KR102144783B1 - Depositon appratus and in line deposition system coprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a linear evaporation source and a deposition apparatus including the same, comprising: a linear bar module in which nozzles are spaced apart from each other so as to deposit a deposition material on glass; A source supply module connected to the linear bar module to supply the deposition material and having an inner crucible whose height is adjusted to maintain a constant level of the deposition material with respect to the linear bar module; And an auto level module that adjusts the height of the inner crucible so that the level of the deposition material is kept constant, thereby maintaining the level of the deposition material so that the heat transfer distance from the linear bar module to the deposition material where evaporation occurs is constant. Not only can the deposition material be supplied constantly, but also the supply of the deposition material to the glass can be kept constant.

Description

Linear evaporation source and evaporation apparatus including the same {DEPOSITON APPRATUS AND IN LINE DEPOSITION SYSTEM COPRISING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a linear evaporation source and a deposition apparatus including the same, and more particularly, to a linear evaporation source for depositing a deposition material on the surface of a glass, and a deposition apparatus including the same.

In addition to LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), which are commonly referred to as flat panel displays (FPD), substrates used for solar panels are mainly made of glass. The substrate itself is also commonly referred to as glass.

Such glass can go through a series of physical/chemical processes for commercialization, in which a valve unit is disposed between a plurality of process chamber units and chamber units in which an optimal environment for the process is established. It can be performed in an in-line vacuum device.

Among these deposition processes, in the physical deposition process, in general, after mounting a substrate in a vacuum chamber, heating a heating container containing a material to be deposited (hereinafter referred to as a'deposition material') to evaporate or sublimate the material to be deposited therein. , A process of coating a vapor deposition material on the glass with a thin film.

To this end, a conventional PVD (thermal physical vapor deposition) apparatus in a physical vapor deposition process includes a source deposition unit in which a crucible having high thermal resistance and chemical stability is provided in an evaporation chamber.

In such a PVD deposition apparatus, an organic material is heated to an evaporation point (or sublimation point), and the evaporated organic material is evenly coated on a substrate after flowing from the source deposition unit.

At this time, in the PVD deposition apparatus, the evaporation material evaporated or sublimated from the crucible where evaporation or sublimation is performed during the PVD deposition process must be evenly supplied to the glass for a uniform thin film thickness.

In recent PVD evaporation equipment, the deposition of large-area glass is in progress, increasing the amount of evaporation material deposited at one time, as well as a source with a linear bar module to be deposited in a scan method to evenly form a large-area thin film. A deposition unit is used.

Such a source deposition unit may be disposed in the width direction of the glass to move relative to the glass and evenly distribute the deposition material to the glass to perform deposition on the glass.

In such a conventional source deposition unit, a heat flow according to a heat transfer phenomenon occurs from the nozzle side to the source supply unit side during the deposition process.

However, when the distance between the surface of the deposition material and the nozzle is gradually increased as the deposition material is consumed from the source supply unit, the heating flow to the source supply unit is gradually weakened and the amount of heat to the source supply unit decreases. As the evaporation rate is reduced, there is a problem that the amount of the deposition material supplied to the source deposition unit gradually decreases.

Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-091564

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by maintaining the level of the deposition material so that the heat transfer distance from the linear bar module that discharges the deposition material to the deposition material where evaporation occurs is constant, it is possible to supply the deposition material to the linear bar module. , To provide a linear evaporation source and a deposition apparatus including the same, which can maintain a constant supply of a deposition material to the glass.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a linear bar module in which nozzles are spaced apart from each other to deposit a deposition material on glass; A source supply module connected to the linear bar module to supply the deposition material and having an internal crucible whose height is adjusted to maintain a constant level of the deposition material with respect to the linear bar module; And a linear evaporation source including an auto level module for adjusting the height of the inner crucible so that the level of the deposition material is kept constant may be provided.

The source supply module may include a crucible body in which the inner crucible is liftably coupled to the inside, and is coupled to the linear bar module; And a plurality of heaters provided in the crucible body to heat the inner crucible.

