KR20240012983A - Deposition apparatus having glass supporting unit and method for fixing glass thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention includes a vacuum chamber; a substrate supporter installed inside the vacuum chamber and supporting the substrate by chucking it; a substrate holding unit supporting an edge of the substrate for chucking into the substrate support unit; and a substrate supporting unit for supporting the bottom of the substrate located in the substrate holding unit to compensate for sagging of the substrate, wherein the substrate supporting unit is installed on one side of the substrate holding unit and performs lifting and rotating operations. with possible axis modules; a rotating arm connected to the axis module and having a support pin supporting the bottom of the substrate; and a support pin driver for linearly moving the support pin in the longitudinal direction of the rotary arm.

Description

Deposition apparatus having glass supporting unit and method for fixing glass thereof}

The present invention relates to a deposition apparatus having a substrate supporting unit for compensating for substrate sagging that occurs when loading a large-area substrate into a vacuum chamber and fixing it to a substrate supporter, and to a method of fixing the substrate.

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) are self-luminous devices that use the electroluminescence phenomenon, which produces light when a current flows through a fluorescent organic compound, and do not require a backlight to apply light to non-light emitting devices. Lightweight and thin flat display devices can be manufactured.

In an organic light emitting device, except for the anode and cathode electrodes, the remaining constituent layers, such as a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer, are made of organic thin films, and these organic thin films are formed on a substrate by a vacuum deposition method or the like. It can be.

The vacuum deposition method is performed by placing a substrate in a vacuum chamber, aligning a mask with a certain pattern on the substrate, applying heat to an evaporation source containing the deposition material, and depositing the deposition material evaporated from the evaporation source onto the substrate.

In accordance with the recent trend of increasing the area of the substrate, the deposition process is performed with the entire surface of the substrate adsorbed to an adsorption means such as an electrostatic chuck to prevent sagging of the substrate. In order to adsorb a substrate to such an adsorption means, the substrate is loaded into a substrate holder installed in a vacuum chamber, and then the adsorption means is moved close to the substrate to adsorb the substrate.

The substrate holder is configured to support the edge of the substrate so as to expose the lower surface of the substrate (i.e., the deposition target surface) to the evaporation source located at the bottom of the substrate. In the case of a large-area substrate, when loading into the substrate holder, the inner area This situation occurs. The larger the area of the substrate, the more severe this sagging phenomenon occurs. Due to this sagging phenomenon, a problem arises in which adsorption does not occur normally when the substrate is adsorbed to the suction means.

Public Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0003129 (2015.06.30)

The present invention was developed in consideration of the above points, and minimizes the sagging phenomenon of the large-area substrate when loading the substrate into the substrate holder for chucking the large-area substrate, enabling stable chucking of the substrate, and enabling stable chucking of the organic light-emitting device. The technical task is to be able to support various positions according to the manufacturing specifications.

The technical problems to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below. You will be able to.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a vacuum chamber; a substrate supporter installed inside the vacuum chamber and supporting the substrate by chucking it; a substrate holding unit supporting an edge of the substrate for chucking into the substrate support unit; and a substrate supporting unit for supporting the bottom of the substrate located in the substrate holding unit to compensate for sagging of the substrate, wherein the substrate supporting unit is installed on one side of the substrate holding unit and performs lifting and rotating operations. with possible axis modules; a rotating arm connected to the axis module and having a support pin supporting the bottom of the substrate; and a support pin driving unit configured to linearly move the support pin in the longitudinal direction of the rotary arm.

Additionally, the axis module includes a rotation axis connected to the rotation arm; a rotation drive unit that rotates the rotation shaft; a lifting plate supporting the rotation driving unit; a support frame supporting the lifting plate so that it can move in a straight line; and a lifting drive unit installed on the support frame and driving the lifting plate in a straight line.

Additionally, the support pin driver may include a piezo stage configured to move the support pin within a preset range on the end of the rotary arm.

