KR20170016968A - Flat edge design for better uniformity and increased edge lifetime - Google Patents

Abstract

An edge exclusion mask for layer deposition on a substrate is described. The edge exclusion mask comprises an edge region having an edge and the edge is adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate.

Description

[0001] FLAT EDGE DESIGN FOR BETTER UNIFORMITY AND INCREASED EDGE LIFETIME FOR BETTER EQUALIZATION &

[0001] The embodiments described herein relate to masks for layer deposition, and methods and apparatus for layer deposition utilizing masks. The embodiments described herein are particularly directed to methods and apparatus for depositing layers using edge exclusion masks with flat edges and edge exclusion masks with flat edges, And more particularly to mask structures configured to deposit a layer on a substrate, devices for depositing a layer on a substrate, and methods of depositing a layer on a substrate.

[0002] Several methods for depositing material on a substrate are known. For example, the substrates may be coated by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process, The process is performed in a process apparatus or a process chamber, and a substrate to be coated is placed in the process apparatus or the process chamber. An evaporation material is provided in the apparatus. A plurality of materials, as well as oxides, nitrides, or carbides of the materials, may be used for deposition on the substrate.

[0003] Coated materials may be used in some applications and in some technical fields. For example, in applications, there is the field of microelectronics, such as creating semiconductor devices. In addition, substrates for displays are often coated by a PVD process. Additional applications include insulating panels, organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels, substrates with TFTs, color filters, and the like.

[0004] In coating processes, it may be useful to use masks, for example, to better define the area to be coated. In some applications, only parts of the substrate need to be coated, and parts that are not to be coated are covered by the mask. In some applications, such as in large area substrate coating devices, it may be useful to exclude the edge of the substrate from the coating. For example, if the edge is eliminated by an edge exclusion mask, it is possible to provide substrate edges without coating and prevent coating of the backside of the substrate. For example, as one of many other applications, LCD TV layer deposition requires an uncoated substrate edge. The mask described above covers this area of the substrate. However, masking or blocking with a mask may additionally result in additional shadowing effects of arriving atoms, molecules and clusters, which may result in unreliable layer thickness and sheet resistance uniformity ≪ / RTI >

[0005] However, in the material deposition process, the mask, which may be an edge exclusion mask, is also exposed to the deposition material due to the position of the mask in front of the substrate. The effects of uncoated masks and coated masks can be complicated and can depend on the material to be deposited.

[0006] In view of the foregoing, it should be understood that the embodiments described herein may be embodied in an apparatus for depositing layers, including a mask, in particular an edge exclusion mask, an edge exclusion mask, To provide a method for masking edges.

[0007] In view of the above, an edge exclusion mask according to independent claims 1, 11 and 13, apparatus and method for layer deposition on a substrate are provided. Further aspects, advantages and features of the embodiments are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the accompanying drawings.

[0008] According to one embodiment, an edge exclusion mask for layer deposition on a substrate is provided. The edge exclusion mask comprises an edge region having an edge and the edge is adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate.

[0009] According to a second embodiment, an edge exclusion mask for layer deposition on a substrate is provided. The edge exclusion mask comprises an edge region having an edge and the edge is adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate and further wherein the edge region has a width of 3 mm or less at a distance of 5 mm from the edge In particular a thickness of 2 mm or less.

[0010] According to another embodiment, an apparatus for depositing a layer on a substrate is provided. The apparatus comprises: a chamber for layer deposition; An edge exclusion mask-edge comprising an edge region having an edge adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate; And a deposition source for the deposition material forming the layer.

[0011] According to a further embodiment, a method is provided for layer deposition on a substrate. The method includes the steps of masking a portion of the substrate with an edge exclusion mask, wherein the edge exclusion mask comprises an edge region having an edge, the edge adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate; And depositing a material of the layer on the substrate.