The auto level module may include a thickness measuring sensor disposed on the linear bar module to detect a thickness of the deposition material on the glass; And an elevating operation unit for elevating the inner crucible based on the thickness of the deposition material measured by the thickness measurement sensor.

The lifting operation unit, a lifting drive unit connected to the inner crucible to lift the inner crucible; And an elevation control unit that communicates with the thickness measurement sensor to collect the thickness of the deposition material from the glass, and drives the elevation drive unit based on the collected thickness of the deposition material.

The plurality of heaters may include an upper heater disposed on the crucible body; And a lower heater part disposed under the crucible body.

A recovery part may be provided under the crucible body to recover the deposition material.

The linear bar module includes: a linear bar body in which the plurality of nozzles are disposed to cross the moving direction of the glass; And a source passage part provided under the linear bar body to be connected to the source supply module.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the linear evaporation source described above; And a deposition chamber unit in which the linear evaporation source is disposed, and the deposition process of the deposition material on the glass proceeds in a vacuum state.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by maintaining the level of the deposition material so that the heat transfer distance from the linear bar module to the deposition material where evaporation occurs is constant, it is possible to supply the deposition material to the linear bar module uniformly, as well as to the glass. It is possible to provide a linear evaporation source capable of maintaining a constant supply of a deposition material and a deposition apparatus including the same.

1 is a schematic diagram of a linear evaporation source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to specific embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. Differences in the embodiments of the present invention to be described later should be understood as matters that are not mutually exclusive. That is, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, specific shapes, structures, and characteristics described may be implemented in other embodiments in relation to one embodiment, and the location of individual components in each disclosed embodiment or It should be understood that the arrangement may be changed, and similar reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same or similar functions over various aspects, and the length, area, thickness, and the like may be exaggerated for convenience.

1 is a schematic diagram of a linear evaporation source according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the linear evaporation source 113 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a linear bar module 114 in which nozzles 116 are spaced apart from each other so as to deposit a deposition material on the glass. , Source supply module 123 having an internal crucible 124 connected to the linear bar module 114 to supply the deposition material and whose height is adjusted to maintain a constant level of the deposition material with respect to the linear bar module 114 And, it includes an auto level module 130 for adjusting the height of the inner crucible 124 to maintain a constant level of the deposition material.

According to this embodiment, the heat transfer distance from the linear bar module 114 to the evaporation material of the source supply module 123 is kept constant by the auto level module 130, Not only can the deposition material be constantly supplied to the bar module 114, but also the supply of the deposition material from the source supply module 123 to the glass can be kept constant.

The linear evaporation source 113 according to the present embodiment may provide a vapor deposition material from the nozzle 116 of the linear bar module 114 to the glass disposed on the nozzle 116.

At this time, a heat flow (heat flow) is generated from the linear bar module 114 toward the source supply module 123, and this heat flow acts as heat for heating the deposition material.

However, when the deposition material is consumed from the source supply module 123 and the level (water level) of the deposition material is lowered, the distance increases and the amount of heat transferred by the heat flow may be reduced.

At this time, the source supply module 123 is a dual structure with an inner crucible 124, and the inner crucible 124 is an auto-level module to maintain the amount of heat transferred by the heat flow of the deposition material when the level of the deposition material is lowered. 130).

Hereinafter, components of the linear evaporation source 113 according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail.

Again, referring to FIG. 1, the source supply module 123 includes a crucible body 125 and an inner crucible 124 coupled to the linear bar module 114 so that the inner crucible 124 is liftably coupled therein. It may include a plurality of heater units 126 and 127 provided in the crucible body 125 to heat.

According to the present embodiment, the crucible body 125 is coupled to the lower portion of the linear bar module 114 and has a pipe-shaped structure visible to the outside. In this case, the plurality of heater units 126 and 127 described above include an upper heater unit 126 disposed above the crucible body 125 and a lower heater unit 127 disposed below the crucible body 125. Can include. In addition, a recovery unit 128 may be provided under the crucible body 125 to recover the deposition material.

