KR20050025707A - Deposition apparatus for liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A deposition apparatus is provided to prevent a deposition apparatus from being damaged by properly distributing an amount of carrier gas introduced into a process chamber. A deposition apparatus includes a susceptor(120), a gas dispersing unit(150), a gas introducing pipe(210), an RF(Radio Frequency) power(220), and a plurality of remote plasma circles(200). The susceptor is arranged inside a process chamber for stably placing a substrate on the susceptor. The gas dispersing unit is spaced apart from the susceptor and injects externally introduced carrier gas on the substrate. The gas introducing pipe has one end communicating with the gas dispersing unit and the other end connecting with the remote plasma circle arranged outside the process chamber. The RF power is connected with the gas dispersing unit. The plurality of remote plasma circles are connected with the gas introducing pipe.

Description

Deposition Apparatus for Liquid Crystal Display Device

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device including a remote plasma source independently installed outside the process chamber, and a method for supplying a reaction gas into the process chamber using the same. will be.

The liquid crystal display device refers to a non-light emitting device in which a liquid crystal is injected between the array substrate and the color filter substrate to obtain an image effect by using the characteristics thereof. The array substrate and the color filter substrate are each manufactured through a plurality of deposition, patterning, and etching processes of a thin film on a transparent substrate made of a material such as glass. Recently, in the deposition of thin films, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), which induces a chemical reaction between process gases in a state in which the process gas is excited into a plasma state by using high voltage energy outside the process chamber The method is widely used.

In particular, before the reaction gas supplied into the process chamber is introduced into the process chamber, the reaction gas is excited in a plasma ion (active species) state by a remote plasma source independently installed outside the process chamber. This is common. Since the remote plasma source does not shoot plasma ion gas directly to the substrate introduced into the process chamber, it is possible to prevent damage to the process chamber or the substrate being processed, and to deposit a liquid crystal display device including the remote plasma source. Brief description of the device is as follows.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device having a conventional remote plasma generation source. The conventional deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device includes a process chamber 100 in which substantial deposition is performed, and an exterior of the process chamber. Consists of a remote plasma source 70 is connected through the gas inlet pipe 60 in.

The process chamber 100 may be divided into a lid 12 at the top and a chamber body 14 at the bottom. An O-ring 16 is interposed between the lid 12 and the chamber body 14. The inner region of the process chamber is sealed from the outer region.

Inside the chamber body 14, a susceptor 20 is installed on the upper surface of which the substrate S drawn into the process chamber 100 is mounted. A heater installed in the susceptor 20 during the thin film deposition process is installed. (Not shown) raises the temperature of the substrate S to a temperature suitable for deposition and is electrically grounded to function as a lower electrode. In addition, the susceptor support 22 communicates with the center bottom of the susceptor 20. The outer circumferential surface of the susceptor support 22 is coupled to a moving assembly 24 coupled with a driving means (not shown) such as a motor, and thus is moved up and down as the process proceeds, and thus the susceptor of the upper surface 20) also repeats the descent in conjunction with this.

Meanwhile, an exhaust pipe 32 connected to an exhaust pump (not shown) is installed at one bottom of the process chamber 100 to discharge the gas remaining in the process chamber 100 to the outside before and after the deposition and cleaning process. do.

In addition, a gas dispersing unit 50 capable of uniformly dispersing the reaction gas into the reaction region A inside the process chamber 100 is installed in the lid 12, and the gas inlet pipe 60 is disposed on the upper surface of the lid 12. ), One end of the gas inlet pipe is connected to a remote plasma source 70 connected to a gas supply source (not shown) through a gas line 66 to supply a reaction gas into the process chamber. .

Referring to FIG. 2, a portion of a conventional deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device configured as described above, in which a reaction gas is supplied and dispersed into a process chamber through a remote plasma source is described with reference to FIG. 2. At the top of the lid), a lid cover 13 is installed, and a gas inlet pipe 60 penetrates through the center thereof, and a backing plate 52 and a showerhead 54 are installed across the lid 12 at a lower portion thereof. The gas dispersion part 50 which consists of) is provided.

In addition, one end of the gas inlet pipe 60 passes through the center of the backing plate 52 and communicates with the upper portion of the shower head 50, and the other end is connected to the remote plasma source 70.

The reactant gas is introduced into the remote plasma source 70 and excited in a plasma state before being introduced into the process chamber 100 via the gas line 66 from an external gas supply source, and the excited reactant gas is introduced into the gas inlet pipe. It is supplied into the process chamber 100 through the 60, and is injected into the lower portion of the backing plate by a gas inlet pipe 60 installed to penetrate the center of the backing plate 52. The reactant gas injected as described above is first spread by a baffle 56 formed at the bottom of the backing plate 52, and then crosses the lid 12 at the bottom of the backing plate 52 and the baffle 56. It is sprayed uniformly to the reaction region (A) of the upper surface of the substrate (S) seated on the upper surface of the susceptor 20 through a plurality of through holes 55 formed in the shower head 54 is installed. At this time, the gas inlet tube 60 may be divided into a gas inlet tube 62 made of aluminum directly connected to the remote plasma source 70 and a gas inlet tube 64 made of ceramic material extending into the process chamber 100. Can be.