[0012] In the manner in which the above-recited features of the embodiments can be understood in detail, a more particular description of embodiments of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be made with reference to the embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings relate to embodiments of the present invention and are described below.
Figure 1A shows a mask structure commonly used for masking the edges of a substrate, according to the state of the art.
Figure IB shows a scenario of layer deposition on a general mask structure, in particular on an edge rejection mask, in accordance with the state of the art.
Figure 2a shows an edge exclusion mask with a flat edge, in accordance with the embodiments described herein.
Figure 2B illustrates a mask structure, such as an edge exclusion mask, in accordance with embodiments described herein.
Figure 3 shows a side cross-sectional view of a mask structure, in particular an edge exclusion mask with a flat edge, according to embodiments described herein.
Figure 4 illustrates a mask structure, such as an edge exclusion mask, in accordance with the embodiments described herein.
Figure 5 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method for layer deposition on a substrate, in accordance with embodiments described herein.
Figure 6 illustrates an apparatus for depositing layers on a substrate utilizing an edge exclusion mask, in accordance with embodiments described herein.

[0013] Reference will now be made in detail to the various embodiments described herein, and examples of one or more of the various embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components. Only differences for the individual embodiments are described. Each example is provided as a description of embodiments and is not intended as a limitation of the embodiments. Additionally, features that are illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used with other embodiments or with other embodiments to produce yet another embodiment. The description is intended to include such variations and modifications.

[0014] According to some embodiments, the mask structure or "edge exclusion mask" should be understood as a mask covering at least the edge of the substrate to be coated. A mask can be composed of several parts or parts, which can form a frame and define one or more apertures. The frame of the mask may again have several frame parts or frame parts. This may be advantageous because the frames assembled from different parts are considered to be more cost effective in production than integral frames.

[0015] An edge exclusion mask is preferred where the edge of the substrate must be maintained without or substantially without deposition material. This may be the case where only defined areas of the substrate need to be coated due to subsequent application and / or handling of the coated substrate. For example, the substrate to be used as a display part must have predefined dimensions. Large area substrates are coated using an edge exclusion mask to shadow the edge of the substrate and / or to prevent backcoating of the substrate. This approach allows a reliable and uniform coating on the substrates.

[0016] According to embodiments described herein, an edge exclusion mask includes an edge region having an edge. The edge is then adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate. Thus, even if an evaporation material is deposited on a mask, the boundary of the aperture is less influenced by the material deposited on the mask. According to further embodiments, the apparatus and methods include an edge exclusion mask as described above.

[0017] Thus, the embodiments described herein permit reducing shadowing effects, thereby providing homogeneity of the coating on the substrate and increased edge lifetime when using edge exclusion masks in deposition processes.

[0018] According to some embodiments, large area substrates may have a size of at least 0.67 m ² . The size ranges from about 0.67 m ² to about 8 m ² , more specifically from about 2 m ² To about 9 m ² Or even up to 12 m ² . Substrates are large area substrates as described herein, and mask structures, devices, and methods in accordance with the embodiments described herein are provided for such substrates. For example, a large area substrate or carrier may have a GEN 4.5 corresponding to about 0.67 m ² substrates (0.73 m x 0.92 m), a GEN 5 corresponding to about 1.4 m ² substrates (1.1 m x 1.3 m) GEN 7.5 corresponding to 4.29 m ² substrates (1.95 m × 2.2 m), GEN 8.5 corresponding to about 5.7 m ² substrates (2.2 m × 2.5 m), or even about 8.7 m ² substrates (2.85 m × 3.05 m). ≪ / RTI > Much larger generations such as GEN 11 and GEN 12 and corresponding substrate areas can similarly be implemented.

[0019] The substrate may be made of any material suitable for material deposition. For example, the substrate can be coated (e.g., by coating) with a glass (e.g., soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, etc.), metal, polymer, ceramic, compound materials, carbon fiber materials, A combination of materials that can be < RTI ID = 0.0 > chemically < / RTI >

[0020] The term "mask structure ", or" edge exclusion mask "or " mask portion ", according to some embodiments, refers to a piece of mask material, such as a carbon fiber material, ), Stainless steel, Invar, and the like. The mask covers the part of the substrate to be coated. The mask is positioned between a source of evaporation material, such as a crucible, a target, and the substrate to be coated.

[0021] The edge exclusion mask covers from about 1% to about 5%, especially from about 5% to about 1%, and more particularly, from about 1% to about 2% of the substrate area of the substrate . According to some embodiments, the area of the substrate that is covered, shadowed, or masked by an edge exclusion mask is located at the periphery of the substrate.