In addition, the deposition apparatus includes a control unit that calculates a support position of the support pin to support a non-deposition area of the substrate and operates the axis module and the support pin driver to position the support pin at the support position. It can be included.

Additionally, a plurality of substrate supporting units may be installed along both opposite sides of the substrate.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, calculating position information of a non-deposition area of the substrate based on pre-stored substrate information; calculating a support position of the support pin based on the calculated position information of the non-deposition area; As the substrate is brought into the vacuum chamber and supported by the substrate holding unit, operating the axis module and the support pin driver so that the support pin is positioned below the calculated support position; driving the axis module upward so that the support pin lifts the sagging portion of the substrate; and moving the substrate supporter relative to the substrate holding unit and then performing a suction operation on the substrate supporter to fix the substrate.

In addition, the substrate information is divided into multiple pieces and stored according to the specifications or type of the panel to be manufactured, and when the user selects one of the panels with a plurality of specifications, the substrate information matching the selected panel can be used.

In addition, a method of fixing a substrate in a deposition apparatus includes the steps of lifting and lowering an axis module so that the support pin is lowered; and rotating the axis module so that the support pin separates from the lower region of the substrate.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of points on the bottom of the substrate are supported by support pins, which has the effect of solving the problem of substrate chucking not being performed properly due to sagging of the substrate when chucking the substrate to the substrate supporter. .

In addition, the rotary arm supporting the support pin is configured to be rotatable around the axis module, and the support pin is configured to be able to move linearly with respect to the rotary arm, allowing the position of the support pin to be adjusted in various ways, thereby manufacturing OLED panels. There is an advantage in that it can respond to various changes in the location of the non-deposition area depending on the specifications.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a side view of the substrate supporting unit shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the support pin driving part shown in Figure 2.
Figures 4 and 5 are operating state diagrams showing the operating state of the substrate supporting unit shown in Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a flowchart showing a method of fixing a substrate in a deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can be modified in various ways and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known technologies may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

Terms such as first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but are not intended to indicate the presence of one or more other features. It should be understood that this does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a deposition apparatus having a substrate supporting unit and a substrate fixing method thereof according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, identical or corresponding components are the same. Drawing numbers will be assigned and duplicate descriptions will be omitted.

1 is a diagram schematically showing a deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the deposition apparatus according to this embodiment includes a vacuum chamber 10, a substrate supporter 20, a substrate holder 30, and a substrate supporting unit 40.

The vacuum chamber 10 provides a space for performing a vacuum deposition process, and its interior is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere.

The substrate supporter 20 is installed inside the vacuum chamber 10 and supports the substrate 1 by chucking it. The substrate support unit 20 may be provided with a fixing chuck 21 that adsorbs and fixes the substrate, and an electrostatic chuck that fixes the substrate 1 using electrostatic force may be used as the fixing chuck. However, the fixed chuck 21 may use other fixing methods other than the electrostatic chuck.

The substrate support 20 may be provided with a magnet plate 22 for attaching the mask 2, which may be connected to the alignment unit 50 installed on the upper part of the vacuum chamber 10 through the lifting shaft 51. You can.

The substrate support part 20 is provided with a magnet plate 22 for attaching the mask 2, which generates a magnetic force to apply attraction to the mask 2 made of metal. The magnet plate 22 may be installed to be movable relative to the fixed chuck 21.

The substrate holding unit 30 is installed inside the vacuum chamber 10, specifically below the substrate supporter 20, and is configured to support the edge of the substrate 1 for chucking into the substrate supporter 20.

The substrate supporting unit 40 supports the bottom of the substrate 1 loaded on the substrate holding unit 30 and functions to compensate for sagging of the substrate 1. The configuration of the substrate supporting unit 40 will be described in detail below.