On the other hand, the RF power supply 40 for supplying the energy required to excite the introduced reaction gas is connected to the backing plate 52 and the shower head 54 through the RF control unit 42 and the RF line 44 to shower By activating the reactant gas injected through the head 54, thin film deposition is achieved. The backing plate 52 and the showerhead 54 thus function as upper electrodes.

Reference numerals 58a and 58b are insulating members installed to electrically insulate the space between the backing plate 52, the shower head 54, and the lid 12 and to maintain a vacuum inside the process chamber.

The liquid crystal display device including the remote plasma source installed as described above is designed to reduce the damage of the deposition apparatus by supplying the reaction gas into the process chamber in a pre-activated state. The hourly supply of the stage of the reactive gas or cleaning gas supplied through the plasma source needs to be increased. In other words, as the size of the substrate increases, the deposition apparatus of the liquid crystal display device also becomes larger in size and uses a larger volume of the remote plasma source. As a result, a large amount of gas heated by heating to a predetermined temperature through the remote plasma source is activated. Through the gas inlet pipe, it flows into the top of the process chamber at the same time.

By using the large-capacity remote plasma source in this way, the gas inlet pipe passing through the gas heated at a predetermined temperature into the process chamber is deformed due to the high heat of the gas, and particularly inside the lid or at the top of the process chamber. Parts such as o-rings, baffles, and showerheads installed in the chamber body may be damaged, thereby greatly reducing the productivity of the device due to the reduction in the cycle for maintenance of the process chamber.

Moreover, because the gas is injected into the process chamber through a central gas inlet pipe connected to only one remote plasma source, in a large deposition apparatus for manufacturing a large area substrate, gas is distributed throughout the reaction zone inside the process chamber. It is difficult to uniformly disperse and it is difficult to expect the uniformity of the resulting thin film.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to properly disperse the amount of reaction gas introduced into the process chamber, thereby preventing damage to the deposition equipment. It is intended to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device capable of uniformly dispersing the reaction gas supplied into the process chamber into the reaction region inside the process chamber.

According to the consistent point of the present invention having the above object, the susceptor is installed on the inner surface of the process chamber and the substrate is seated on the upper surface, and the reaction gas introduced from the outside spaced a predetermined distance from the susceptor to the upper surface of the substrate A liquid crystal including a gas dispersing part to be injected, a gas inlet pipe connected to a remote plasma source provided at one end thereof in communication with the gas dispersion part and installed at an outside of the process chamber, and an RF power connected to the gas dispersion part; In the deposition apparatus for a display device, there is provided a chemical vapor deposition device for a liquid crystal display device comprising a plurality of remote plasma sources connected to the gas inlet pipe.

At this time, the gas inlet pipe may be branched so as to be independently connected to each of the plurality of remote plasma sources or simultaneously to two or more remote plasma sources.

When the gas inlet pipe is independently connected to a plurality of remote plasma sources, the gas inlet pipe is preferably formed at a symmetrical position at the top of the process chamber, in which case the RF power passes through the center of the top of the process chamber. More preferably.

As such, by employing a plurality of remote plasma sources, the gas capacity that each remote plasma source can process in the process of supplying the reaction gas into the process chamber is reduced. In particular, in connection with the present invention, each remote plasma source And a gas capacity of less than about 10 slm.

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

3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an upper portion of a remote plasma source and a process chamber of the deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to FIG. 3. This will be described at the same time.

The deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a plurality of remote plasma sources 200 connected through a process chamber 100 in which substantial deposition is performed and a gas inlet pipe 210 independent from each other outside of the process chamber. It is composed of

The process chamber 100 may be divided into a lead 112 at an upper end and a chamber body 114 at a lower end thereof, and an O-ring 116 is interposed between the lead 112 and the chamber body 114. The inner region of the process chamber is sealed from the outer region.

Inside the chamber body 114, a susceptor 120 is installed on the upper surface of the substrate S drawn into the process chamber 100. A heater installed in the susceptor 120 during the thin film deposition process is installed. (Not shown) raises the temperature of the substrate S to a temperature suitable for deposition and is electrically grounded to function as a lower electrode. In addition, the susceptor support 122 communicates with the center bottom of the susceptor 120. The outer circumferential surface of the susceptor support 122 is coupled to a moving assembly 124 coupled with a driving means (not shown) such as a motor, and thus is moved up and down as the process progresses. 120) also repeats the ascent to the link.