[0022] According to some embodiments, the term "mask opening" should be understood as the window of the mask, and the deposition material may pass through the window of the mask during the deposition process. The "mask opening" may also be referred to as a coating window because the mask opening defines the area of the substrate over which the coating material is deposited. The boundaries or inner boundaries of the openings are defined by the limitation of the coating window. For example, if the mask is fresh or freshly cleaned and not yet used in a deposition process, the opening boundary is made of the mask material. When a mask is used in the deposition process and the deposition material is deposited on the mask, the boundary of the opening may be a limiting part of the coating window, due to the material deposited on the mask.

[0023] According to different embodiments, edge exclusion masks may be used for PVD deposition processes, CVD deposition processes, or a combination thereof. The edges of the mask can affect the surrounding atoms, molecules, and clusters. These effects can be more complicated because the "stream of material" can be affected by turbulences, etc., and the edge can not necessarily be regarded as a sharp sharp-off edge to be. In particular, more complex effects may be superimposed from neighboring side portions at the corners.

[0024] 1A shows an example of a substrate 100. Fig. The outermost border of the substrate is indicated by 110. [ The boundary 110 may also be described as the outermost line of the substrate, and the material of the substrate past this outermost line is terminated. The edge 120 of the substrate may comprise the periphery of the substrate. The edge 120 as used herein may be a zone that includes the boundary 110 of the substrate. The edge 120 may have a width W that extends from the boundary 110 onto the surface of the substrate 100. This edge 120 is defined by an edge exclusion mask 140 on the substrate to be processed and an edge exclusion mask 140 is utilized during deposition of one or more layers on the substrate 100. The edge 120 defines an overlap between the substrate and the edge exclusion mask.

[0025] The width W may be symmetrical with respect to the entire substrate, i.e., each corner section and each side section may have the same width, but may also vary from side to side, depending on the application of the substrate. have. According to some embodiments, the edge of the substrate may be defined by the opening of the mask used to coat the substrate. For example, the opening of the edge exclusion mask affects the area of the substrate to be coated and covers the area of the substrate, such as an edge. Thus, the edge of the substrate can be defined as the area of the substrate, which is covered by the edge exclusion mask without being coated during the coating process in which the edge exclusion mask is used.

[0026] The mask reduces or prevents the deposition of materials on the edge of the substrate. However, masking or blocking with a mask may additionally result in additional shadowing effects of the arriving atoms, molecules and clusters, which may result in unreliable layer thickness and sheet resistance uniformity. In particular, the four corners of the substrate are affected by additional shadowing effects, since the two shadowing parts meet each other at these points.

[0027] In Fig. 1B, layer creation on mask 140 is illustrated. The mask is covered by the continuous layer 400 after one or more deposition processes, and the lines represent the growth of the deposition material on the mask 140. After the first deposition period, a layer 401 is formed over the mask 140. Layer 401 will be coated on the surface of the mask, facing the deposition source arrangement. The second deposition period results in a layer 402, which extends into the edge of the mask in an amount greater than the layer 401. Layer 402 will result in additional growth of the overlapping region between the substrate and the mask. This growth causes a shadowing effect on the substrate, resulting in unreliable layer thickness, unreliable sheet resistance uniformity and reduced life of the mask edge. The same result is applied to the third deposition time resulting in layer 403. [ Although Figure 1b shows three deposition periods resulting in three layers on the mask, it should be understood that this concept of shadowing layers is a continuous process.

[0028] In view of the above, FIG. 1B illustrates a problem that may occur when using conventional edge exclusion masks during the deposition process. Thus, due to the deposition of the material on the mask, the boundary of the mask opening is affected by the material deposited on the mask, resulting in a shadowing effect. Moreover, for example, during masking of a substrate in a carrier, vibration or other acceleration of a masking arrangement results in particle generation from the coating layer 400. [ Particle generation can not be controlled, and thus there is a possibility that unwanted particles will also be applied to the substrate surface to be processed. Thus, the design of the mask structure, especially the edge of the mask, can result in undesirable effects during processing of the substrates and / or during maintenance.

