KR20190108553A - Apparatus and Method for Automatic Optical Inspection of Substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for optical inspection of a substrate is provided. The system includes at least a first processing chamber and a second processing chamber. The system includes at least a transfer chamber for receiving a substrate from the first processing chamber and for transferring the substrate to the second processing chamber. The transfer chamber is provided with an inspection device for performing optical inspection on the substrate processed in the first processing chamber.

Description

Apparatus and Method for Automatic Optical Inspection of Substrates

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to apparatus, systems, and methods for optical inspection of a substrate, and more particularly to a large area substrate coated with a deposition material. Embodiments of the present disclosure also relate to apparatuses, systems, and methods for optical inspection of substrate inline in a processing system, and systems for aligning a position of a substrate relative to a mask element. will be.

[0002] Several methods are known for depositing a material onto a substrate. For example, substrates may use an evaporation process, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, such as a sputtering process, a spraying process, or the like, or a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Can be coated. The process can be performed in the processing chamber of the deposition apparatus in which the substrate to be coated is located. Deposition material is provided to the processing chamber. A plurality of materials, such as organic materials, molecules, metals, oxides, nitrides, and carbides, can be used for the deposition on the substrate. In addition, other processes such as etching, structuring, annealing, and the like may be performed within the processing chambers.

[0003] For example, coating processes may be considered for large area substrates, for example in display manufacturing techniques. Coated substrates may be used in many applications and in various technical fields. For example, the application may be organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels. Further applications include insulating panels, microelectronics such as semiconductor devices, substrates with thin film transistors (TFTs), color filters, and the like. OLEDs are solid-state devices made of thin films of (organic) molecules that produce light by the application of electricity. By way of example, OLED displays can provide bright displays on electronic devices, for example, using reduced power compared to liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Within the processing chamber, organic molecules are produced (eg, evaporated, sputtered, or sprayed, etc.) and deposited as layers on the substrates. The particles may pass through a mask having a boundary or a specific pattern, for example to deposit material at desired positions on the substrate, such as to form an OLED pattern on the substrate.

[0004] An aspect related to the quality of the processed substrate, especially the deposited layer, is the alignment of the substrate with respect to the mask. As an example, the alignment should be accurate and stable to achieve good process results. For this purpose, reference points (fiducials) present on the substrate and on the mask are used to accurately align the mask and the substrate before the deposition process. However, the relationship between these reference points can be sensitive to external interferences such as vibrations, manufacturing tolerances, handling, deformation, and the like. Thus, to obtain so-called "offset values" that define how the mask and substrate should be aligned to match the mask pattern with the backplane (eg substrate) pattern, automated optical inspection (AOI). ) May be provided.

[0005] An approach using automatic optical inspection is effective when the substrate is coated in the horizontal position. For example, the AOI check in the horizontal position can use the results of the measurement at the end of the manufacturing line of dummy glass deposition to send feedback to adjust the mask offset.

[0006] When the substrate and the mask remain in essentially vertical position during deposition, additional aspects appear that affect the alignment between the mask and the substrate. Conventional end of line automatic optical inspection is less effective. Indeed, in a vertical system, since both the substrate and the mask are subjected to gravity acting in the same direction of the system configuration, this force can cause relative drift between the substrate and the mask, especially for large area substrates. In addition, during processing, the substrate can be moved from the horizontal configuration to the vertical configuration and vice versa. This may affect substrate alignment with respect to the mask. In this case, for example, at line terminations using dummy glass deposition, a standard AOI check in the chamber may not be sufficient.

[0007] In view of the above, there is a need for devices, systems, and methods that can provide improved automated optical inspection of a substrate even when the substrate is coated in a vertical position.

[0008] According to one embodiment, an apparatus for optical inspection is provided. The apparatus is configured to inspect the substrate processed in at least the first processing chamber and the second processing chamber. The apparatus includes an inspection device for performing an optical inspection on a substrate processed in the first processing chamber, between the first processing chamber and the second processing chamber.

[0009] According to another embodiment, a system for optical inspection of a substrate is provided. The system includes at least a first processing chamber and a second processing chamber, and at least a transfer chamber for receiving a substrate from the first processing chamber and transferring the substrate to the second processing chamber. There is provided an inspection device for performing an optical inspection on a substrate processed in a first processing chamber.

[0010] According to yet another embodiment, a method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate is provided. The method includes receiving a substrate from a first processing chamber, performing an optical inspection on a substrate processed in the first processing chamber in accordance with deposition parameters, obtaining information data about the quality of the substrate, and Transmitting the information data back to the first processing chamber, and adapting the deposition parameters to process subsequent substrates in the first processing chamber.

[0011] According to yet another embodiment, a system for aligning a position of a substrate relative to a mask element coupled to the substrate is provided. The substrate and mask element are in essentially vertical position. The system includes an inspection device for optically inspecting the relative position of the mask element relative to the substrate, the mask element being used to process the substrate within the processing chamber, and the inspection device located after the processing chamber, with a corresponding offset. A processing device for calculating an offset mask value, and an adjustment device for adjusting the position of the mask element relative to the substrate in response to the calculated offset mask value.

In a manner in which the above-listed features of the present disclosure may be understood in detail, a more specific description of the disclosure briefly summarized above may be made with reference to the embodiments. The accompanying drawings relate to embodiments of the present disclosure and are described below:
1 shows a schematic side view of a manufacturing system for processing a substrate in a vertical position;
2 shows a schematic diagram of a deposition process for fabricating OLEDs on a substrate;
3A shows a schematic front view of a holding arrangement for supporting a substrate and a mask in a vertical orientation during layer deposition in a processing chamber;
FIG. 3B shows a schematic side view of the holding arrangement of FIG. 3A;
4 shows a schematic view of a substrate coupled with a mask and details on a corner of the substrate;
5 shows a schematic representation of an apparatus for optical inspection of a substrate, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
6 shows a schematic representation of an inspection device according to an embodiment of the disclosure;
7 shows a schematic representation of a system for optical inspection of a substrate, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
8 shows a flowchart to illustrate a method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; And
9 shows a schematic representation of a system for aligning a position of a substrate with respect to a mask element, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
10A is a schematic diagram of a vacuum processing system according to embodiments of the present disclosure having two or more vacuum cluster chambers and a plurality of processing chambers connected to one or more of the vacuum cluster chambers; And
10B is a schematic diagram of the vacuum processing system of FIG. 10A, and illustrates an example substrate traffic or flow of substrates within a vacuum processing system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0013] Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present disclosure, in which one or more examples of various embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. Within the following description of the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components. Only differences to individual embodiments are described. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the disclosure and is not intended as a limitation of the disclosure. In addition, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used with or with other embodiments to yield another additional embodiment. The description is intended to include such modifications and variations.