The inner crucible 124, which is coupled to the inside of the crucible body 125 so as to be elevating, may be disposed to be slidably movable on the inner wall of the crucible body 125. Although not shown, a structure for guiding the lifting movement may be provided between the crucible body 125 and the inner crucible 124.

The lifting and lowering of the inner crucible 124 with respect to the crucible body 125 may be performed by the auto level module 130. The level of the deposition material decreases according to the consumption of the deposition material in the inner crucible 124, and the auto level module 130 may raise and lower the inner crucible 124 by detecting the thickness of the deposition material on the glass.

That is, when the level of the deposition material in the inner crucible 124 goes down from the upper heater unit 126 to the lower heater unit 137, the amount of heat transferred from the linear bar module 114 located above decreases.

In this case, the distance from the side of the linear bar module 114 to the level of the deposition material increases, so that the reach of the heat flow increases, and the heat transfer distance from the upper heater unit 126 to the deposition material increases. Accordingly, the auto level module 130 raises the inner crucible 124 to maintain a constant level of the deposition material.

The auto level module 130 according to the present embodiment is disposed on the linear bar module 114 and is measured by a thickness measurement sensor 131 and a thickness measurement sensor 131 that senses the thickness of a deposition material on the glass. It may include a lifting operation unit 132 for lifting the inner crucible 124 based on the thickness of the deposited material.

The thickness measurement sensor 131 is a measurement sensor for measuring the thickness of a thin film deposited on the glass, and as an example, a quartz crystal sensor may be selected.

In the case of measuring the thickness of a thin film using such a quartz crystal sensor, it is performed by applying an appropriate AC voltage to both ends of the electrode of the quartz crystal sensor and measuring the fluctuation of the frequency of the quartz crystal sensor.

In other words, when the deposition material is deposited on the surface of the quartz crystal sensor, the vibration frequency changes. During deposition, the deposition thickness is calculated by measuring the degree to which the actual vibration frequency deviates from the natural vibration frequency.

The lifting operation unit 132 linked to the thickness measurement sensor 131 collects the thickness of the evaporation material from the glass and the lifting drive unit 133 connected to the inner crucible 124 to lift the inner crucible 124 It may include an elevation control unit 134 that communicates with the thickness measurement sensor 131 and drives the elevation driving unit 133 based on the thickness of the collected deposition material.

According to the present embodiment, the thickness of the evaporation material to the glass is measured by the thickness measurement sensor 131, but when the thickness of the glass is not increased constant, the supply of the evaporation material to the glass is not smooth. to be.

That is, the evaporation rate of the deposition material from the source supply module 123 decreases or increases, and according to the present embodiment, the level of the deposition material decreases.

The elevating control unit 134 calculates the thickness of the deposition material based on the signal sensed from the thickness measurement sensor 131, and when it is detected that the thickness of the deposition material does not increase uniformly, a preset deposition The internal crucible 124 may be properly raised by driving the lifting driving unit 133 so that a signal can be detected at a rate of increasing the thickness of the material.

Although not shown in detail, the lift control unit 134 may include not only a controller capable of performing simple feedback control, but also a motor driver capable of driving the lift driving unit 133.

The elevating driver 133 may have elements that are elevated by a motor, although not shown in detail. Such lifting elements may include leadscrews and linear guides. In addition, the lifting drive unit 133 may be provided so that the rotation shaft of the motor itself can be lifted as a lead screw structure.

In order to operate the lifting operation unit 132, a deposition material must be supplied to the above-described thickness measurement sensor 131.

To this end, in the linear bar module 114 according to the present embodiment, a thickness measurement tube 135 is provided to provide a deposition material toward the thickness measurement sensor 131. The thickness measurement tube 135 may be disposed on both sides of the linear bar body 115 to be described later of the linear bar module 114, and the thickness measurement sensor 131 may be disposed corresponding thereto.

The linear bar module 114 according to the present embodiment includes a linear bar body 115 in which a plurality of nozzles 116 are disposed to cross the moving direction of the glass, and a linear bar body to be connected to the source supply module 123 ( It may include a source passage portion 117 provided below the 115).

