KR20100068112A - Apparatus and method of organic thin film formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for forming an organic thin film are provided to smoothly transfer organic compounds to a substrate by maintaining the flatness of a donor and the substrate. CONSTITUTION: An upper plate(140) supports a substrate. A lower plate(150) supports a donor on which organic compounds are applied. Light source emits light toward the donor. The light passes through a transmissive plate(153). The upper plate and the lower plate are contained in a chamber(110). The chamber includes a transmissive window(115) through which the light is transmitted.

Description

Apparatus and method of organic thin film formation}

The present invention relates to an organic thin film forming apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an organic thin film forming apparatus and method for forming an organic thin film of an organic light emitting diode using a laser.

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) have advantages such as low power consumption, fast response speed, and wide viewing angle. These OLEDs are used for ultra-thin, ultra-light display devices of less than 1mm in thickness because of their simple structure and easy fabrication. Furthermore, they are manufactured on flexible substrates such as plastic instead of glass substrates, making them thinner, lighter and more flexible. Also used in devices.

OLED has a structure of an anode, an organic thin film, and a cathode. The organic thin film may be made of a single material, but is generally composed of a multilayer such as a hole transport layer (HTL), a light emitting layer, and an electron transport layer (ETL).

Such OLEDs form excitons, in which holes supplied from the hole transport layer and electrons supplied from the electron transport layer are transferred to the light emitting layer and combined with hole-electrons, and then, by the energy generated when the excitons return to the ground state. It will emit light.

On the other hand, as a technique for forming an organic thin film (Laser Induced Pattern-wise Sublimation; LIPS) has been developed. LISP forms an organic thin film on a substrate by irradiating light on a donor including an organic layer to sublimate an organic material.

A typical LIPS device places a donor at the top of the chamber and places a substrate at the bottom of the chamber to irradiate light downward from the top of the donor. The donor provided in the LIPS device includes a light transmitting layer for transmitting light and a light absorbing layer for absorbing light and converting the light into thermal energy, and the organic layer is formed under the light absorbing layer.

The light irradiated with the donor passes through the light transmitting layer and proceeds to the light absorbing layer, and the light absorbing layer generates thermal energy to sublimate the organic layer applied to the light irradiated region. The organic material sublimed from the organic layer is deposited on the substrate to form an organic thin film.

The LIPS device supports the donor and the substrate by physically clamping the edges of the donor and the substrate, respectively, in order to secure a transmission path of the organic material during the process of forming the organic thin film.

At this time, the pressing force for clamping the donor and the substrate acts from the edge of the donor and the substrate toward the center portion of the donor and the substrate. The donor and the substrate are bent convexly by the pressing force acting as described above, which acts as a problem that makes the donor and the substrate difficult to align.

An object of the present invention is to provide an organic thin film forming apparatus and method for maintaining the flatness of the donor and the substrate, and to smoothly transfer the organic material to the substrate.

The organic thin film forming apparatus includes an upper plate for supporting a substrate, a lower plate for lowering the upper plate to support a donor coated with organic matter, a light source disposed under the lower plate and emitting light toward the donor side, and the lower plate. It is included in the transmission table for transmitting the light.

The organic thin film forming apparatus may further include a chamber disposed inside the upper plate and the lower plate, and disposed above the light source.

The chamber may include a transmission window for transmitting the light.

The organic thin film forming apparatus may further include a vacuum exhaust unit configured to evacuate the inside of the chamber.

The upper plate may include a cooling plate for cooling the substrate to maintain a lower temperature of the substrate than the donor.

The organic thin film forming apparatus may further include a plurality of upper lifting pins that are lifted through the upper plate and a plurality of lower lifting pins that are lifted through the lower plate.

The plurality of upper lifting pins may vacuum-adsorb the substrate.

The plurality of lower lifting pins may be disposed to penetrate the edge of the lower plate.

The lower plate may include a donor chuck disposed at an edge of the lower plate.

The organic thin film forming apparatus may further include a light source moving module for moving the light source.

The organic thin film forming apparatus may further include a surface lift module for lifting the upper surface plate.

The organic thin film forming method includes a supporting step of supporting a substrate on an upper side of a donor, a contacting step of lowering the substrate to contact the substrate with the donor, and cooling the substrate to a temperature lower than that of the donor. And a substrate cooling step, and a light irradiation step of subliming the organic material applied to the donor to the substrate by irradiating light with the donor.

The supporting step may support the central portion of the donor and the edge of the donor together.