[0014] Embodiments described herein can be utilized, for example, to inspect large area coated substrates for manufactured displays. Substrates or substrate receiving regions, for which the apparatuses and methods described herein are constructed, can be, for example, large area substrates having a size of 1 m 2 or more. For example, a large area substrate or carrier may comprise GEN 4.5 corresponding to approximately 0.67 m 2 substrates (0.73 × 0.92 m), GEN 5 corresponding to approximately 1.4 m 2 substrates (1.1 m × 1.3 m), approximately 4.29 m 2 substrates (1.95). GEN 7.5 corresponding to m × 2.2 m), GEN 8.5 corresponding to approximately 5.7 m 2 substrates (2.2 m × 2.5 m), or even GEN 10 corresponding to approximately 8.7 m 2 substrates (2.85 m × 3.05 m) have. Even larger generations and corresponding substrate areas such as GEN 11 and GEN 12 can be similarly implemented. For example, in the case of OLED display manufacture, half sizes of the substrate generations mentioned above, including GEN 6, can be coated by evaporation of the device for evaporating the material. Half sizes of substrate generation may result from some processes executed for the entire substrate size, and subsequent processes executed for half of the previously processed substrate.

[0015] The term "substrate" as used herein may encompass, in particular, substantially inflexible substrates such as slices of transparent crystals, such as wafers, sapphires, or the like, or glass plates. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these, and the term "substrate" may encompass flexible substrates, such as a web or a foil. The term "substantially inflexible" is understood to be distinguished from "flexible". In particular, the substantially inflexible substrate may have a glass plate having a certain degree of flexibility, such as a thickness of 0.5 mm or less, and the flexibility of the substantially inflexible substrate is small compared to flexible substrates.

[0016] The substrate can be made of any material suitable for material deposition. For example, the substrate may be a glass (eg, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, etc.), metal, polymer, ceramic, compound materials, carbon fiber materials, metal or any other material that may be coated by a deposition process or It may be made of a material selected from the group consisting of a combination of materials.

[0017] 1 illustrates a manufacturing system 1000 for processing a substrate in a vertical position. The apparatus, systems, and methods in accordance with the present disclosure may be part of such a manufacturing system 1000 or similar manufacturing system. In particular, manufacturing system 1000 includes a load lock chamber 1010, which is connected to a horizontal substrate handling chamber 1020. The substrate may be transferred from the glass handling chamber 1020 to a vacuum swing module 1030, which is loaded in a horizontal position on the carrier. After loading the substrate in a horizontal position on the carrier, the vacuum swing module 1030 rotates the carrier provided with the substrate in a vertical or essentially vertical orientation.

[0018] The carrier, on which the substrate is provided, is then transferred through the first rotational and transfer chamber 1040 and at least one additional rotational and transfer chamber 1041-1045 having an essentially vertical orientation. Within the rotation and transfer chambers 1040-1045, the substrate can be rotated by 90 °, 180 °, 270 °, or 360 °, for example when the substrate is received from the processing chamber, and transferred to another vacuum chamber. The substrate is held in a vertical position. One or more deposition apparatuses 1050 may be connected to the rotating and transfer chambers. Also, other substrate processing chambers or other vacuum chambers may be connected to one or more of the rotating and transfer chambers.

[0019] As described in connection with FIGS. 10A and 10B, the rotating chamber may also be referred to as a cluster chamber or a vacuum rotating module. According to embodiments described herein, two or more cluster chambers, ie rotation chambers or vacuum rotation chambers, may be provided in the in-line arrangement.

[0020] After processing of the substrate, the carrier on which the substrate is on top is transferred in a vertical orientation from the rotating and transfer chamber to the vacuum swing module 1030 or optional additional vacuum swing module 1031. In other words, the processed substrate may exit the system and pass back to the vacuum swing module 1030 or pass through an optional portion 1070 of the system that includes an additional vacuum swing module 1031. The vacuum swing module 1030 or additional vacuum swing module 1031 can rotate the carrier with the substrate thereon from vertical orientation to horizontal orientation. Thereafter, the substrate can be unloaded into the glass handling chamber 1020 or additional horizontal glass handling chamber 1021. The processed substrate may be, for example, a load lock chamber such as a load lock chamber 1010 or a load lock chamber after the fabricated device is encapsulated in one of the thin-film encapsulation chambers 1060 or 1061. 1011 may be unloaded from the processing system 1000.

[0021] The processing chamber may be a vacuum chamber or a vacuum deposition chamber. The term "vacuum" as used herein may be understood in the sense of a technical vacuum having a vacuum pressure of less than 10 mbar, for example. System 1000 may include one or more vacuum pumps, such as turbo pumps and / or cryo-pumps, connected to a vacuum chamber for the creation of a vacuum inside the vacuum chamber.

[0022] According to some embodiments, and as shown in FIG. 1, one or more rotational and transfer chambers 1040-1045 are along a line to provide an in-line transfer system portion of the system. Is provided.

[0023] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a deposition process for fabricating OLEDs on substrate 10, while FIGS. 3A and 3B support substrate 10 on substrate carrier 11 during layer deposition in a processing chamber. And an example of a holding arrangement 40 for supporting the mask 20 on the mask carrier 21, wherein the substrate 10 and the mask 20 remain essentially in a vertical position.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 2, when manufacturing OLEDs, organic molecules are provided by the deposition source 30 (eg, evaporated) and deposited onto the substrate 10. A mask arrangement comprising the mask 20 is positioned between the substrate 10 and the deposition source 30. The mask 20 has, for example, a particular pattern provided by the plurality of openings or holes 22 such that organic molecules pass through the openings or holes 22 (eg, along the path 32) to the substrate. A patterned layer or film of organic compound is deposited on (10). For example, a plurality of layers or films may be deposited on the substrate 10 using different masks or mask 20 positions relative to the substrate 10, for example, to produce pixels with different color characteristics. By way of example, the first layer or film may be deposited to produce red pixels 34, the second layer or film may be deposited to produce green pixels 36, and the third layer or film may be deposited by blue pixels ( 38). Layer (s) or film (s), such as an organic material, may be arranged between two electrodes, such as an anode and a cathode (not shown). At least one of the two electrodes may be transparent.

[0025] Substrate 10 and mask 20 may be arranged in a vertical orientation during the deposition process. In FIG. 2, the arrows indicate the vertical direction (Y) and the horizontal direction (X). As used throughout this disclosure, the terms "vertical direction" or "vertical orientation" are understood to be distinct from "horizontal direction" or "horizontal orientation". That is, the "vertical direction" or "vertical orientation" relates to, for example, the substantially vertical orientation of the holding arrangement and the substrate, and the deviation from the exact vertical direction or vertical orientation, for example up to 10 ° or even up to 15 °. Is still considered as "substantially vertical" or "substantially vertical". The vertical direction may be substantially parallel to gravity.

[0026] 3A shows a holding arrangement 40 for supporting a substrate carrier 11 and a mask carrier 21 during layer deposition in a processing chamber, which may be used in systems and apparatuses in accordance with embodiments described herein. A schematic diagram of the is shown. 3B shows a side view of the holding arrangement 40 shown in FIG. 3A.

