KR20060118848A - Deposition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A deposition apparatus is provided to obtain an optimal deposition speed by effectively discharging material vapor out of the deposition apparatus. A deposition apparatus includes a chamber and a revolver. A deposition film forming process is performed in the chamber. Plural deposition sources are positioned in the revolver. The deposition apparatus includes a main body(21) and a cured material removing unit(200). The main body is implemented on an outer surface of the revolver, such that the main body horizontally moves along the outer surface of the revolver. The cured material removing unit includes an arm, which is implemented on the main body and vertically moved. The arm also rotates of itself. The deposition apparatus includes a sensor(C) and a controller.

Description

Deposition apparatus

1 is a cross-sectional view of a general point deposition source.

2 is a plan view of a revolver in which a plurality of deposition sources are arranged.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG.

4 is a partial plan view showing only a revolver in the deposition apparatus according to the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.

6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which a deposition process for a substrate is performed using two revolvers.

7 shows the shape of a tip mounted vertically to the horizontal arm tip.

The present invention relates to a deposition apparatus for depositing an organic electroluminescent layer, and more particularly, to a deposition apparatus capable of inducing a smooth discharge of vapor deposition material by removing a deposition material solidified around a vapor discharge opening of each deposition source. It is about.

Thermal physical vapor deposition is a technique of forming a light emitting layer on the surface of a substrate with vapor of a deposition material (eg, organic material), and the deposition material contained in the deposition source is heated to the vaporization temperature, and the vapor of the deposition material is After moving out of the received deposition source, it condenses on the substrate to be coated. This deposition process is carried out in a vacuum chamber under pressure ranging from 10 ⁻⁷ to 10 ⁻² Torr with a deposition source containing the deposition material and a substrate to be coated.

Generally, a deposition source, which is a container containing a deposition material, is made of an electrically resistive material that increases in temperature as current passes through walls (members). When a current is applied to the deposition source, the deposition material therein is heated by radiant heat from the walls of the deposition source and conduction heat from contact with the walls. A vapor efflux aperture through which the vaporized material vapor is discharged to the outside is formed in the upper member of the evaporation source.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a general point deposition source and shows an internal configuration of a point deposition source 1 composed of a cylindrical sidewall member 1B, a disk-shaped bottom member 1C, and an upper member 1A. In the internal space formed by the upper member 1A, the side wall member 1B, and the bottom member 1C, a deposition material M (deposition material) is accommodated.

Inside the side wall member 1B, means 1B-1 (for example, a heating coil connected to a power source) for heating the deposition material M accommodated in the internal space is located. This heating means 1B-1 is mounted over the entire height of the side wall member 1B, and thus can supply heat to all the vapor deposition materials M. FIG. The opening 1A-1 is formed in the center of the upper member 1A, and the vapor of the vapor deposition material M heated and vaporized by the heat generated by the heating means 1B-1 attached to the side wall member 1B. Is discharged toward the substrate mounted outside, that is, in the chamber, through the opening 1A-1.

On the other hand, as the process proceeds, the amount of deposition material contained in the deposition source is reduced to an appropriate amount or less, and therefore, a new deposition source filled with the deposition material should be replaced. However, since the internal space of the chamber where the deposition process proceeds is a vacuum state, the vacuum in the chamber must be released each time the deposition source is replaced, and the chamber interior must be vacuumed again after the new deposition source is installed. The problem arises.

In order to prevent this situation, a plurality of deposition sources (about 6) shown in FIG. 1 are mounted in a vacuum chamber with a revolver disposed therein until the deposition material contained in all deposition sources is consumed. The process will continue.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a revolver having a plurality of deposition sources disposed therein, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the revolver taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, and FIG. 2 illustrates a revolver upper member to indicate an arrangement of deposition sources. In addition, in Fig. 3, all the deposition sources are shown by cross-sectional processing.

A portion of the upper member 21 of the revolver 20 mounted in the chamber is provided with an opening 21A for flowing vapor of the deposition material to a substrate (not shown; supported by supporting means in the chamber). do. Among the deposition sources S1 to S6 disposed in the revolver 20, a first deposition source (for example, S1 in FIG. 2) located below the opening 21A of the upper member 21 is operated (operation of the heating means). Evaporation of the deposition material, and the vapor of the deposition material flows to the substrate through the opening 21A of the revolver upper member 21.

When the deposition material of the first deposition source S1 is all vaporized, the lower member of the revolver 20 is rotated by a predetermined angle so that the adjacent second deposition source S2 is transferred to the lower portion of the opening 21A of the upper member 21 and deposited. Vaporization of the material takes place. Thereafter, this operation is repeated to vaporize all the deposition materials in the third to sixth deposition sources S3 to S6.

As described above, in the process of depositing the substrate using the plurality of deposition sources S1 to S6 mounted in the revolver 20, the openings of the deposition source (for example, S1) through which the deposition material vapor passes ( 1A-1) The vapor deposition material vaporizes on the surrounding surface.