[0029] The edge design of the embodiments described herein has a very flat shape near the substrate area. Thus, even if the deposition material is deposited on the mask, the boundary of the opening is less influenced by the material deposited on the mask. As a result, the embodiments described herein permit reducing shadowing effects, and provide uniformity of the coating on the substrate and increased edge lifetime when using edge exclusion masks in deposition processes.

[0030] Thus, the edge design of the embodiments described herein, illustrated in FIG. 2A, reduces the effect of edge contour / shape and provides better uniformity and increased edge lifetime compared to conventional edge designs .

[0031] 2a, an edge exclusion mask 240 for layer deposition on a substrate 100 is shown, including an edge region 201 having an edge 200. In Fig. The edge region 201 corresponds to the region of the mask adjacent to the substrate, which ends on the edge 200. The edge 200 is preferably a flat edge, and as used herein, a "flat edge" refers to a shallow, low thickness edge. A first surface 210 facing the substrate and an opposing surface 220 facing the deposition source arrangement are also shown. The first surface is adapted to accommodate different arrangements, such as a support arrangement, a protective shield, a substrate carrier, or a cooling frame. The opposing surfaces can prevent the underlying arrangements from being coated. The opposing surface may be exposed to a deposition source and coated with an evaporation material to form a layer of material coated on the edge exclusion mask 240. As shown in FIG. 2A, one or more different regions may be provided in the edge exclusion mask 240. For example, the peripheral region 203 may correspond to an area of the mask that extends from the outer perimeter of the mask. A further area, for example an intermediate area 202, may correspond to an area of the mask that extends between the edge area 201 and the peripheral area 203. According to alternative embodiments, the intermediate area may be avoided. By avoiding the intermediate region, the peripheral region 203 can correspond to the region of the mask, which extends from the periphery of the mask to the edge region 201. [

[0032] Thus, embodiments of the present invention are useful for reducing or eliminating shadowing effects that may occur when the edge region of the mask has too large a thickness, Thereby reducing or eliminating any inhomogeneity. For example, the edge design of the embodiments described herein provides 5% coating uniformity at a 10 mm distance to the edge.

[0033] Also, according to further embodiments, the edge of the edge exclusion mask may have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate, and in particular, the edge may have an inclination angle of 15 ^o And more particularly, the edge may have an inclination angle of 10 ^o or less with respect to the substrate. The inclination angle of the edge can be selected in consideration of the geometry and orientation characteristics of the deposition source.

[0034] According to different embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the edge region of the edge exclusion mask may have a thickness of 3 mm or less, at a distance of 5 mm from the edge, The edge region may have a thickness of 2 mm or less, and more particularly, the edge region may have a thickness of 1 mm.

[0035] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the opposing surface 220 may have two or more different tilt angles relative to the first surface 210. Also, according to different embodiments, two or more different tilt angles may be between 0 ^o and 70 ^o , and specifically, two or more different tilt angles may be between 10 ^o and 50 ^o , In particular, two or more different inclination angles may be between 20 ^o and 45 ^o .

[0036] An edge exclusion mask having two or more different inclination angles has the advantage that it provides a sufficient height while providing a low thickness edge area with flat edges. A sufficient height of the edge exclusion mask is needed to accommodate different arrangements, such as a support arrangement, a protective shield, a substrate carrier or a cooling frame. A low-thickness edge region with a flat edge reduces shadowing effects that can occur when the edge region of the mask has too large a thickness, as is common for current edge rejection masks with only one tilt angle Or eliminates any unevenness of the coating on the substrate. A low-thickness edge region with a flat edge further increases the edge lifetime.

[0037] According to different embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the peripheral region may have an inclination angle of 5 ^o or less with respect to the substrate, and in particular, about 2 ^o or may have an inclination angle of less, and more specifically, the peripheral region may have an inclination angle of 0 ^o with respect to the substrate. According to a further example, the intermediate region may have an inclination angle of 30 ^o to 70 ^o with respect to the substrate, specifically, the intermediate region may have an inclination angle of 40 ^o to 60 ^o with respect to the substrate, than a , The intermediate region may have an inclination angle of about 45 ^degrees relative to the substrate.