[0027] Alignment systems used on vertically-actuated tools can operate from outside of the processing chamber, ie from the atmospheric side. The alignment system may be connected to the substrate carrier and the mask carrier with, for example, stiff arms extending through the wall of the processing chamber. In the case of an alignment system outside the vacuum, the mechanical path between the mask carrier or mask and the substrate carrier or substrate is long, making the system sensitive to external interference (vibrations, heating, etc.) and tolerances.

[0028] Additionally or alternatively, an actuator of the alignment system may be included in the vacuum chamber. Thus, the length of the rigid arm can be reduced. For example, an actuator capable of mechanical contact with the substrate carrier and the mask carrier may be provided at least partially between the track for the mask carrier and the track for the substrate carrier.

[0029] The holding arrangement 40 may comprise two or more alignment actuators connectable to at least one of the substrate carrier 11 and the mask carrier 21, the holding arrangement 40 being in a first plane or with a first plane. Configured to support the substrate carrier 11 in parallel, wherein the first alignment actuator 41 of the two or more alignment actuators, at least in the first direction Y, holds the substrate carrier 11 and the mask carrier 21. Can be configured to move relative to each other, wherein the second alignment actuator 42 of the two or more alignment actuators is at least in a first direction Y and in a second direction X different from the first direction Y The substrate carrier 11 and the mask carrier 21 can be configured to move relative to each other, wherein the first direction Y and the second direction X are in the first plane. Two or more alignment actuators may also be referred to as “align blocks”. Thus, alignment blocks or alignment actuators may change the position of the substrate 10 relative to the mask 20. For example, the mask carrier and / or substrate carrier may be transported in a floating state in the processing area to reduce particle generation. In the processing area, the mask carrier and the substrate carrier may be mechanically contacted by one or more alignment actuators.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3B, the mask 20 can be attached to the mask carrier 21, and the holding arrangement 40 is at least one of the substrate carrier 11 and the mask carrier 21, especially during layer deposition. , In particular, is configured to support both the substrate carrier 11 and the mask carrier 21 in a substantially vertical orientation. Deposition occurs along the direction Z according to the arrows illustrated in FIG. 3B.

[0031] By moving the substrate carrier 11 and the mask carrier 21 relative to each other in at least the first direction Y and the second direction X using two or more alignment actuators, the substrate carrier 11 is a mask It may be aligned with respect to the carrier 21 or the mask 20 and the quality of the layers deposited may be improved.

[0032] When performing the adjustment of the position of the mask 20 relative to the substrate 10 by the operation of the alignment blocks, an optical inspection is performed to check for possible variations or deviations for correct alignment. Can be performed. As mentioned above, origin reference points may be considered for this purpose. The origins are pattern recognition markers, which may be, for example, solder mask openings with round bare copper in the center. For example, the origins are located near the corner edges of the substrate / mask element and recognized using an image detection system that compares the detected images with stored information data. By measuring the location of the origins relative to the substrate, such as stored in the memory of the system, it is possible to compute the extent to which the portions, such as the mask, are moved relative to the substrate to ensure accurate placement.

[0033] 4 is coupled with a mask 20 for the deposition of an organic material, for example, to form devices 12 having pixels with different characteristics used in apparatuses and systems according to the present disclosure. An example of the substrate 10 is shown. As shown in FIG. 4, the mask 20 is provided with starting points 22 at corners to align the substrate 10 with respect to the mask 20 prior to deposition.

[0034] 5 shows an apparatus 50 for optical inspection according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus 50 may be configured to optically inspect the substrate 10 processed in at least the first processing chamber 51 and the second processing chamber 52. The apparatus 50 includes an inspection device for performing optical inspection on the substrate 10 processed in the first processing chamber 51, between the first processing chamber 51 and the second processing chamber 52. 60). In other words, the device 50 is located along a transfer path of, for example, the in-line processing system of the substrate 10, ie, the transfer path between the first processing chamber 51 and the second processing chamber 52. Can be.

[0035] Dotted lines 10 ′ and 10 ″ in the first and second processing chambers of FIG. 5 allow the device 50 to receive a substrate processed from the first processing chamber 51 and the substrate is second. It will be delivered to the processing chamber 52. Between the first processing chamber 51 and the apparatus 50, additional intermediate chambers may be provided. In a similar manner, additional intermediate chambers may be provided between the apparatus 50 and the second processing chamber 52. Advantageously, the device 50 is located at least after the processing chamber 51 and before the processing chamber 52. Referring to FIG. 1, the device 50 may be located at the end of the line between the last processing chamber 1050 and the optional vacuum swing module 1031. When the device 50 is located at the end of the line, optical inspection can be performed in a vacuum chamber, ie a rotation and transfer chamber. In this way, the processed substrate is optically inspected under the same pressure conditions as during deposition / evaporation of the organic material.

[0036] Optical inspection occurs after processing and, therefore, is performed on the processed substrate 10. For example, there is no need to interrupt the production line to process the dummy substrate, and the inspection can be performed on the actual processed substrate (ie not on a substrate with dummy deposition). Parameters that affect the alignment of the mask 20 with respect to the substrate 10 during deposition can be considered. In particular, the apparatus 50 for optical inspection according to the present disclosure checks the pixel position accuracy with the actual substrate. Optical inspection can in particular be performed on a processed substrate 10 that is stationary, that is, the processed substrate 10 is stationary relative to the inspection device 60.

[0037] The term “processed substrate” may be intended herein as a substrate that is subject to at least processing, such as deposition of layer material (organic or non-organic), at least the mask element being coupled to the substrate, the mask element being a particular pattern And particles of material are transferred through the particular pattern to deposit the layer material on the desired portions of the substrate.

[0038] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspection device 60 may be configured for optical inspection of the processed substrate 10 in an essentially vertical position. Can be.

[0039] Advantageously, by transferring from the first processing chamber 51 to the device 50, the processed substrate 10 does not undergo any significant orientation change or substrate swing, ie the processed substrate 10 is essentially vertical. It stays in position. In this way, after processing the substrate 10, optical inspection can be performed without any unnecessary delay.

[0040] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspection device 60 may detect an offset mask value, the offset mask value being the mask element 20. Corresponds to the relative position of the substrate 10 relative to.

[0041] By using the inspection device 60 according to the present disclosure, it is possible to control the alignment of the mask 20 with respect to the substrate 10 during deposition by detecting an offset mask value for the processed substrate 10. . If this offset value results in misalignment exceeding predetermined tolerance values, the apparatus 50 may be configured to feed this information back to the previous processing chamber (ie, the first processing chamber 51). Feedback may act on the alignment blocks to compensate for the detected offset mask value.

