to the arrangement order of the process chambers, and thus, there is a limitation in the substrate movement path and a bottleneck may occur depending on the situation. In contrast, the apparatus of the present invention can freely move the substrate between the process chambers, there is no restriction of the substrate movement path and the bottleneck can be eliminated.

As such, compared to conventional inline type devices, the devices of the present invention can be made with significant improvements in terms of cost and process freedom.

As a result, according to the present invention, the cost reduction and efficiency in the organic light emitting device thin film deposition can be improved.

1 is a view schematically showing an organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an organic light emitting device manufactured using a thin film deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 and 4 illustrate examples in which two substrate transfer robots are used in a thin film deposition apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a view schematically showing an organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a schematic view of an organic light emitting device manufactured using a thin film deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention It is a cross section.

Referring to FIG. 1, a thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a plurality of process chambers PC, a substrate transport robot SR, a mask transport robot MR, It may include a mask magazine (MM).

The process chamber PC is a chamber for depositing a thin film constituting the organic light emitting element 10. The plurality of process chambers PC may be arranged along the moving direction of the substrate transfer robot SR or the mask transfer robot MR as one direction.

When the substrate S and the mask M are loaded into each of the plurality of process chambers PC, the thin film deposition process may be performed.

For example, referring to FIG. 2 in relation to thin film deposition, the organic light emitting diode 10 may be disposed between the first and second electrodes 20 and 40 and the first and second electrodes 20 and 40 on the substrate S. Referring to FIG. It includes an organic material layer 30 configured in.

Here, the first electrode 20 corresponds to the anode and the second electrode 40 corresponds to the cathode. On the other hand, the organic material layer 30 may include a plurality of laminated films, for example, the hole injection layer 31, the hole transport layer 32, along the direction of the second electrode 40 from the first electrode 20, The light emitting material layer 33, the electron transport layer 34, and the electron injection layer 35 may be sequentially formed.

In addition, each of the hole injection layer 31, the hole transport layer 32, the light emitting material layer 33, the electron transport layer 34, and the electron injection layer 35 may be configured to have at least one laminated film.

In manufacturing the organic light emitting device 10 having such a structure, for example, the organic material layer 30 and the second electrode 40 may be deposited using the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Can be.

Therefore, the number of process chambers PC may be adjusted according to the number of thin films to be deposited.

Meanwhile, gate valves GV1 and GV2 may be configured at both sides of the process chamber PC. For example, the first gate valve GV1 may be configured on the substrate transport robot SR side, and the second gate valve GV2 may be configured on the mask transport robot MR side.

Such first and second gate valves GV1 and GV2 are configured to be opened and closed. That is, the first gate valve GV1 is opened when the substrate S is loaded or unloaded, and the second gate valve GV2 is opened when the mask M is loaded / exported. When the loading and unloading of the substrate and the masks S and M is completed, the first and second gate valves GV1 and GV2 are closed.

The substrate transport robot SR carries the substrate S into the process chamber PC for thin film deposition, and removes the substrate S on which the thin film deposition is completed from the process chamber PC, between the process chambers PC. It serves to transfer the substrate (S).

To this end, the substrate transport robot SR is configured to be movable along the arrangement direction of the process chamber PC. For example, the substrate transport rail RS extends along the arrangement direction of the process chamber PC, and the substrate transport robot SR may move freely along the substrate transport rail RS.

According to the configuration of the substrate transfer robot SR, the substrate transfer robot SR may correspond to a plurality of process chambers PC.

In addition, the substrate S may move freely between the process chambers PC, thereby increasing the degree of freedom of the process.

On the other hand, the substrate transport robot (SR) in the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is preferably configured as a single, but is not limited thereto.

For example, two or more substrate transfer robots SR may be configured in some cases. In this regard, referring to FIG. 3 as an example, two first and second substrate transfer robots SR1 and SR2 may be used, and the first and second substrates may correspond to the first and second substrate transfer robots SR1 and SR2. The transport rails RS1 and RS2 may be provided.

The first and second substrate transport rails RS1 and RS2 are configured to extend along the arrangement direction of the process chamber PC, and may be spaced apart from each other on the same line. In this case, the first and second substrate transfer robots SR1 and SR2 may move independently of each other, and may transfer the substrates S to each other as necessary in the process.