An alignment step of adjusting the position of the donor with respect to the substrate may be further included between the supporting step and the contacting step.

The light irradiation step is a method of forming an organic thin film, characterized in that for irradiating the light while moving the position of the light according to the pattern to be formed organic thin film.

The organic thin film forming apparatus and method according to the present invention maintains the flatness of the donor and the substrate, and has an effect of smoothly transferring the organic material to the substrate.

Hereinafter, an organic thin film forming apparatus and method according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an organic thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion of the donor provided to the organic thin film forming apparatus according to this embodiment. 1 and 2, the organic thin film forming apparatus 100 includes a chamber 110 that provides a processing space 111. The chamber 110 is supported by the support frame 113 disposed at each corner of the lower end and is installed to be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the installation place.

The chamber 110 includes a door 110a for accessing the donor D and the substrate S. The chamber 110 is provided to close the processing space 111 when the door 110a is closed. The organic thin film forming apparatus 100 includes a vacuum exhaust unit 120 that converts the processing space 111 into a vacuum atmosphere by exhausting the closed processing space 111.

Here, the donor D carried into the chamber 110 may include an application unit Da coated with an organic material to be formed on the substrate S, and handling and alignment marks of the donor D. It includes a handling portion (Db) disposed in the teburi portion for insertion. The coating part Da includes an organic layer 10 made of an organic material, a light transmitting layer 12 made of a light transmissive material, and a light absorbing layer 11 generating heat energy when light transmitted through the light transmitting layer 12 is incident. It includes. In this case, the light absorbing layer 11 may be made of a metal material such as nickel, chromium, titanium, or the like.

The chamber 110 has a transmission window 115 that transmits light at a lower end thereof. The transmission window 115 is formed in a region corresponding to the application part Da of the donor D supported in the processing space 111.

The organic thin film forming apparatus 100 includes a light source 130 disposed below the chamber 110. The light source 130 irradiates light into the chamber 110. The light source 130 is provided to allow a plane movement from the lower side of the chamber 110 by the light source moving module 131 disposed inside the support frame 113.

The organic thin film forming apparatus 100 is disposed on the upper portion of the processing space 111 and is lifted up and down, and the lower plate 150 is disposed on the lower portion of the processing space 111 and faces the upper surface 140. It includes.

The upper surface plate 140 is elevated by the surface lift module 160 disposed above the chamber 110. The surface lift module 160 includes a surface lift shaft 161 coupled to the upper surface 140 by passing through an upper end of the chamber 110, and a surface lift pump 163 for lifting the surface lift shaft 161. do.

The platen elevating module 160, when the donor D is supported by the lower plate 150 and the substrate S is supported by the upper plate 140, lowers the upper plate 140 so that the substrate S is donor D. ). The surface lifting module 160 separates the substrate S from the donor D by raising the upper surface 140 after the organic thin film is formed on the substrate S.

The organic thin film forming apparatus 100 includes an upper elevating module 170 disposed above the upper plate 140 and a lower elevating module 180 disposed below the lower plate 150.

The upper elevating module 170 includes a plurality of upper elevating pins 171 to elevate through the upper plate 140 and an upper elevating pump 173 to elevate the plurality of upper elevating pins 171. The plurality of upper lifting pins 171 are lowered to adsorb the substrate S to be carried into the processing space 111, and are lifted in the state where the substrate S is adsorbed to guide the substrate S to the upper plate 140. do. The plurality of upper lifting pins 171 maintain the adsorption force of the substrate S when the upper plate 140 is lifted by the surface lifting module 160 so that the substrate S in contact with the donor D is donor D. ) To ensure a smooth separation from the Although not shown, the plurality of upper lifting pins 171 preferably include a vacuum tube and a vacuum pump for adsorption of the substrate (S).

The upper surface plate 140 includes a substrate chuck 141 for fixing the substrate S, and supports the substrate S carried into the processing space 111. The substrate chuck 141 fixes the substrate S guided to the upper plate 140 by the plurality of upper lifting pins 171 to the upper plate 140.

The upper surface plate 140 includes a cooling plate 143 disposed above the substrate chuck 141. The cooling plate 143 is provided with a structure in which a cooling tube 143a is embedded to circulate the refrigerant. The cooling plate 143 cools the substrate S so that the temperature of the substrate S is kept lower than the temperature of the donor D. The organic material coated on the donor D may be smoothly transferred to the substrate S by the temperature difference between the donor D and the substrate S. FIG.