[0042] The determined tolerance values may be set such that the detected offset mask value may still be considered acceptable for the final product or so that the offset mask value is not acceptable for the final product. In both cases, alignment actuators for the substrate carrier or mask carrier present in the previous processing chamber are activated to compensate for the detected offset. In the first case, however, the optically inspected substrate may in turn be transferred to additional processing chamber (s) to complete the production process, while in the second case, the optically inspected substrate is discarded ( can be delivered to a chamber that can be dismissed.

[0043] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspection device 60 includes at least a light source for illuminating the processed substrate 10. 62, one or more capture devices 64 for taking one or more images of at least a portion of the substrate 10, and a processing device 66 for processing the captured images. This is shown schematically in FIG. 6.

[0044] At least the light source 62 and the image capture device 64 of the processed surface of the substrate 10 are in accordance with the determined positions for accurately illuminating and capturing images of the portion of the processed substrate 10 to be irradiated. It can be located forward. Additionally or alternatively, the incident light and the measured light signal can be guided to and from the substrate by the optical fiber.

[0045] The light source 62 may include any one of incandescent, fluorescent, IR, UV lights or LED (white, red, green, blue) light sources. To perform different light conditions, a plurality of (two or more) light sources 62 located at different positions and having different properties with respect to the processed substrate 10 may be used. For example, one or more light sources can be a laser.

[0046] Image capture device 64 may be a video camera or a photo camera capable of scanning across portions of the processed substrate 10. Inspection device 60 may include a single-camera system with a single image capture device 64, or a multi-camera system with a plurality of image capture devices 64. In particular, inspection device 60 according to one embodiment of the disclosure includes four image capture devices 64. According to some embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspection device can include a camera, such as a camera for visible light, a UV camera, and / or an IR camera.

[0047] The processing device 66 analyzes the images captured by the image capture device 64 and controls the illumination conditions of the light source 62. Thus, the processing device 66 may include a processing unit, such as a CPU, connected to the light source as well as the image capture device 64. Specifically, the processing device 66 may compare the captured images with the stored data or other captured images to obtain information data about the quality of the processed substrate 10, for example, via an offset mask value. The processing device may send back the obtained information data to the first processing chamber 51. That information can act on the alignment blocks. In this regard, the alignment blocks may be provided with a dedicated control unit for receiving information data from the device 50. The control unit can directly control the alignment carriers on the substrate carrier and / or the mask carrier to adjust the position of the mask 20 relative to the substrate 10.

[0048] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspection device 60 may further include at least optics 68 for detecting fluorescent light. Can be. In particular, optics 68 can be used to filter fluorimeters using filters to isolate fluorescent light or spectrofluorometers using diffraction grating monochromators to isolate fluorescent light. Can include them. Due to the fluorescent properties of the organic materials, the processed substrate 10 can be illuminated with fluorescent lights and images can be captured using a dedicated device, such as a CCD camera module. As a result, the pixel pattern can be identified more accurately.

[0049] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspection device 60 may be positioned to inspect the processed substrate 10 maintained under vacuum conditions. . Advantageously, the vacuum conditions are the same as in the first processing chamber 51. Thus, the pressure conditions for the processed substrate 10 during optical inspection are similar or identical to the pressure conditions during the deposition of the organic layer on the substrate.

[0050] According to a further embodiment, the substrate 10 is maintained under vacuum conditions, while some components of the inspection device 60, such as for example the light source 62 and the image capture device 64, are at normal air pressure conditions. Or lower vacuum conditions can be located in a separate space. Advantageously, maintenance procedures of these components of inspection device 60 will be facilitated.

[0051] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspection device 60 may be an in-line inspection system. The in-line inspection system provides inspection within the processing line, ie between two processing operations. Compared with the inspection at the end of the line, the feedback delay time can be reduced. Reduced feedback delay time results in an improved yield of the processing system.

[0052] As a result, the device 50 can be inserted into a production line for depositing organic films on a substrate. Referring again to FIG. 5, while the processed substrate 10 is optically inspected by the inspection device 60 of the apparatus 50, a new substrate (eg, 10 ′) is introduced into the first processing chamber 51. May or may be processed. At the same time, the previous substrate (eg, 10 ") already processed in the first processing chamber 51 and then inspected by the inspection device 60 of the apparatus 50 is in the second processing chamber 52. May be processed further or will be processed.

[0053] Advantageously, the results of the optical inspection performed by the apparatus 50 can be used in real time during processing in the first processing chamber 51, for example to adjust deposition parameters, such as alignment parameters.

[0054] The term “in real time” is intended herein to allow optical inspection to be performed immediately after processing of the substrate 10, such as immediately after deposition of an organic layer on the substrate 10. As a result, feedback on the mask offset value may be sent to the processing chamber, for example corresponding alignment actuators, with reduced delay after processing. In addition, the feedback will indicate the deposition of that particular organic layer. For example, feedback may be sent to the processing chamber approximately 1 to 5 minutes after deposition of the organic layer on the substrate.

[0055] 7 illustrates a system 70 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. System 70 may include at least a first processing chamber 71 and a second processing chamber 72 to process substrate 10 (not shown in the figure). The system 70 includes a transfer chamber for receiving the processed substrate 10 from the first processing chamber 71 and for transferring the processed and optically inspected substrate 10 to the second processing chamber 72. (73) may be further included. In particular, the transfer chamber 73 is provided with an inspection device (not shown in the figure) for performing optical inspection of the substrate 10 processed in the first processing chamber 71.

[0056] The inspection device of the system 70 may operate as the inspection device 60 described in FIGS. 5 and 6. In other words, the transfer chamber 73 may include the above-mentioned device 50 for optical inspection. As a result, the features and advantages of inspection device 60 (and apparatus 50) described above also apply to inspection device of system 70.

[0057] For example, optical inspection can be performed on the (actual) substrate 10 processed in the transfer chamber 73 after processing. In particular, the inspection device may be configured for optical inspection of the processed substrate 10 in an essentially vertical position. The inspection device may detect an offset mask value, which corresponds to the relative position of the substrate 10 relative to the mask element 20. The inspection device includes at least a light source for illuminating the processed substrate 10, one or more capture devices for taking one or more images of at least a portion of the processed substrate 10, and a processing device for processing the captured images. It may include. In particular, because it is located in the transfer chamber, the inspection device is positioned to inspect the processed substrate 10 that is being maintained under the same vacuum conditions as in the first processing chamber 71.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 7, the inspection device may be an in-line inspection system positioned within the delivery chamber 73 in the manufacturing system. The transfer chamber 73 can be located between two rotating chambers 78. Rotating chambers 78 may move substrate 10, such as 90 °, 180 °, 270 °, when substrate 10 is transferred from processing chamber (ie, 71) to another processing chamber (ie, 72). Or rotate by 360 °. Rotation occurs while maintaining the substrate 10 in an essentially vertical position. System 70 may include additional processing chambers 74, 76 and additional transfer chambers 75, 77, wherein the processed substrate 10 is from a processing chamber (eg, 71), a transfer chamber. (Eg, 73) and rotating chambers (eg, 78) may be transferred to another processing chamber (eg, 72). Processing chambers 72, 74, and 76 may be dedicated to depositing a particular type of organic layer on substrate 10. For example, the processing chamber 72 is configured for the deposition of a blue emission layer (B-EML), the chamber 74 is configured for the deposition of a green emission layer (G-EML), and the chamber 76 may be configured for deposition of a red emission layer (R-EML). As another example, the processing chamber 71 may be configured to deposit an electron transport layer (ETL). The quality of the processing chambers may be based on the exact alignment between the dedicated mask element 20 and the substrate 10 during deposition or evaporation. Thus, the inspection device can be located in the transfer chamber next to or immediately after each processing chamber to check the quality of the layer, ie mask offset values, after each deposition. 7 shows a system 70 in which optical inspection is performed in the transfer chamber 73 after the processing chamber 71 and before the processing chamber 72. However, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, optical inspection also requires that within the transfer chamber 75 when it is necessary to control the patterning quality after deposition. In the transfer chamber 77, or in any transfer chamber following the processing chamber.