As the vapor deposition material vapor solidifies around the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1, the cross-sectional area of each opening 1A-1 gradually decreases, and thus the amount of vapor deposition material vapor discharged per unit time from the deposition source is also reduced. Will be reduced. For this reason, the time for which the deposition film having the thickness set on the substrate is formed increases, that is, the deposition rate is inevitably reduced.

The present invention is to solve the problem that the deposition rate is reduced by the deposition material solidified around the opening of the deposition source during the deposition process, by effectively removing the deposition material solidified around the discharge opening of the vapor deposition material It is an object of the present invention to provide a deposition apparatus having a means capable of maintaining an optimum deposition rate.

A deposition apparatus including a chamber according to the present invention and a revolver having a plurality of deposition sources located therein for realizing the above object are installed in the main body so as to be movable horizontally outside the revolver, and installed in the main body to vertically reciprocate and rotate. And a deposition material coagulant removal means comprising a tip mounted to the arm and the tip of the arm and inserted into the opening of the deposition source and the opening of the revolver upper member.

The deposition apparatus according to the present invention includes a sensor installed on an upper portion of the revolver to generate a vibration frequency information signal that is changed according to a mass change of a deposition film formed on a surface, and a controller to control movement of the main body and the arm according to a signal transmitted from the sensor. It further includes.

The arm in the present invention is a vertical arm installed in a vertical state on the main body and rotated and vertical reciprocating motion by the drive unit; And a horizontal arm fixed at the vertical arm, the tip of which is mounted. Here, the tip is composed of a fixing portion fixed to the tip of the horizontal arm and the inclined portion of the bottom, the inclined portion is provided with a heat generating means.

The body can reciprocate between two revolvers spaced apart from one another, with the tip inserted into the opening of the selected revolver upper member and the deposition source opening therein as the arm moves.

The invention will be more fully understood by the detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 4 is a partial plan view showing only a revolver in the deposition apparatus according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. In FIG. 4, the upper member is not illustrated, and in FIG. 5, the remaining members except for the deposition source are not cross-sectionally treated. In each drawing, the same reference numerals are given to the same members as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

Meanwhile, the revolver 20 illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 has the same configuration and function as the revolver illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, and thus, redundant description of the revolver will be omitted.

The biggest feature of the deposition apparatus according to the present invention is that the deposition material coagulant removal means 200 is located outside the revolver 20 and the removal means 200 is configured to be movable relative to the revolver 20.

The vapor deposition material coagulant removing means 200 is fixed to the main body 21 which is horizontally movable, the arm 22 and the tip of the arm 22 which are capable of vertical movement and rotation (rotation) movement with respect to the main body 21. Tip 23.

The main body 21 is connected to the first driving unit (not shown) to be reciprocated relative to the revolver 20, and a driving unit (not shown) for vertical and rotational movement of the arm is installed therein.

The arm 22 consists of a vertical arm 22A connected to the second and third drives in the body 21 and a horizontal arm 22B connected to the end of the vertical arm 22A. The arm 22 reciprocates vertically in accordance with the operation of the third drive unit, and also causes a rotational movement about the vertical arm 22A by the second drive unit. The tip 23 is attached to the free end of the horizontal arm 22B in a downward vertical position.

The revolver 20 is equipped with a quartz crystal sensor (C; hereinafter referred to as a "sensor" for convenience) corresponding to the deposition source S1, and the sensor C during the deposition process is performed. The vapor deposition film is formed also on the surface of

As the deposition process proceeds, the thickness and mass of the deposited film formed on the surface of the sensor C increase, and the vibration frequency of the sensor C changes as the mass increases. Therefore, the mass of the deposited film that changes according to the change in the vibration frequency of the sensor C can be determined by the following equation.

Is the vibration frequency, k is the spring constant, and m is the mass of the deposited film.

According to the above equation, as the mass of the deposited film formed on the surface of the sensor C increases, the vibration frequency of the sensor decreases, and thus the formation speed (deposition) of the deposited film through the vibration frequency data sensed by the sensor C. Speed).

The function of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to the drawings.

The vapor deposition material vapor coagulant removal means 200 (hereinafter referred to as "removal means") is positioned in a state spaced apart from the revolver 20 in order to discharge vapor deposition material during the deposition process. do.

As the deposition process proceeds, the vapor deposition material vapor solidifies around the opening 1A-1 of the vapor deposition source S1 through which the vapor deposition material vapor is discharged, thereby reducing the area of each opening, and thus the vaporization of the vapor deposition material vapor discharged per unit time. The amount is reduced.

Meanwhile, as the deposition process proceeds, the mass of the deposition film formed on the crystal sensor C installed in the upper region of the revolver 20 increases. As described above, the vibration frequency of the sensor C decreases as the mass of the deposited film increases, and the sensor C transmits the changed frequency information to the controller.

The control unit analyzes the frequency information transmitted from the crystal sensor to determine that the deposition material vapor is solidified around the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1 and thus the deposition rate is reduced, that is, the emission of the vaporization material vapor is reduced. . In this state, after the deposition process for the substrate is finished, when the operation of the deposition source is stopped for the replacement of a new substrate, the control unit operates the first driving unit for driving the removal means 200.