The lower elevating module 180 includes a plurality of lower elevating pins 181 penetrating the lower plate 150 and a lower elevating pump 183 for elevating the plurality of lower elevating pins 181. The plurality of lower lifting pins 181 are raised to support the donor D carried into the processing space 111, and are lowered while supporting the donor D to guide the donor D to the lower plate 150. do. When the substrate S is raised after the organic thin film is formed on the substrate S, the plurality of lower lifting pins 181 are spaced apart from the lower plate 150 so that the donor D is disposed in the processing space 111. To be discharged to outside.

3 is a perspective view illustrating a coupling relationship between a lower surface plate and a lower elevating module in the organic thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, the lower surface plate 150 includes a donor chuck 151 for fixing the donor D, and a transmission surface plate 153 for transmitting the light transmitted through the transmission window 115 is formed. The transmission plate 153 is formed in a region corresponding to the application portion Da of the donor D supported by the lower plate 150. Therefore, the donor chuck 151 may be disposed at the edge of the lower surface plate 150 so as not to interfere with the light transmitted by the transmission window 115 and the transmission surface plate 153.

As for the donor D carried into the process space 111, the handling part Db is fixed by the donor chuck 151, and the application | coating part Da is supported by the permeable surface plate 153. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the transmission plate 153 prevents the donor D supported by the lower plate 150 from sagging at the center due to its own weight.

The transmission window 115 and the transmission plate 153 are made of a material such as quartz having a high light transmittance. In addition, the substrate chuck 141 and the donor chuck 151 may each have an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for fixing the substrate S and the donor D to the lower plate 150 and the upper plate 140 by electrostatic force. This is used.

On the other hand, the alignment marks 13 and 15 are provided in the handling part Db of the donor D, and the edge part of the board | substrate S, respectively. The organic thin film forming apparatus 100 includes an optical module 191 disposed on the upper surface plate 140. The optical module 191 photographs the alignment mark 23 of the substrate and the alignment mark 13 of the donor. The optical module 191 may determine the alignment state of the substrate S and the donor D according to the photographing result of the two alignment marks 13 and 23.

The organic thin film forming apparatus 100 arranges the donor D in plane movement and plane rotation according to the photographing result of the two alignment marks 13 and 23 to align the position of the donor D with respect to the substrate S. Module 191. Since the alignment module 191 is disclosed in "Public Publication No. 10-2006-0055703; Substrate Bonder" filed and filed by the present applicant, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, the operation of the organic thin film forming apparatus and method according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Each element mentioned below should be understood with reference to the above description and drawings.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for forming an organic thin film according to the present embodiment, and FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D are operational diagrams showing an operating state of the organic thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 4 to 5D, when the door 110a of the chamber 110 is opened, the donor D is carried into the chamber 110. The plurality of lower lifting pins 181 are raised to support the donor D from the upper side of the lower plate 150. The plurality of lower lifting pins 181 supporting the donor D are lowered, and the donor D is seated on the lower plate 150. When the donor is seated on the lower plate 150, the donor chuck 151 fixes the edge of the donor D to the lower plate 150. At this time, the central portion of the donor D is supported by the transmission plate 153 to prevent the central portion from sagging.

Subsequently, the substrate S is carried into the chamber 110. The plurality of upper lifting pins 171 are lowered to support the substrate S at the lower side of the upper plate 140. The plurality of upper lifting pins 171 supporting the substrate S are raised, and the substrate S is in contact with the upper plate 140. When the substrate S is in contact with the upper plate 140, the substrate chuck 141 fixes the substrate S to the upper plate 140. (Step; S11) (see FIG. 5A)

Subsequently, the optical module 191 photographs the alignment mark 23 of the substrate and the alignment mark 13 of the donor. According to the photographing result of the alignment mark 23 of the substrate and the alignment mark 13 of the donor, rough alignment of the substrate S and the donor D is performed. When rough alignment of the substrate S and the donor D is made, the surface raising / lowering module 160 lowers the upper surface plate 140. When the upper plate 140 is lowered and the substrate S and the donor D are close to each other, the alignment module 191 performs precise alignment of the substrate S and the donor D. That is, the alignment module 191 adjusts the position of the donor D with respect to the substrate S by planar movement and plane rotation of the donor D. (Step; S13)

When the precise alignment of the substrate S and the donor D is made, the surface raising / lowering module 160 lowers the upper plate 140 to bring the substrate S into contact with the donor D. When the substrate S and the donor D come into contact with each other, the refrigerant is circulated in the cooling plate 143, and the substrate S is cooled. The circulation operation of the refrigerant is maintained until the deposition of the organic film foil is completed. (Step; S15) (See FIG. 5B)

Subsequently, the light source moving module 131 moves the light source 130 according to the position and pattern of the organic thin film to be formed on the substrate S. The light source 130 moved by the light source moving module 131 emits light.