Meanwhile, as another example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the first and second substrate transfer robots SR1 and SR2 may be configured. Referring to FIG. 4, the first and second substrate transport rails RS1 and RS2 may be configured on a line parallel to each other, and may be configured to overlap at least some of them.

On the other hand, in the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate transport space (SS1) as a space for moving the substrate transport robot (SR), it is preferable that the vacuum chamber is maintained in the same state as the process chamber (PC). . As such, the substrate transport space SS1 may be configured as a vacuum chamber.

The mask transfer robot (MR) carries the mask (M) into the process chamber (PC) for thin film deposition. When the deposition of the thin film is completed, the mask transport robot (MR) carries out the mask (M) from the process chamber (PC). The substrate S is transferred between the mask magazines MM.

To this end, the mask transport robot MR is configured to be movable along the arrangement direction of the process chamber PC. For example, the mask conveyance rail RM extends along the arrangement direction of the process chamber PC, and the mask conveyance robot MR may move freely along the mask conveyance rail RM.

According to the configuration of the mask transfer robot MR, the mask transfer robot MR may correspond to a plurality of process chambers PC.

On the other hand, in the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the mask transport robot MR is preferably configured as a single unit, but is not limited thereto.

For example, two or more mask transfer robots MR may be configured in some cases, for which reference may be made to the description of the substrate transfer robot SR.

On the other hand, in the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, as the space where the mask transfer robot MR moves, the mask transfer space SS2 is preferably maintained in a vacuum state as in the process chamber PC. . As such, the mask transport space SS2 may be configured as a vacuum chamber.

The mask magazine MM corresponds to a reservoir for storing a plurality of masks M to be used in the plurality of process chambers PC. For example, the plurality of process chambers PC may use different masks M according to the type of thin film to be deposited or the type of the organic light emitting device. Such masks M may be formed in the mask magazine MM. Can be stored.

In the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a single mask magazine MM is preferably used, but is not limited thereto. For example, two or more mask magazines (MM) may be used in some cases.

On the other hand, the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a load lock chamber (LC). The load lock chamber LC functions as a buffer chamber which serves as a buffer between the atmospheric state and the vacuum state for loading and unloading the substrate between the cassette station CS and the thin film deposition apparatus 100. Here, the cassette station CS serves to load and carry a plurality of substrates S between the organic light emitting device manufacturing apparatuses.

In the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the load lock chamber LC is configured at one side of the substrate transport space SS1, and the loading and unloading of the substrate is performed at the same point. On the other hand, as another example, the load lock chamber (LC) is formed on both sides of the substrate transport space (SS1) may be configured such that the loading / unloading of the substrate at the opposite point.

In addition, the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include a flip chamber FC. The flip chamber FC is a chamber for inverting the substrate S, that is, performing an inverter. For example, the flip chamber FC needs to flip the substrate S before or after it is brought into the process chamber PC. Chamber PC may be used.

Such a flip chamber PC may be disposed adjacent to the load lock chamber LC as one side of the plurality of process chambers PC, but is not limited thereto.

As described above, the thin film deposition apparatus 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may arrange a plurality of process chambers PC along a substrate or a mask conveyance direction, and may be disposed at both sides with a plurality of process chambers PC interposed therebetween. The substrate transport robot SR and the mask transport robot MR are disposed.

Accordingly, the substrate transport robot SR may move the substrate S into and out of the process chamber PC while freely moving between the plurality of process chambers PC. Similarly, the mask transport robot MR may freely move along the plurality of process chambers PC, and may carry / out the mask M into the process chambers PC.

In addition, each process chamber PC may be used not only for depositing a specific thin film but also for depositing other thin films in the case where a defect occurs in some process chambers PC or if necessary.

Therefore, by using the thin film deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to improve various problems of the conventional thin film deposition apparatus.

First, compared with the conventional cluster type apparatus, the mask transfer robot and the mask magazine are required for each process chamber in the conventional cluster type apparatus. In contrast, in the apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to cope with a plurality of process chambers with a single mask transport robot and a mask magazine.

In addition, in the conventional cluster type apparatus, when the thin film deposition process is increased, additional equipment is required because additional clusters must be additionally provided. In contrast, in the apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention, it is sufficient to increase the number of process chambers.

As such, compared to the conventional cluster type device, the device according to the embodiment of the present invention can be made a significant improvement in terms of cost and space.