As the first drive unit moves, the main body 21 of the removal unit 200 is moved to a position adjacent to the revolver 20. Then, the control unit operates the second driving unit to rotate the vertical arm 22A of the arm 22 to move the tip 23 mounted at the tip of the horizontal arm 22A to the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1. Position it.

In this state, the control unit operates the third drive unit, and the arm 22 moves downward. As a result, the tip 23 mounted perpendicularly to the tip of the horizontal arm 22A passes through the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1, and in this process, the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1. The deposition material in the solidified state is removed by the tip 23 moving downward, and is dropped into the space inside the deposition source S1. Since the internal space of the vapor deposition source S1 contains a high temperature vapor deposition material melt, the vapor deposition material coagulum is melted and vaporized.

Thereafter, the control unit returns the removal means 200 to the initial position by operating the respective driving units in the reverse order to the above process. That is, the third drive unit is driven to move the arm 22 upward to draw out the tip 23 from the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1, and then the second drive unit is operated to operate the horizontal arm 22 and The tip 23 is moved out of the revolver 20. Finally, the first driving unit is driven to move the removal means 200 to a position spaced apart from the revolver 20.

As such, while the removal means 200 is operated by the control unit, a new substrate is mounted. After the removal means 200 moves, the deposition process is performed again. On the other hand, as described above, the deposition material solidified around the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1 may be removed by the removal means 200 to obtain a normal deposition rate.

The above-described process is of course repeated for all deposition sources S1 to S6 mounted on the revolver 20.

4 and 5 illustrate a process in which a deposition process is performed by a single revolver 20, the removal means 200 used in the present invention may also be used in a deposition process using two revolvers.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of depositing a substrate using two revolvers. For convenience, each revolver 20-1 and 20-2 is shown in a box form.

Two revolvers 20-1 and 20-2 each having a plurality of deposition sources are located under both sides of the substrate P, and a guide member G is installed between the revolvers 20-1 and 20-2. It is. On the guide member G, the vapor deposition material coagulum removal means 20 as demonstrated in FIG. 5 is provided in the state which can be moved horizontally.

On the other hand, crystal sensors C1 and C2 corresponding to the openings 1A-1 through which vapor deposition material vapors are discharged are mounted on the revolvers 20-1 and 20-2, respectively.

In response to the signals from the sensors C1 and C2, the control unit drives the first driving unit so that the main body 21 of the removal means 200 is adjacent to the first revolver 20-1 or the second revolver 20-2. And then around the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1 mounted in any one of the revolvers 20-1 or 20-2 by the operation of the second drive unit and the third drive unit as described above. The solidified deposition material is removed.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the shape of the tip 23 mounted perpendicular to the horizontal arm tip. The tip 23 inserted into the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1 is made of a metallic material. The maximum diameter must be smaller than the diameter of the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1. In addition, the surface of the tip 23 is kept smooth by polishing, so that the coagulum does not adhere to the surface of the tip 23 upon contact with the deposition material coagulum.

On the other hand, the tip 23 is composed of a fixing portion 23A fixed to the tip of the horizontal arm 22B and an inclined portion 23B at the bottom. The inclined portion 23B in initial contact with the evaporation material coagulum formed around the opening 1A-1 of the evaporation source S1 is sharp at its lower end and gradually increases in thickness as it goes upward. Incidentally, the inclined portion 23B is provided with heat generating means (for example, a coil connected to a power source).

Therefore, as the insertion of the tip 23 into the opening 1A-1 of the deposition source S1 proceeds, the solidified matter initially contacting the inclined portion 23B is converted into a molten state to some extent, and all the inclined portions 23B. The coagulated matter gradually becomes a molten state until) is inserted and is easily separated and removed from the periphery of the opening 1A-1.

The present invention has the effect of maintaining the optimum deposition rate by inducing a smooth discharge of the vapor deposition material by effectively separating and removing the deposition material solidified around the opening of the deposition source during the deposition process.

The illustrative embodiments described above are intended to be illustrative within all aspects of the invention rather than limiting. Accordingly, the present invention is capable of many modifications and implementations that can be made by those skilled in the art from the description contained herein. All such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (5)

A deposition apparatus including a chamber in which a deposition film forming process on a substrate surface is performed and a revolver having a plurality of deposition sources disposed therein, A main body installed horizontally outside the revolver; And vapor deposition material coagulant removal means comprising an arm mounted to the body and including an arm for vertical reciprocation and rotation. The method of claim 1, wherein the deposition apparatus A sensor installed on an upper portion of the revolver and configured to generate vibration frequency information that is changed according to a mass change of a deposition film formed on a surface of the revolver; And And a control unit for controlling the movement of the main body and the arm according to the signal transmitted from the sensor. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the arm is A vertical arm installed vertically on the main body and rotating and vertical reciprocating by a driving unit; And A deposition apparatus comprising a horizontal arm fixed to a vertical arm with a tip mounted at the tip. 4. The deposition apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the tip comprises a fixing portion fixed to the tip of the horizontal arm and an inclined portion of the lower portion, and the inclined portion is provided with a heating means. The deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body reciprocates between two revolvers spaced apart from each other, and an arm is inserted into the deposition source opening in the selected revolver.

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