[0038] After a predetermined number of deposition runs, the coated material on the mask, and more particularly on the opposing surface of the mask, can be transferred, for example, onto the substrate or other parts of the deposition facility in an uncontrolled manner Thereby detaching moving particles that are moving. These particles can have deleterious effects on the substrates being processed and, in some cases, even destroy the substrates.

[0039] According to the embodiments described herein, in order to compensate for this effect, a mask with protrusions on its surface is provided, which can reduce the separation of the particles. 2B illustrates an edge exclusion mask 240 having an opposing surface 220. As shown in FIG. The opposing surface 220 can include protrusions 215 and specifically, 70% or more of the opposing surface can include protrusions, and more particularly, 90% or more of the opposing surface May include protrusions. As shown in FIG. 2B, the edge exclusion mask 240 may be composed of two or more mask portions capable of forming a frame. When the edge exclusion mask 240 is comprised of two or more mask portions, the first surface 210 is connected by two or more masks (not shown) And can be adapted to enable engagement of portions. Two or more mask portions may additionally have an adjustable overlap region between two or more mask portions.

[0040] FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of substrate 100, where the edge of the substrate is shadowed by mask 240. The mask is provided with a gap 300 of 2 mm to 8 mm from the substrate, i.e., the portion of the mask that does not contact the substrate surface, which shadows the substrate surface. According to other embodiments, the mask may also be in direct contact with the substrate, for example, without any gaps, or may have gaps of 0 mm to 8 mm. Arrows 305 in FIG. 3 illustrate the coating material to be deposited during deposition.

[0041] According to further embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the thickness uniformity at the corners of the coated area of the substrate is determined by the edge with cut-outs at the corners, Can be improved by an exclusion mask. As a result, the shadowing effects of the edge exclusion masks at the corners, which can be added up and thus result in insufficient layer thickness, can be reduced.

[0042] As shown in Fig. 4, an edge exclusion mask 240 having an opening in the middle of the mask frame may be provided. The aperture can have protrusions, i.e., compared to the rest of the mask, the mask frame at the four corners can have a recess or cutout. This is illustrated for example in corner areas 442 and the width of the overlap of the substrate and mask 240, W _C , i.e. the distance between the edge of the substrate 110 and the boundary of the mask forming the opening, and the width (W _s), overlap portions of the mask 240, i.e., as compared to the edge 110 and the opening distance of the boundary of the mask for forming the substrate in the side portions 440 of the mask frame, the corner section (442). The corner regions 442 may have a length L and a width H, which may be, for example, 2 cm to 6 cm, preferably 3 cm to 5 cm. According to different embodiments, the length and width may be the same at each side, or they may be different. For example, they may have approximately the same ratio of the total side length of each mask.

[0043] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the first overlap, i.e. the first width, Ws, may be between 2 mm and 8 mm, in particular between 3 mm and 6 mm. As a further optional embodiment of these, the second overlap, i.e. width Wc, can be from 0.0 mm to 4 mm, in particular from 1 mm to 3 mm. The edge of the substrate can be defined as the area of the substrate where the deposition material should be kept substantially free or the area of the substrate where the layer thickness of the deposited material is reduced to a value of at least 25% have.

[0044] According to some of these embodiments, it is even possible to have a negative overlap, i.e., a gap, in the corner areas. Further, according to further embodiments, the substrate may have zones thereon, which are deposited in an uncoated or substantially uncoated edge of the substrate, and the deposited zones have a rectangular shape. Thus, an edge exclusion mask is provided, which edge slightly deviates from the rectangular shape to compensate for higher order shadowing effects at the corners.

[0045] Edge exclusion masks according to embodiments described herein, having edge regions of low thickness with flat edges, may exhibit lower stability than edge exclusion masks with higher thicknesses. According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, edge exclusion masks may include one or more rips spaced along the mask. These lips have the advantage of increasing the form stability of the mask structure. Thus, the edge exclusion masks of the present embodiments allow for stability regardless of the low thickness edge area with flat edges.

[0046] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, an edge exclusion mask may be an L-shaped member, for example a thin member having a thickness of, for example, 10 mm or less, And may be attached to the cooling frame. The L-shape may allow connection of the mask to the adapter for the cooling frame.