Meanwhile, an exhaust pipe 132 connected to an exhaust pump (not shown) is installed at one bottom surface of the process chamber 100 to discharge gas remaining in the process chamber 100 to the outside before and after the deposition and cleaning process. do.

In particular, a plurality of gases formed on the upper surface of the lid 112 is provided with a gas dispersing unit 150 for uniformly dispersing the reaction gas into the reaction region (A) in the process chamber 100 Is connected to the inlet pipe 210, one end of the plurality of gas inlet pipe 210 and the plurality of remote plasma source 200 is connected to the gas supply source (not shown) through the gas line 216, respectively Independently connected, the reaction gas can be supplied into the process chamber.

Referring to FIG. 4, a portion of the deposition apparatus for the liquid crystal display according to the present exemplary embodiment configured as described above, in which the reaction gas is supplied and dispersed into the process chamber through the remote plasma source 200 will be described. At the uppermost end of the lid 112, an airtight lid cover 13 may be formed to distinguish the inside of the process chamber 100 from the outer region. The lid cover 13 may protrude upward. Thus, a plurality of gas inlet pipes 210 penetrates. The lower part of the lid cover 113 is provided with a gas distribution unit 150 composed of a backing plate (152) and a showerhead 154 installed across the lid 112.

At this time, one end of each of the gas inlet pipe 210 passes through the center of the backing plate 152 to communicate with the upper portion of the shower head 150, the other end is independently different remote plasma source 200 Connected with

The reaction gas is supplied to the remote plasma source 200 and excited in a plasma state before being introduced into the process chamber 100 through the gas line 216 (see FIG. 3) from an external gas supply source. The reactant gases excited by the remote plasma source 200 are independently introduced into the process chamber 100 through the respective gas inlet pipes 210 and are independently installed to penetrate the center of the backing plate 152. It is injected into the lower portion of the backing plate 152 by the gas inlet pipe 210. The reactant gas injected as described above is first spread by a baffle 156 formed at the bottom of the backing plate 152 and then crosses the lid 112 at the bottom of the backing plate 152 and the baffle 156. It is sprayed uniformly to the reaction region (A) of the upper surface of the substrate (S) seated on the upper surface of the susceptor 120 through a plurality of through holes 155 formed in the shower head 154 is installed.

In this case, each of the plurality of gas inlet pipes 210 is an aluminum gas inlet pipe 212 directly connected to the remote plasma source 200 and a gas inlet pipe 214 of ceramic material extending into the process chamber 100. ) Can be separated. In particular, in relation to the present embodiment, the plurality of gas inlet pipes 210 are symmetrically penetrated through the lead cover 113 formed on the upper side of the process chamber 100 to be introduced into the process chamber 100. It is preferable that the reaction gas can be uniformly injected into the reaction zone (A).

On the other hand, the RF power supply 220 for supplying the energy required to excite the reaction gas introduced into the process chamber 100 as described above, the backing plate 152 and the showerhead through the RF control unit 222 and RF line 224 Thin film deposition is achieved by activating the reaction gas injected through the showerhead 54 in conjunction with 154. The backing plate 52 and the showerhead 54 thus function as upper electrodes.

In particular, considering that the plurality of gas inlet pipe 210 can be formed symmetrically at the top of the process chamber 100 in connection with the present embodiment, the RF power source 220 and the backing according to the present invention The RF line 224 connecting the plate 154 may be connected at the center region of the lid cover 113 at the top of the process chamber 100. Although not shown in detail in the drawings, it is well known that the RF power supply 220 is also connected to the side of the shower head 154 of the gas dispersion unit 150 of the present embodiment.

On the other hand, in the process of the reaction gas introduced into the process chamber is excited in the plasma state electrically insulating the space of the gas dispersion unit 150 consisting of the lid 112, the backing plate 152, the shower head 154 At the same time, a plurality of insulating members 158a and 158b are spaced between the backing plate 152 and the lid 112 and between the showerhead 154 and the lid 112 so as to maintain a vacuum in the process chamber 100. ) Is intervened.

As a result, in the present embodiment, the process chamber 100 is configured through a plurality of gas inlet pipes 210 connected to each of the remote plasma sources 200 and a plurality of remote plasma sources 200 that are separately installed outside the process chambers. It was possible to supply the reaction gas into the process chamber 100 inside. Therefore, as the substrate size increases recently, the cleaning gas and the reaction gas supplied in a large amount per unit time into the process chamber 100 may include a plurality of remote plasma sources 200 that are independently installed and a gas inlet pipe 210 that is independently connected thereto. Can be distributed through the supply. In particular, when the plurality of gas inlet pipe 210 is installed in a symmetrical position at the top of the process chamber in relation to the present embodiment, the introduced reactant gas may be uniformly supplied and dispersed into the process chamber.