[0059] Advantageously, feedback for adjusting deposition parameters, such as offset mask values, may be sent back to the processing chamber with reduced delay time. The quality of the processed substrate can be checked, for example, within 5 minutes from the deposition of the organic layer. Deposition parameters can eventually be adjusted without waiting for complete processing of the product. In addition, optical inspection can be performed after the deposition of each layer on the substrate. In this way, it is also possible to control the patterning quality for each single deposited layer. As a result, offset mask values for different and separate processing chambers can be identified.

[0060] According to some embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the optical inspection can be performed after two processing operations and before another (third) processing operation. For example, optical inspection can evaluate the quality of two previous processing operations. In such embodiments, the term “in real time” is intended herein as optical inspection may be performed immediately after the first and second processing of the substrate 10. For example, feedback can be sent to the processing chamber approximately 2 to 10 minutes after deposition of the organic layer on the substrate.

[0061] 8 shows in a flow diagram a method 100 for in-line optical inspection of a processed substrate 10, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 100 includes receiving 102 the processed substrate 10 from the first processing chamber 51, for a substrate 10 processed in the first processing chamber 51 in accordance with deposition parameters. Performing an optical inspection (104), obtaining information data on the quality of the processed substrate (106), and transmitting the information data back to the first processing chamber (51) ( 108, and adapting the deposition parameters 110 to process subsequent substrates in the first processing chamber 51. In particular, in-line optical inspection according to the present disclosure can be performed between the first and second processing of the substrate 10.

[0062] By performing an optical inspection, the method 100 according to the present disclosure may check the alignment between the deposition layers and the backplane (or substrate) directly above the processed substrate 10. As a result, indirect control of the alignment of the mask element 20 with respect to the substrate 10 during deposition in the processing chamber is performed. Thus, information data concerning the quality of the processed substrate 10, ie the quality of the deposited layer, is obtained. If the alignment check determines that the deposited layer has a quality level below the determined tolerance value, the information data is fed back to the processing chamber, where the deposition parameters are adjusted for subsequent processing of the substrate.

[0063] “Deposition parameters” are intended as processing parameters involved during the deposition or evaporation of an organic layer on a substrate. For example, deposition parameters may include relative alignment of the substrate 10 and the mask element 20, which may be modified or adjusted by acting on alignment actuators configured to change the position of the mask 10 relative to the substrate 10. Can be. Alignment actuators may be coupled to the mask carrier 21 and / or the substrate carrier 11.

[0064] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, performing 104 an optical inspection comprises illuminating the processed substrate 10 112. Capturing 114 images of at least a portion of the processed substrate 10, and processing 116 images of the processed substrate 10 taken in different lighting conditions. have.

[0065] By processing 116 captured images taken at different illumination conditions, it is possible to identify different portions of the processed substrate 10, such as a backplane or single organic layers deposited thereon. The patterning quality check can be performed, for example, by correlating images captured under different lighting conditions. For this purpose, illumination can be performed using a plurality of light sources 62 spatially located at different positions and using illumination sources of different properties.

[0066] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the inspected portion of the processed substrate 10 may include a device pixel and / or a control pixel.

[0067] In this manner, test pixels (eg, origins) at the device pixel level and / or the control structure on the processed substrate by correlating the patterning quality at different levels, ie, the images of the identified backplane with the images of the identified pixel devices. Can be controlled at the control pixel level.

[0068] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, obtaining 106 the information data may include calculating an offset mask value, the offset The mask value corresponds to the relative position of the substrate 10 relative to the mask element 20 located between the substrate 10 and the deposition source 30.

[0069] As a result, the calculated offset mask value can be used as feedback data to adjust the alignment of the mask 20 with respect to the substrate 10 during the deposition of the organic layer in the processing chamber.

[0070] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the method 100 includes a plurality of image capture devices and for a plurality of portions of the processed substrate 10. Computing the average offset mask value of the substrate 10 by averaging the information data from the captured images taken by the fields 64.

[0071] In this way, it is possible to obtain more accurate information about the quality of the deposited layer. Indeed, capturing images of different portions on the processed substrate 10 (eg, different pixel devices in different positions on the processed substrate) and using different image capture devices 64 (eg, four) By averaging the data resulting from it, a complete check of the alignment between the deposition layer and the backplane can be obtained.

[0072] Using a plurality of image capture devices 64 may bring the advantage of collecting images of different portions of the processed substrate 10 at the same time, for example, in the same view. This can be obtained, for example, when the image capture devices 64 are located at the same distance from the processed substrate 10 in the same field of view. Alternatively, the plurality of image capture devices 64 may, from different views, from the substrate 10 with different fields of view to capture the processed substrate 10 or a portion of the processed substrate 10. It can be located at different distances. Similar results may be obtained using a single image capture device 64 that is movable on the processed substrate 10, such as through a mechanical arm. In addition, the optical signal may be directed to an image capture device through an optical fiber or optical fiber array.

[0073] According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, performing 104 an optical inspection may comprise at least an image of the processed substrate 10 under fluorescent illumination. Taking steps.

[0074] For example, the backplane can be identified using normal (white) illumination, and the pixel device can be identified using fluorescent illumination. As a result, the processed substrate 10 that can be correlated with each other by capturing two images of the same portion of the processed substrate 10, but using two different illuminations (eg, normal illumination and fluorescent illumination). It is possible to identify different elements of to obtain information about the patterning quality.

[0075] 9 shows a system 80 for aligning the position of the substrate 10 relative to the mask element 20 coupled to the substrate 10, wherein the substrate 10 and the mask element 20 are essentially It is in the vertical position.

[0076] The system 80 includes an inspection device 82 for optically inspecting the relative position of the mask element 20 relative to the substrate 10, which mask element 20 is disposed within the processing chamber 51. ) And an inspection device 82 is located after the processing chamber 51. In addition, the system can adjust the processing device 84 to calculate a corresponding offset mask value, and an adjustment to adjust the position of the mask element 20 relative to the substrate 10 in response to the calculated offset mask value. Device 86. In particular, the system 80 may be located prior to subsequent processing chambers (not shown in the figure).