[0047] According to further embodiments, a method for depositing a layer of material on a substrate is provided. Figure 5 shows a flow chart of the method described. A substrate may be provided in the chamber of the deposition apparatus. According to some embodiments, the substrate may be a large area substrate as described above, and the deposition apparatus may be a deposition chamber as exemplarily shown in Fig.

[0048] The masking arrangement moves towards the substrate in the chamber 612, and a portion of the substrate, e.g., the edge of the substrate, is covered by the mask (502). According to embodiments described herein, masking is provided with an edge exclusion mask comprising an edge region having an edge as described herein. The mask provides an opening with protrusions that allow the deposition material to pass through during the deposition process. Examples of such edge exclusion masks are described with reference to Figures 2A-4. After masking the substrate, a layer is deposited 504, thereby reducing shadowing effects, thus allowing for better uniformity of coating on the substrate and increased edge lifetime, which allows the edge to be deposited without the deposited material Or substantially without deposited material.

[0049] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, a method for depositing a layer of material on a substrate and a mask for covering an edge of the substrate are used for large area substrates. According to further embodiments, the deposited layer is a metal layer or a ceramic layer.

[0050] Figure 6 shows a schematic view of an apparatus for layer deposition on a substrate, according to embodiments described herein. The deposition apparatus 600 is adapted for a deposition process such as a PVD or CVD process, and includes a chamber 612 for layer deposition. One or more of the substrates 100 are shown positioned on the substrate transport device 620. According to some embodiments, the substrate support may be moveable to allow adjustment of the position of the substrate 100 in the chamber 612. In particular, in the case of large area substrates such as those described herein, deposition may be performed with a vertical substrate orientation or an essentially vertical substrate orientation. The conveying device may have lower rollers 622 and the lower rollers are driven by one or more drives, for example motors. The actuators can be connected to the roller 622 by a shaft for rotation of the rollers, thereby allowing one motor to drive more than one roller, for example by connecting the rollers to a belt, gear system, or the like Do.

[0051] Rollers 624 may be used for the support of the substrates in a vertical position or an essentially vertical position. Substrates may be vertical, or, or, for example, may be slightly deviate from the vertical position to the 5 ^o. 1 m ² Large-area substrates with substrate sizes of about 9 m ² are very thin, for example less than 1 mm, such as 0.7 mm or even 0.5 mm. In order to support the substrate and to provide the substrates in a fixed position, the substrates are provided in the carrier during processing of the substrates. Thus, the substrates may be carried by a transport system including, for example, a plurality of rollers and drivers, while being supported within the carrier. For example, a carrier with substrates inside is supported by a system of rollers 624 and rollers 622.

[0052] A source of evaporation material (not shown) is provided in the chamber 612 to face the side of the substrate to be coated. The source of deposition material provides a deposition material to be deposited on the substrate. According to the embodiments described herein, the source of deposition material may be a target having an evaporation material on top, or any other arrangement that allows material to be released for deposition on the substrate 100 . The material source may be a rotatable target. According to some embodiments, the material source may be movable to position and / or replace its source. According to other embodiments, the material source may also be a planar target.

[0053] According to some embodiments, the deposition material may be selected according to the deposition process and the subsequent application of the coated substrate. For example, the source evaporation material may be a material selected from the group consisting of ceramic materials, metals such as aluminum, molybdenum, titanium, copper, etc., silicon, indium tin oxide, and other transparent conductive oxides . The oxide-layers, nitride-layers, or carbide-layers that may include these materials can be formed by providing the material from a source, or by reactive deposition, i.e., Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > carbon. ≪ / RTI > According to some embodiments, thin film transistor materials such as silicon oxides, silicon oxynitrides, silicon nitrides, aluminum oxides, aluminum oxynitrides can be used as the deposition material.

[0054] The deposition apparatus 600 includes a masking arrangement including a mask structure 240. According to some embodiments, the mask 240 is an edge exclusion mask that includes an edge region 201 with an edge 200, and the edge is adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate. The edge exclusion masks ensure that the edges of the substrate 100 are not coated by the deposition material. As an example, the material may be sputtered or also vaporized. According to the embodiments described herein, the edge of the substrate 100 is maintained without the deposition material, due to the edge exclusion mask 240.