A mask support part 60 is installed below the substrate supporting unit 40 to support the mask 2, and is supported inside the vacuum chamber 10 through a support member 61. The mask support portion 60 is configured to support the mask frame 3 that supports the edge of the mask sheet 4.

An alignment unit 50 for moving the substrate support 20 and the substrate holding unit 30 may be installed at the top of the vacuum chamber 10.

The alignment unit 50 is connected to the substrate support 20 and aligns the substrate 1 and the mask 2 by moving the substrate support 20 relative to the mask 2 of the mask support 40. I order it. The alignment unit 50 is installed at the top of the vacuum chamber 10 and includes a driving stage for driving the alignment shaft 52 in a plurality of directions (e.g., x, y, θ directions, etc.). .

According to this embodiment, the alignment shaft 52 is connected to the substrate holding unit 30 and is configured to move the substrate support 20 connected thereto by moving the substrate holding unit 30 in a predetermined direction. do. In addition, the alignment unit 50 is provided with a lifting shaft 51 for lifting the magnet plate 22, and the substrate support 20 is lifted and lowered with respect to the substrate holding unit 30 through the lifting of the lifting shaft 51. It is configured to do so.

When the substrate 1 is loaded into the substrate holding unit 30 through a transfer means such as a robot arm, the substrate supporting unit 40 operates to support the bottom of the substrate 1 to minimize sagging of the substrate and The support unit 20 moves downward with respect to the substrate holding unit 30 to adsorb the substrate 1 to the substrate support unit 20 .

In a state where the substrate 1 is adsorbed and fixed to the substrate support unit 20, the substrate holding unit 30 is moved in a predetermined direction (for example, x) with respect to the mask 2 by the operation of the alignment unit 50. , y, θ directions, etc.) to achieve alignment between the substrate 1 and the mask 2.

After alignment is completed, the substrate support 20 moves toward the mask 2 due to the lowering operation of the substrate holding unit 30, so that the substrate 1 and the mask 2 come into contact, and the magnet plate 22 is lowered. Due to the operation, magnetic force acts on the mask sheet 4, causing the mask sheet 4 to be attached to the substrate support part 20. Then, the deposition material evaporated by the operation of the evaporation source 10 installed in the lower space of the vacuum chamber 10 passes through the pattern of the mask sheet 4 and is deposited on the lower surface of the substrate 1.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the substrate supporting unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the support pin driver shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the substrate supporting unit 40 includes an axis module 70, a rotation arm 80, and a support pin driver 90.

The axis module 70 is installed on one side of the substrate holding unit 30 and is configured to be capable of lifting and rotating operations so that the rotary arm 30 can be lifted and rotated. The axis module 70 may be supported on the upper part of the vacuum chamber 10 and a portion may be disposed outside the vacuum chamber 10.

The axis module 70 may include a rotation shaft 71, a rotation drive unit 72, a lifting plate 73, a support frame 74, and a lifting drive unit 75.

The rotary shaft 71 is connected to the rotary arm 80, and is rotated by the rotary drive unit of the rotary drive unit 72 so that the rotary arm 70 connected thereto rotates.

The rotation driver 72 is connected to the rotation shaft 71 and is configured to rotate the rotation shaft 71. A driver such as a motor may be used as the rotation driver 72, and it can be configured to be mounted on the fixed frame 78.

The lifting plate 73 is configured to support the rotation driving unit 72, and can be configured to support the rotation driving unit 72 through the fixed frame 78 as in the present embodiment.

The support frame 74 supports the lifting plate 73 so that it can move linearly. A linear guide 79 may be installed between the support frame 74 and the lifting plate 74 to guide the straight movement of the lifting plate 74. The linear guides 79 may be installed as a pair on both inner surfaces of the support frame 74.

The lifting drive unit 75 is installed on the support frame 74 and is configured to drive the lifting plate 73 in a straight line. The lifting driving unit 75 may have the form of a motor, a linear motor, etc., and when a motor is used as the lifting driving unit 75, a power transmission means may be installed in the support frame 74.