[0077] The adjustment device 86 may be coupled to the alignment actuators 41, 42 of the substrate carrier 11 to control and change the position of the substrate 10 relative to the mask 20. 9 shows that the adjustment device 86 is separated by the alignment actuators 41, 42 of the substrate carrier 11. However, according to an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure, the adjustment device 86 may be integrated into one or both of the alignment actuators 41, 42, wherein the actuators 41, 42 may be processed by the processing device 84. Directly controlled by

[0078] It is noted that system 80 is located outside of processing chamber 51. Within the processing chamber 51, deposition occurs in the direction of the arrow. A material, such as an organic material, is for example evaporated and deposited on the substrate 10. Material is transferred to the desired portions of the substrate 10 through a particular pattern of mask 20 to form, for example, OLED devices (or portions of OLED devices). The mask 20 is held by the mask carrier 21, and the substrate 10 is held by the substrate carrier 11. After the deposition is performed in the processing chamber 51 and before the substrate 10 is transferred to the further processing chamber, by inspecting the processed substrate 10, an offset mask value is calculated and the processed substrate 10 Is always maintained under vacuum conditions. 9 shows that the substrate 10 is oriented in the same position, ie essentially vertical position (direction Y), during both deposition and optical inspection in the processing chamber 51.

[0079] The inspection device 82 of the system 80 may operate as the inspection device 60 described in FIGS. 5 and 6. As a result, the features and advantages of inspection device 60 (and apparatus 50) described above also apply to inspection device 82 of system 80. In particular, system 80 of FIG. 9 may be part of a manufacturing system for deposition of an organic layer, such as system 1000 of FIG. 1 or system 70 of FIG. 7. In particular, the system 80 for aligning the position of the substrate 10 with respect to the mask element 20 coupled to the substrate 10 may be located after or immediately following a chamber for processing the substrate 10. It can be located inside the delivery chamber. In particular, system 80 may be located between two processing chambers.

[0080] In this way, eventually, in order to adjust the deposition parameters for subsequent substrates processed in the processing chamber 51, on a real-time basis, ie for example 20 minutes or less or even 5, compared to conventional systems. With a reduced delay time of minutes or less, it is possible to act directly on the alignment actuators of the mask 20 and / or the substrate 10.

[0081] According to different embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus for optical inspection of a substrate processed in at least a first processing chamber and a second processing chamber may comprise various positions within a vacuum processing system, namely, a first processing chamber and a first processing chamber. It can be provided in various positions between the two processing chambers.

[0082] 10A illustrates a vacuum processing system 1100 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The vacuum processing system 1100 provides a combination of cluster arrangements and in-line arrangements. A plurality of processing chambers 1120 is provided. Processing chambers 1120 may be connected to vacuum rotating chambers 1130. Vacuum rotating chambers 1130 are provided in the in-line arrangement. Vacuum rotating chambers 1130 may rotate the substrates to be moved into and out of the processing chambers 1120. The combination of cluster arrangement and in-line arrangement can be considered as a hybrid arrangement. Vacuum processing system 1100 with a hybrid arrangement enables a plurality of processing chambers 1120. The length of the vacuum processing system still does not exceed the predetermined limit.

[0083] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a cluster chamber or vacuum cluster chamber is a chamber configured to have two or more processing chambers connected thereto, such as a transfer chamber. Thus, vacuum rotating chambers 1130 are examples of cluster chambers. Cluster chambers may be provided within the in-line arrangement of the hybrid arrangement.

[0084] A vacuum rotating chamber or rotating module (also referred to herein as a "routing module" or "routing chamber") is one of one or more carriers that can be changed by rotating one or more carriers located on tracks in the rotating module. It can be understood as a vacuum chamber configured to change the conveying direction. For example, the vacuum rotation chamber may comprise a rotation device configured to rotate tracks configured to support carriers about an axis of rotation, eg a vertical axis of rotation. In some embodiments, the rotation module includes at least two tracks that can be rotated about an axis of rotation. The first track, specifically the first substrate carrier track, may be arranged on a first side of the axis of rotation, and the second track, specifically the second substrate carrier track, may be arranged on the second side of the axis of rotation.

[0085] In some embodiments, the rotation module includes four tracks that can be rotated about an axis of rotation, specifically two mask carrier tracks and two substrate carrier tracks.

[0086] When the rotation module is rotated by an angle of x °, for example 90 °, the conveying direction of one or more carriers arranged on the tracks can be changed by an angle of x °, for example 90 °. Rotation of the rotation module by an angle of 180 ° may correspond to the track switch, ie the position of the first substrate carrier track of the rotation module and the position of the second substrate carrier track of the rotation module may be exchanged or swapped and / or Alternatively, the position of the first mask carrier track of the rotation module and the position of the second mask carrier track of the rotation module can be exchanged or swapped.

[0087] Within the present disclosure, reference is made to chambers that are connected to each other. The chambers to be connected can be connected directly, for example a flange of one chamber is connected to a flange of an adjacent chamber. Alternatively, the chambers can be connected to one another, for example by means of a connecting unit providing vacuum seals or other connecting elements or providing slit valves or other elements provided between two adjacent chambers. The connection unit is very short compared to the length of the large area substrate and can be distinguished from the vacuum chamber. For example, the connection chamber has a length of 20% or less of the length of the substrate. According to embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, a first chamber connected to a second chamber can be understood as the first chamber being adjacent to the second chamber, for example without an intermediate chamber. . As described above, the first chamber may be connected via a connection unit or directly to the second chamber.

[0088] 10A illustrates a vacuum processing system 1100, and FIG. 10B illustrates substrate traffic within a vacuum processing system. The substrate enters the vacuum processing system 1100, for example, in the vacuum swing module 1110. According to further modifications, a load lock chamber can be connected to the vacuum swing module to load and unload substrates into the vacuum processing system. The vacuum swing module typically receives the substrate through the load lock chamber or directly from the interface of the device manufacturing factory. Typically, the interface provides a substrate, such as a large area substrate, in a horizontal orientation. The vacuum swing module moves the substrate from an orientation provided by the factory interface to an essentially vertical orientation. The essentially vertical orientation of the substrate is maintained during processing of the substrate in the vacuum processing system 1100 until the substrate is moved to, for example, a back horizontal orientation. Swinging, moving, or rotating the substrate by an angle is illustrated by arrow 1191 in FIG. 10B.

[0089] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the vacuum swing module may be a vacuum chamber for movement from the first substrate orientation to the second substrate orientation. For example, the first substrate orientation can be a non-vertical orientation, such as a horizontal orientation, and the second substrate orientation can be a non-horizontal orientation, such as a vertical orientation or an essentially vertical orientation. According to some embodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the vacuum swing module is configured to selectively position a substrate therein with a first orientation for a horizontal orientation and a second orientation for a horizontal orientation. It may be a substrate repositioning chamber.