Next, in comparison with the conventional inline type device, the mask transport robot and the mask magazine are required for each process chamber in the conventional inline type device. In contrast, in the apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to cope with a plurality of process chambers with a single mask transport robot and a mask magazine.

In addition, in the conventional in-line type device, the process proceeds according to the arrangement order of the process chambers, and thus, there is a limitation in the substrate movement path and a bottleneck may occur depending on the situation. In contrast, the device of the embodiment of the present invention can freely move the substrate between the process chamber, there is no restriction of the substrate movement path and the bottle neck can be eliminated.

As such, compared to conventional inline type devices, the device according to embodiments of the present invention can be made with significant improvements in terms of cost and process freedom.

As a result, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the cost reduction and efficiency in the organic light emitting device thin film deposition can be improved.

Embodiment of the present invention described above is an example of the present invention, it is possible to change freely within the scope included in the spirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the invention includes modifications of the invention within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

100: thin film deposition apparatus PC: process chamber
LC: Road Rock Chamber FC: Flip Chamber
SR: Substrate Carrying Robot MR: Mask Carrying Robot
RS: Board carrying rail RM: Mask carrying rail
GV1: first gate valve GV2: second gate valve
MM: Mask Magazine CS: Cassette Station

Claims (10)

A plurality of process chambers extending along one direction;
A single substrate transfer robot configured on one side of the plurality of process chambers, the single substrate transfer robot moving along one direction and directly loading and unloading substrates into each of the plurality of process chambers;
A single mask transfer robot configured on the other side of the plurality of process chambers and moving along the one direction and directly importing and exporting masks to each of the plurality of process chambers;
A substrate transfer rail positioned on one side of the plurality of process chambers and extending along the one direction, and in which the substrate transfer robot moves;
A mask conveyance rail positioned on the other side of the plurality of process chambers and extending along the one direction, wherein the mask conveyance robot moves;
A single first vacuum chamber positioned at one side of the plurality of process chambers and providing a space in which the substrate transfer robot moves;
A single second vacuum chamber positioned on the other side of the plurality of process chambers and providing a space in which the mask transfer robot moves;
A load lock chamber configured only at one end of the first vacuum chamber to carry in and unload the substrate between an external cassette station and the first vacuum chamber;
A single mask magazine positioned at an opposite side to the process chamber as one side of the second vacuum chamber, and storing a plurality of the masks;
Flip chambers disposed adjacent to the load lock chamber as one end of the plurality of process chambers and inverting the substrate.
Organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus comprising a.
The method of claim 1,
The process chamber includes a gate valve configured on each of the substrate transfer robot side and the mask transfer robot side.
Organic light emitting device thin film deposition apparatus.
delete delete delete Using a thin film deposition apparatus, depositing a plurality of thin films of the organic light emitting device,
The thin film deposition apparatus,
A plurality of process chambers extending along one direction;
A single substrate transfer robot configured on one side of the plurality of process chambers, the single substrate transfer robot moving along one direction and directly loading and unloading substrates into each of the plurality of process chambers;
A single mask transfer robot configured on the other side of the plurality of process chambers and moving along the one direction and directly importing and exporting masks to each of the plurality of process chambers;
A substrate transfer rail positioned on one side of the plurality of process chambers and extending along the one direction, and in which the substrate transfer robot moves;
A mask conveyance rail positioned on the other side of the plurality of process chambers and extending along the one direction, wherein the mask conveyance robot moves;
A single first vacuum chamber positioned at one side of the plurality of process chambers and providing a space in which the substrate transfer robot moves;
A single second vacuum chamber positioned on the other side of the plurality of process chambers and providing a space in which the mask transfer robot moves;
A load lock chamber configured only at one end of the first vacuum chamber to carry in and unload the substrate between an external cassette station and the first vacuum chamber;
A single mask magazine positioned on a side opposite to the process chamber as one side of the second vacuum chamber, and storing a plurality of the masks;
Flip chambers disposed adjacent to the load lock chamber as one end of the plurality of process chambers and inverting the substrate.
Containing
Organic light emitting device manufacturing method.
The method of claim 6,
The process chamber includes a gate valve configured on each of the substrate transfer robot side and the mask transfer robot side.
Organic light emitting device manufacturing method.
delete delete delete

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