As described above, if a plurality of remote plasma sources that are independent of each other according to the present embodiment are provided, it is not necessary to use a large-capacity remote plasma source despite the increase in substrate size. In relation to the present embodiment, the gas volume introduced into each of the remote plasmas may preferably use less than 10 slm including a coolant.

On the other hand, it is possible to introduce a large amount of the reaction gas into the process chamber without damaging the components due to the introduction of the high temperature reaction gas while having a different configuration than the above described liquid crystal display device deposition apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention A remote plasma source and an upper portion of the process chamber will be described with reference to FIG. 5. Regarding the present embodiment, the same components as those described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 have the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the present embodiment is the same as the previous embodiment in that a plurality of remote plasma source 200 is installed outside the process chamber 100 independently, the gas inlet pipe 210 connected to the remote plasma source 200 is It is integrated into one outside of the process chamber 100. In other words, the gas inlet pipe 210 according to the present embodiment passes through the central region of the lead cover 113 installed at the upper end of the process chamber 100, and branches out from the outside of the process chamber 100. Connected to a remote plasma source 200.

As a result, the reactive gas in the deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to the present embodiment is activated in a remote plasma source 200 which is installed independently from each other through a gas line 216 from an external gas supply source (not shown), The gas flows into the process chamber 100 at the same time through the gas inlet pipe 210 which is commonly connected to the plurality of remote plasma sources 200. In the present embodiment, since the remote plasma source 200 is installed in a plurality of independent units, it is possible to disperse and supply a reaction gas that must be introduced into the process chamber per unit time as the substrate size increases.

In addition, the gas inlet pipe 210 capable of introducing the reaction gas into the process chamber in accordance with the present embodiment is installed through the upper portion of the process chamber and the central region of the backing plate 152, thereby providing cleaning gas and reaction gas. It is desirable to be uniformly supplied and distributed into the process chamber. In this case, the RF line connecting the backing plate 152 and the RF power source 220 installed to activate the introduced reactant gas may be connected through a peripheral portion away from the central region of the upper portion of the process chamber.

In the above description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, various modifications and changes will be possible. For example, although the number of remote plasma generators installed outside the process chamber is limited to two, the present invention is not limited thereto, and three or more remote plasma generators may be installed if the amount of supplied gas can be distributed. Accordingly, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that such changes and modifications are within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and will be more apparent through the appended claims. .

In the deposition apparatus for liquid crystal display according to the present invention, since a plurality of remote plasma sources are provided outside the process chamber, it is possible to appropriately distribute the reaction gas introduced into the process chamber during the deposition or cleaning process.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the breakage and damage of the device parts caused by the large supply of high temperature reactive gas or cleaning gas that should be introduced as the substrate size increases, and fundamentally prevent the decrease in productivity due to the replacement and repair of the parts. have.

In addition, according to the present invention, since a plurality of gas inlet pipes connected to the remote plasma source may be symmetrically installed in each of the remote plasma sources, the reaction gas or the cleaning gas may be symmetrically uniformly supplied and distributed into the process chamber. Can be.

Due to the reaction gas introduced via a plurality of gas inlet tubes, deposition or cleaning can be performed uniformly over the entire area of the process chamber.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device having a conventional remote plasma source;

2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an upper portion of a remote plasma source and a process chamber in the deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display of FIG. 1;

3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an upper portion of a remote plasma source and a process chamber in the deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display of FIG. 1;

5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an upper portion of a remote plasma circle and a process chamber in a deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

100: process chamber 120: susceptor

150: gas dispersion unit 152: backing plate

154: shower head 156: baffle

200: remote plasma source 210: gas inlet pipe

216 gas line 220 RF power

Claims (6)

A susceptor installed on an inner surface of the process chamber and having a substrate seated thereon; a gas dispersion unit spraying a reaction gas introduced from the outside at a predetermined interval from the susceptor to an upper surface of the substrate; and one end of the gas dispersion unit In the vapor deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device in communication with and the other end includes a gas inlet pipe connected to a remote plasma source installed outside of the process chamber, and RF power connected to the gas dispersion unit, Vapor deposition apparatus for a liquid crystal display device comprising a plurality of remote plasma sources connected to the gas inlet pipe. The method of claim 1, And the gas inlet pipe is independently connected to the plurality of remote plasma sources. The method of claim 1, And the gas inlet pipe is simultaneously connected to at least two or more remote plasma sources of the plurality of remote plasma sources. The method of claim 2, And the gas inlet pipe is formed at a symmetrical position of an upper end of the process chamber. The method of claim 4, wherein And the RF power penetrates through a center of an upper portion of the process chamber and is connected to the gas dispersion unit. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, And each of said plurality of remote plasma sources has a gas capacity of less than about 10 slm.