[0090] The substrate is moved through a buffer chamber 1112 (see FIG. 10A), for example, as indicated by arrow 1192. The substrate is further moved into the processing chamber 1120 through a cluster chamber, such as a vacuum rotating chamber 1130. In some embodiments described in connection with FIGS. 10A and 10B, the substrate is moved into the processing chamber 1120-I. For example, a hole inspection layer (HIL) may be deposited on the substrate in the processing chamber 1120-I.

[0091] In this disclosure, reference is made in particular to the manufacture of OLED flat panel displays for mobile devices. However, similar considerations, examples, embodiments, and aspects may also be provided for other substrate processing applications. In the case of an OLED mobile display, a common metal mask (CMM) is provided within the processing chamber 1120-I. The CMM provides an edge exclusion mask for each mobile display. Each mobile display is masked with one opening and the areas on the substrate corresponding to the areas between the displays are mainly covered by the CMM.

[0092] Subsequently, the substrate is then transferred from the processing chamber 1120 into an adjacent cluster chamber, such as the vacuum rotating chamber 1130, through the first transfer chamber 1182, and through an additional cluster chamber, and the processing chamber 1120-II. Is moved into. This is indicated by arrow 1194 in FIG. 10B. In the processing chamber 1120-II, a hole transfer layer (HTL) is deposited on the substrate. Similar to the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer is made of a common metal mask with one opening per mobile display. In addition, the substrate is from the processing chamber 1120-II into an adjacent cluster chamber, such as the vacuum rotating chamber 1130, and through the second transfer chamber 1184, and through an additional cluster chamber, and the processing chamber 1120-1. III) are moved into. This is indicated by an additional arrow 1194 in FIG. 10B.

[0093] A transfer chamber or transition module can be understood as a vacuum module or vacuum chamber that can be inserted between at least two other vacuum modules or vacuum chambers, for example between vacuum rotating chambers. Carriers, such as mask carriers and / or substrate carriers, may be transported through the transfer chamber in the longitudinal direction of the transfer chamber. The longitudinal direction of the transfer chamber may correspond to the main conveying direction of the vacuum processing system, ie the in-line arrangement of the cluster chambers.

[0094] Within the processing chamber 1120-III, an electron blocking layer (EB) is deposited on the substrate. The electron blocking layer may be deposited with a fine metal mask (FFM). The fine metal mask has a plurality of openings sized, for example, in the micron range. The plurality of micro apertures corresponds to the color of the pixel of the mobile display or the pixel of the mobile display. Thus, the FFM and the substrate are advantageously aligned very precisely with respect to each other in order to have the alignment of the pixels on the display in the micron range.

[0095] The substrate is moved from processing chamber 1120-III to processing chamber 1120-IV, then to processing chamber 1120-V and to processing chamber 1120-VI. For each of the transfer paths, the substrate is moved from the processing chamber, such as into the vacuum rotating chamber and through the transfer chamber, and through the vacuum rotating chamber, and into the next processing chamber. For example, an OLED layer for red pixels can be deposited in chamber 1120-IV, an OLED layer for green pixels can be deposited in chamber 1120 -V, and an OLED layer for blue pixels is chamber May be deposited within (1120-VI). Each of the layers for the color pixels is deposited with a fine metal mask. In order to provide the appearance of one pixel, the individual fine metal masks are different so that pixel dots of different color are adjacent to each other on the substrate. As indicated by an additional arrow 1194 extending from the processing chamber 1120-VI to the processing chamber 1120-VII, the substrate is from the processing chamber into the cluster chamber and through the transfer chamber, and the additional cluster. It can be moved through the chamber and into the subsequent processing chamber. Within the processing chamber 1120-VII, an electron transfer layer (ETL) may be deposited with a common metal mask (CMM).

[0096] The substrate traffic described above for one substrate is similar for a plurality of substrates processed simultaneously in the vacuum processing system 1100. According to some embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the tact time, ie, time period, of the system may be 180 seconds or less, such as 60 seconds to 180 seconds. Thus, the substrate is processed within this time period, ie, the first exemplary time period T. In the processing chambers described above and subsequent processing chambers described below, one substrate is processed within the first time period T, and the other substrate just processed is processed within the first time period T. Another substrate to be moved out and to be processed is moved into the processing chamber within the first time period T. One substrate can be processed in each of the processing chambers, while two additional substrates participate in substrate traffic for this processing chamber, ie, during the first time period T, one additional substrate is individually Unloaded from the processing chamber and one substrate is loaded into the respective processing chamber.

[0097] The above described route of an exemplary substrate from processing chamber 1120-I to processing chamber 1120-VII is a row of processing chambers of vacuum processing system 1100, eg, FIGS. 10A and 10B. Is provided in the lower row of. The row or bottom portion of the vacuum processing system is indicated by arrow 1032 in FIG. 10B.

[0098] According to some embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the substrates may, in one row or part of the vacuum processing system, end one of the in-line arrangement of the cluster chambers of the vacuum processing system. From to the opposite end of the in-line arrangement of the cluster chambers. At the opposite end of the in-line arrangement, such as the vacuum rotation chamber 1130, on the right side of FIG. 10A, the substrate is transferred to another row or other portion of the vacuum processing system. This is indicated by arrow 1195 in FIG. 10B. One end of the in-line arrangement of the cluster chambers, i.e., from the opposite end of the in-line arrangement of the cluster chambers, on another row or in another portion of the vacuum processing system, indicated by arrow 1034 in FIG. 10B. While moving to the end, the substrate is processed in subsequent processing chambers.

[0099] In the example shown in FIG. 10A, the example substrate is moved to processing chamber 1120-VIII and then to processing chamber 1120-IX. For example, the metallization layer, where the metallization layer may illustratively form the cathode of the OLED device, may be deposited in the processing chamber 1120-VIII with, for example, a common metal mask as described above. For example, one or more of the following metals: Al, Au, Ag, Cu may be deposited in some of the deposition modules. At least one material may be a transparent conductive oxide material, such as ITO. At least one material may be a transparent material. Thereafter, a capping layer (CPL) is deposited in the processing chamber 1120-IX, such as with a common metal mask.

[00100] According to some embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, an additional processing chamber 1120-X may be provided. For example, such a processing chamber may be an alternate processing chamber that replaces that other processing chamber while one of the other processing chambers is being maintained.

[00101] After final processing, the substrate may be moved through the buffer chamber 1112 to the vacuum swing module 1110, ie, the substrate repositioning chamber. This is indicated by arrow 1193 in FIG. 10B. Within the vacuum swing module, the substrate is moved from the processing orientation, ie essentially vertical orientation, to a substrate orientation corresponding to the interface with the factory, such as a horizontal orientation.