[0055] 6, the left edge exclusion mask is shown to include individual frame portions 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609, and 610 that are connected to form a mask frame. In particular, the mask structure for large area substrates may include at least four corner portions 601, 603, 606, and 608 that may be essentially L-shaped and include at least a substantial portion of the corner region or corner region, Side portions connected to the corner parts for forming the frame will be provided. The frame portions 601-610 may be arranged in a tongue-and-groove arrangement. The tongue-and-groove arrangements provide relatively fixed positions of the frame portions relative to each other. Also, according to some embodiments described herein, tongue-and-groove arrangements of frame portions allow frame portions to move away from one another. The tongue-and-groove arrangement allows the frame portions to slide away from each other, without causing a gap through which the deposition material can pass. For reasons of simplicity, only the left mask structure 240 is shown, with portions 601-610. Similarly, more than one portion may be provided in more than one mask structures or all mask structures in a processing system to form a mask frame.

[0056] According to exemplary embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, one or more chambers 612 may be provided as vacuum chambers. The chambers are adapted to process and / or coat substrates in a vacuum environment. The pressure may be less than 10 mbar, for example, 1 x 10 ^-7 mbar to 1 x 10 ^-1 mbar. Thus, deposition systems, be connected to the vacuum flange 613 and may, 1 × 10 ^-7 mbar as pressure, sufficiently low processing chamber (612 so the vapor deposition system can be operatively for the particular application (Not shown), which is capable of achieving the pressure within the chamber (not shown). The pressure during deposition such as PVD processes (i. E., Deposition pressure) may be between 0.1 Pa and 1 Pa. For certain embodiments, for PVD applications where, for example, the processing gas comprises argon and at least one of oxygen and nitrogen, the argon partial pressure may be from 0.1 Pa to 1 Pa and oxygen, / RTI > and / or the nitrogen partial pressure may be from 0.1 Pa to 1 Pa. The pressure ranges for CVD applications may be about 100 times larger, especially at high pressure stages in the given ranges.

[0057] According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, a method and apparatus for layer deposition on a substrate includes an edge exclusion mask as described above with respect to Figures 2A-4.

[0058] While the foregoing is directed to the embodiments described herein, other and further embodiments may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope of the embodiments is determined by the following claims.

Claims (14)

An edge exclusion mask (240) for depositing a layer on a substrate (100)
And an edge region (201) having an edge (200)
Wherein the edge is adapted to have an inclination angle of 20 ^o or less with respect to the substrate,
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). The method according to claim 1,
The edge region 201 has a thickness of 3 mm or less, especially 2 mm or less, at a distance of 5 mm from the edge 200,
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The mask includes a first surface (210) facing the substrate and an opposing surface (220) facing a deposition source arrangement, the opposing surface (220) comprising a first surface Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 2, < / RTI > or more,
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). The method of claim 3,
Said two or more different inclination angles being between 0 ^o and 70 ^o ,
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims,
Further comprising an intermediate region (202)
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). 6. The method of claim 5,
The intermediate region having an inclination angle of 40 ^o to 60 ^o,
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims,
Further comprising a peripheral region (203)
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims,
The surface of the mask includes protrusions (215)
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims,
Two or more mask portions (601-610), wherein the two or more mask portions have overlapping regions, and wherein overlapping regions between the two or more mask portions Lt; / RTI >
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims,
Wherein the mask comprises one or more rips spaced along the periphery of the mask,
An edge exclusion mask (240) for layer deposition on a substrate (100). A method for layer deposition on a substrate,
Masking a portion of the substrate with an edge exclusion mask 240, the edge exclusion mask comprising an edge region 201 having an edge 200 according to any one of the preceding claims. -; And
And depositing a material of the layer on the substrate.
A method for depositing a layer on a substrate. 12. The method of claim 11,
The deposited layer may be a metal layer or a ceramic layer,
A method for depositing a layer on a substrate. An apparatus (600) for depositing a layer on a substrate,
A chamber 612 for layer deposition inside;
An edge exclusion mask (240) comprising an edge region (201) having an edge (200) according to any one of claims 1 to 10; And
And a deposition source for the deposition material forming the layer.
Apparatus (600) for depositing a layer on a substrate. 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the deposition source is configured to deposit a metal or ceramic material,
Apparatus (600) for depositing a layer on a substrate.

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