In another embodiment, a mask (not shown) having a pattern is disposed below the donor, and the light source moving module 131 moves the light source 130 from one side to the other, and the light is applied to the donor D. The light can be irradiated by irradiating with light.

As such, the light irradiated to the donor D passes through the transmission window 115, the transmission plate 153, and the light transmitting layer 12 of the donor D to reach the light absorbing layer 11. The light absorbing layer 11 generates heat by incident light, and as the heat is generated, the organic material applied to the corresponding area is transferred to the substrate S side.

At this time, the substrate S is cooled by the cooling plate 143 and the donor D is raised in temperature by the light absorbing layer 11. Therefore, the organic material is smoothly transferred to the substrate S due to the temperature difference between the donor D and the substrate S. FIG. The organic material transferred to the substrate S side is deposited on the substrate S to form an organic thin film. (Step; S17) (See FIG. 5C)

Subsequently, the surface lift module 160 is raised. At this time, the plurality of upper lifting pins 171 suck the substrate S, and the substrate chuck 141 maintains the state in which the substrate S is fixed. The donor chuck 151 maintains the state in which the donor D is attracted. Therefore, as the surface lifting module 160 is raised, the substrate S is spaced apart from the donor D.

When the upper plate 140 is raised and the substrate S is spaced apart from the donor D, a transfer device (not shown) is carried from the outside. The plurality of upper lifting pins 171 release the suction force, and the substrate chuck 141 releases the fixed state of the substrate S. The substrate S is discharged to the outside of the chamber 110 by a transfer device (not shown).

When the substrate S is discharged, the plurality of lower lifting pins 181 are raised. As the plurality of lower lifting pins 181 are raised, the donor D is spaced apart from the lower plate 150. When the donor D is spaced apart from the lower plate 150, a transfer device (not shown) is carried in from the outside, and the donor D is discharged to the outside of the chamber 110. (See FIG. 5D)

1 is a cross-sectional view showing an organic thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of the donor provided in the organic thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

3 is a perspective view illustrating a coupling relationship between a lower surface plate and a lower elevating module in the organic thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of forming an organic thin film according to the present embodiment.

5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D are operation diagrams showing an operating state of the organic thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

<Description of Signs of Major Parts of Drawings>

100: organic thin film forming apparatus 110: chamber

115: transmission window 140: upper plate

141: cooling plate 150: lower plate

153: transmission table

Claims (15)

An upper plate supporting the substrate, A lower surface plate disposed below the upper surface plate and supporting the donor to which the organic material is applied; A light source disposed below the lower plate and emitting light to the donor side; An organic thin film forming apparatus, characterized in that it comprises a transmission table included in the lower table to transmit the light. The organic thin film forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a chamber disposed at an upper side of the upper plate and a lower plate and disposed above the light source. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the chamber comprises a transmission window through which the light is transmitted. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a vacuum exhaust unit configured to evacuate the inside of the chamber. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper plate includes a cooling plate that cools the substrate and maintains the temperature of the substrate lower than the donor. According to claim 1, A plurality of upper lifting pins which are elevated through the upper plate, The organic thin film forming apparatus further comprises a plurality of lower lifting pins that are elevated through the lower plate. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of upper lifting pins vacuum suction the substrate. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of lower lifting pins are disposed to penetrate the edge of the lower plate. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lower plate includes a donor chuck disposed at an edge of the lower plate. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a light source moving module for moving the light source. The organic thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a surface lifting module for elevating the upper surface plate. A support step of supporting a substrate on an upper side of the donor, Contacting the substrate with the substrate by lowering the substrate; A substrate cooling step of cooling the substrate at a temperature lower than that of the donor; And irradiating light with the donor to light-sublimate the organic material applied to the donor onto the substrate. The method of claim 12, wherein the supporting step supports the central portion of the donor and the edge portion of the donor together. The method of claim 12, wherein between the supporting step and the contacting step The organic thin film forming method further comprises the step of adjusting the position of the donor relative to the substrate. The method of claim 12, wherein the light irradiation step The method of forming an organic thin film, characterized in that for irradiating the light while moving the position of the light according to the pattern to be formed organic thin film.

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