The lifting drive unit 75 may be supported on the upper part of the support frame 74, and the rotation axis 71 penetrates the lower part of the support frame 74 and is connected to the rotary arm 80. A guide frame 77 may be installed at the lower part of the support frame 74 to guide the rotational movement of the rotation axis 71.

The rotation arm 80 is connected to the axis module 70 and has a support pin 95 that supports the bottom of the substrate 1. A rotating shaft 71 is connected to one end of the rotating arm 80, and a support pin 95 is provided to the other end of the rotating arm 80.

The support pin driving unit 90 is configured to linearly move the support pin 95 in the longitudinal direction (arrow direction in FIG. 3) of the rotary arm 80. The support pin driver 90 is configured to move within a preset range on the end of the rotary arm 80. As the support pin driver 90, a piezo stage capable of fine driving by stretching and contracting the piezoelectric element can be used. However, various types of driving means other than the piezo stage can be used in the support pin driving unit 90.

The above-described substrate supporting units 40 may be installed on both opposite sides of the substrate 1, as shown in FIG. 1 . Additionally, a plurality of substrate supporting units 40 may be installed along both opposite sides of the substrate 1. For example, four substrate supporting units 40 may be installed on the long side of the substrate 1, and four substrate supporting units 40 may be installed on the opposite long side.

Figures 4 and 5 are operating state diagrams showing the operating state of the substrate supporting unit shown in Figure 1, showing the substrate 1 and the substrate supporting 40 unit viewed from the bottom.

In order to improve the manufacturing efficiency of OLED panels, a method is used to deposit a plurality of regions corresponding to the area of the panel to be produced on a single substrate 1 and then cut the deposited regions to produce a plurality of panels. Recently, the area of the substrate 1 is being enlarged to increase the number of deposition areas deposited on one sheet of the substrate 1 and to enable the production of large panels.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a plurality of deposition areas 1a where deposition materials are deposited are formed on the substrate 1, and a non-deposition area 1b is formed between the plurality of deposition areas 1a.

Depending on the type or specifications of the panel to be manufactured, the area and shape of the deposition area may vary, and the number of deposition areas 1a included in one substrate 1 may also vary. Accordingly, the shape and location of the deposition area 1a and the non-deposition area 1b may vary.

The substrate supporting unit 40 is configured so that the support pin 95 supports the non-deposition area 1b so as not to contact the deposition area 1a when supporting the bottom surface of the substrate 1. When the type or specifications of the panel change, the position of the non-deposition area 1b may change, and in such case, the support position of the support pin 95 may also change.

According to the present invention, the rotary arm 80 is configured to be rotatable about the axis module 70, and the support pin 95 is configured to be linearly movable on the rotary arm 80, so that the support pin 95 Since the position can be adjusted to various positions and fine adjustments are also possible, it is possible to respond to changes in the specifications or type of OLED panel to be manufactured.

Compared to the substrate 1 shown in FIG. 4, in the case of FIG. 5, it can be seen that the area of the deposition area 1a is smaller while the number of deposition areas 1a is increased, and accordingly, the location of the non-deposition area 1b You can also check what has changed.

In this case, the support area (position) of the support pin 95 can be adjusted by adjusting the rotation position (or angle) of the rotary arm 80 and the linear movement position (or movement amount) of the support pin 95. .

Such adjustment of the support area of the support pin 95 can be performed through the control unit, and the control unit is electrically connected to the axis module 70 and the support pin driving unit 90. The control unit calculates the position information of the non-deposition area 1b based on pre-stored substrate information, that is, information about the shape, area, number, etc. of the deposition area 1a and the non-deposition area 1b, and rotates the rotary arm 80 ) The support position of the support pin 95 is calculated using information such as the rotation center position, length, and movement range of the support pin 95. And the control unit operates the axis module 70 and the support pin driver 90 so that the support pin 95 is located at the calculated support position.