[00102] FIG. 10A shows transfer chambers provided between, for example, cluster chambers, such as making rotation chambers. 10A shows first transfer chambers 1182 and second transfer chamber 1184. Reducing the footprint of the vacuum processing system as well as reducing the distance between adjacent or subsequent processing chambers is believed to suggest a reduction in the lengths of the transfer chambers. Surprisingly, it has been found that a partial increase in the lengths of the transfer chambers improves the tact time of the vacuum processing system 1100. According to embodiments described herein, a vacuum processing system is at least a first type of transfer chamber of a first length, that is, a first type of transfer chamber 1182 and a second type having a second length different from the first length. Delivery chamber, ie, second delivery chamber 1184.

[00103] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a vacuum processing system may be provided for depositing a plurality of layers on a substrate. The vacuum processing system includes a first transfer chamber having a first length and connected to a vacuum chamber; And a second transfer chamber coupled to the vacuum chamber, the second transfer chamber having a second length that is less than the first length.

[00104] For example, according to further embodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments described herein, a vacuum processing system for processing a substrate may include a first processing chamber connected to a first cluster chamber; A first processing station for processing a substrate in a first processing chamber; A second processing chamber coupled to the second cluster chamber; A first transfer chamber coupled to the first cluster chamber and the second cluster chamber, the first transfer chamber having a first length extending between the first cluster chamber and the second cluster chamber, the first transfer chamber being sized to receive a substrate; Is determined; A second transfer chamber coupled to a second cluster chamber, the second transfer chamber having a second length less than the first length; A substrate provided for routing a substrate in an orientation biased by 15 ° or less from vertical through a first processing chamber, a second processing chamber, a first cluster chamber, a second cluster chamber, a first transfer chamber, and a second transfer chamber. Includes a transfer arrangement.

[00105] The first transfer chamber having the first length makes it possible to receive the substrate. The substrate may be parked in the first transfer chamber. Parking the substrate allows the substrate to be readily available. This can reduce the overall tact time. The second transfer chamber having a second length smaller than the first length reduces the distance between adjacent or subsequent processing chambers. The second transfer chamber having a second length smaller than the first length additionally or alternatively reduces the footprint of the vacuum processing system.

[00106] In addition to the above, having two types of transfer chambers with different lengths enables adaptation of the footprint to the structure of the factory hole, which may typically be a predetermined environment. 10A and 10B show pillars 1020. The pillars are boundary conditions provided by the manufacturing hole and are defined, for example, taking into account structural engineering calculations. Having two types of transfer chambers with different lengths further enables adaptation of the vacuum processing system to the manufacturing hole. Extending the length of the transfer chamber makes it possible to have a pillar 1020 between two adjacent processing chambers in one row, and to provide a parked position.

[00107] Embodiments of the present disclosure surprisingly bring a combination of advantages, including a reduction in footprint, a reduction in tact time as well as adaptation to the structural conditions of the fabrication hole.

[00108] According to still further features, modifications, and embodiments of the present disclosure, a footprint of a vacuum processing system, in particular a vacuum processing system that provides five or more or even ten or more layers within one system, Can be reduced by having substrates of essentially vertical orientation, in particular large area substrates.

[00109] Embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure use automatic optical inspection on a processed substrate that remains essentially in a vertical position, thereby providing an efficient way to align the mask element, such as a micro metal mask, with the substrate during deposition of the organic layer. It has several advantages, including the possibility to check. Moreover, embodiments according to the present disclosure provide the advantage of performing optical inspection of the processed substrate without disturbing the production line and under the same conditions (eg, substrate orientation and pressure) present during deposition of the organic layer. Have In addition, embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure have the advantage of transmitting feedback to the processing chamber regarding the patterning quality of the deposited layer, with a reduced delay compared to inspection at the end of the line. In addition, embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure have the advantage that the feedback is related to the deposition of a particular layer in the determined processing chamber. The possibility of checking the patterning quality of certain deposited layers as well as the reduced feedback delay time results in improved yields of processing systems and methods.

[00110] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the present disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope of the present disclosure, the scope of the present disclosure being set forth in the following claims Determined by

Claims (15)

An apparatus for optical inspection of a substrate processed in at least a first processing chamber and a second processing chamber,
An inspection device between the first processing chamber and the second processing chamber, for performing an optical inspection on a substrate processed in the first processing chamber,
Device for optical inspection of substrates. The method of claim 1,
The device is configured for optical inspection of the substrate in an essentially vertical position,
Device for optical inspection of substrates. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The inspection device detects an offset mask value, the offset mask value corresponding to a relative position of the substrate relative to a mask element,
Device for optical inspection of substrates. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The inspection device is at least,
A light source for illuminating the substrate;
One or more image capture devices for taking one or more images of at least a portion of the substrate; And
A processing device for processing the captured images,
Device for optical inspection of substrates. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The inspection device further comprises at least optics 68 for detecting fluorescence light,
Device for optical inspection of substrates. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The inspection device is positioned to inspect the substrate held under vacuum conditions,
Device for optical inspection of substrates. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The inspection device is an in-line inspection system,
Device for optical inspection of substrates. A system for optical inspection of a substrate,
At least a first processing chamber and a second processing chamber; And
At least a transfer chamber for receiving the substrate from the first processing chamber and for transferring the substrate to the second processing chamber,
The transfer chamber is provided with an inspection device for performing an optical inspection on the substrate processed in the first processing chamber,
System for optical inspection of substrates. A method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate,
Receiving the substrate from a first processing chamber;
Performing an optical inspection on the substrate processed in the first processing chamber in accordance with deposition parameters;
Obtaining information data about the quality of the substrate;
Sending the information data back to the first processing chamber; And
Adapting the deposition parameters for processing a subsequent substrate in the first processing chamber,
Method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate. The method of claim 9,
Performing the optical inspection,
Lighting the substrate;
Capturing images of at least a portion of the substrate; And
Processing images of the substrate taken in different lighting conditions,
Method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate. The method of claim 10,
A portion of the substrate comprises a device pixel and / or a control pixel,
Method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11,
Acquiring the information data includes calculating an offset mask value,
The offset mask value corresponds to a relative position of the substrate relative to a mask element located between the substrate and the deposition source,
Method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate. The method of claim 12,
Calculating an offset mask value of the substrate by averaging information data for the plurality of portions of the substrate and from captured images taken by the plurality of image capture devices,
Method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13,
Performing the optical inspection includes taking an image of the substrate under at least fluorescence illumination,
Method for in-line optical inspection of a substrate. A system for aligning a position of a substrate relative to a mask element coupled to a substrate, the system comprising:
The substrate and the mask element are essentially in a vertical position,
The system,
An inspection device for optically inspecting the relative position of the mask element relative to the substrate, wherein the mask element is used to process the substrate in a processing chamber, and the inspection device is located after the processing chamber;
A processing device for calculating a corresponding offset mask value, and
An adjustment device for adjusting the position of the mask element relative to the substrate in response to the calculated offset mask value,
system.

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