At this time, the source passage part 117 and the crucible body 125 may be provided to be detachable. That is, the crucible body 125 may be separated while being connected to the source passage part 117, and when connected, a connection structure may be provided to prevent leakage of the deposition material.

Referring again to FIG. 1, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the above-described linear evaporation source 113 and the linear evaporation source 113 are disposed, but the deposition process of the deposition material on the glass is provided in a vacuum state. A deposition apparatus (not shown) including a deposition chamber unit (not shown) may be provided.

According to this other embodiment, the heat transfer distance from the linear bar module 114 to the evaporated deposition material of the source supply module 123 is kept constant by the auto level module 130, so that from the source supply module 123 Not only can the deposition material be supplied to the linear bar module 114, but also the supply of the deposition material from the source supply module 123 to the glass can be kept constant.

The linear bar body 115 according to this embodiment has a bar shape that is elongated so as to cross the moving direction of the glass, and has an inner passage so that the deposition material flows to each nozzle 116.

The nozzle 116 may be disposed at an upper end of the linear bar body 115 at regular intervals to uniformly provide a deposition material to the bottom of the glass passing upward. The linear bar body 115 may deposit a deposition material in a scan method with respect to the relative moving glass. At this time, the patterned thin film on the glass is formed by a deposition material that is stacked in stages through several deposition processes.

As described above, an embodiment of the present invention has been described, but based on this, if a person of ordinary skill in the relevant technical field does not depart from the spirit of the present invention described in the claims, addition, change, and Various modifications and changes may be made to the present invention by deletion or addition, and this will also be included within the scope of the present invention.

113: linear evaporation source
114: linear bar module 115 linear bar body
116: nozzle 117: source passage
123: source supply module 124: internal crucible
125: crucible main body 126, 127: a plurality of heaters
126: upper heater part 127: lower heater part
128: recovery unit 130: auto level module
131: thickness measurement sensor 132: lifting operation part
133: lifting drive unit 134: lifting control unit
135: thickness measuring tube

Claims (8)

A linear bar module in which nozzles are spaced apart from each other to deposit a deposition material on the glass and disposed thereon;
A source supply module connected to the linear bar module to supply the deposition material and having an inner crucible whose height is adjusted to maintain a constant level of the deposition material with respect to the linear bar module; And
An auto level module for adjusting the height of the inner crucible so that the level of the deposition material is kept constant,
The source supply module,
A crucible body in which the inner crucible is movably coupled to the inside, and is coupled to the linear bar module; And
It includes a plurality of heaters provided in the crucible body to heat the inner crucible,
The auto level module,
A thickness measurement sensor disposed on the linear bar module to detect a thickness of the deposition material on the glass; And
Including a lifting operation unit for lifting the inner crucible based on the thickness of the deposition material measured by the thickness measurement sensor,
The plurality of heater parts,
An upper heater part disposed above the crucible body; And
Including a lower heater disposed under the crucible body,
In the lower part of the crucible body,
A recovery part is provided under the inner crucible so that the deposition material is recovered while having the same central axis as the crucible body and the inner crucible,
The linear bar module,
A linear bar body in which the plurality of nozzles are disposed on one side to cross the moving direction of the glass; And
And a source passage part provided under the linear bar body to be connected to the source supply module,
The thickness measurement sensor,
A linear evaporation source facing the thickness measuring tube disposed on the other side of the linear bar body. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The lifting operation unit,
An elevating driver connected to the inner crucible to elevate the inner crucible; And
A linear evaporation source including an elevation control unit that communicates with the thickness measurement sensor to collect the thickness of the deposition material from the glass, and drives the elevation drive unit based on the collected thickness of the deposition material. delete delete delete The linear evaporation source according to any one of claims 1 and 4; And
A deposition apparatus including a deposition chamber unit in which the linear evaporation source is disposed, and the deposition process of the deposition material on the glass proceeds in a vacuum state.

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