Figure 6 is a flowchart showing a method of fixing a substrate in a deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when explaining the substrate fixing method of the deposition apparatus according to this embodiment, first, the control unit controls pre-stored substrate information, for example, the shape and area of the deposition area 1a and the non-deposition area 1b. Position information of the non-deposited area 1b of the substrate is calculated based on information about , number, etc. (S10).

The substrate information is divided into multiple pieces and stored according to the specifications or type of the panel to be manufactured, and when the user (or operator) selects one of the panels with a plurality of specifications, the substrate information matching the selected panel can be used.

Next, the control unit calculates the support position of the support pin 95 based on the calculated position information of the non-deposition area 1b (S11). At this time, using information about the rotation center position and length of the rotary arm 80, the movement range of the support pin 95, etc., the area where the support pin 95 can be located and the location of the non-deposition area 1b are determined. The overlapping position can be determined as the support position of the support pin 95. In this case, the support positions of the support pins 95 of the plurality of substrate supporting units 40 can be calculated individually.

Next, as the substrate 1 is brought into the vacuum chamber 10 and supported on the substrate holding unit 30, the control unit controls the axis module 70 and the support pin 95 to be positioned below the calculated support position. The support pin driver 90 is operated (S12).

Then, the axis module 70 is driven upward so that the support pin 95 lifts the sagging portion of the substrate 1 (S13). Accordingly, the deflection of the substrate 1 is compensated so that the substrate 1 can maintain a flat state.

Next, the substrate support unit 20 is moved relative to the substrate holding unit 30, and then the substrate support unit 20 is suction-operated so that the substrate 1 is fixed (S14). According to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, the lifting shaft 51 is driven downward so that the substrate supporter 20 moves downward toward the substrate 1, and the fixing chuck 21 of the substrate supporter 20 is operated to move the substrate 1. (1) is fixed to the substrate support 20.

When the fixing operation of the substrate 1 is completed, the control unit lifts and lowers the axis module 70 so that the support pin 95 descends (S15) and causes the support pin 95 to separate from the lower area of the substrate 1. The axis module 70 is rotated.

Next, the alignment operation of the substrate 1 and the mask 2, the fixing operation of the mask 2, and the deposition process are performed sequentially.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to specific embodiments, those skilled in the art can vary the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. You will understand that it can be modified and changed.

10: vacuum chamber 20: substrate support
30: substrate holding unit 40: substrate supporting unit
50: Alignment unit 60: Mask support part
70: axis module 71: rotation axis
72: Rotation drive unit 73: Elevating plate
74: support frame 75: lifting drive unit
80: Rotating arm 90: Support pin driving part
95: Support pin

Claims (8)

vacuum chamber;
a substrate supporter installed inside the vacuum chamber and supporting the substrate by chucking it;
a substrate holding unit supporting an edge of the substrate for chucking into the substrate support unit; and
It includes a substrate supporting unit for supporting the bottom of the substrate located in the substrate holding unit to compensate for sagging of the substrate,
The substrate supporting unit,
An axis module installed on one side of the substrate holding unit and capable of lifting and rotating operations;
a rotating arm connected to the axis module and having a support pin supporting the bottom of the substrate; and
A deposition apparatus comprising: a support pin driver for moving the support pin in a straight line in the longitudinal direction of the rotary arm.
The method of claim 1, wherein the axis module,
a rotation axis connected to the rotation arm;
a rotation drive unit that rotates the rotation shaft;
a lifting plate supporting the rotation driving unit;
a support frame supporting the lifting plate so that it can move in a straight line; and
A deposition apparatus comprising: a lifting drive unit installed on the support frame and driving the lifting plate in a straight line.
The method of claim 1, wherein the support pin driver,
A deposition apparatus comprising a piezo stage configured to move the support pin within a preset range on an end of the rotary arm.
According to paragraph 1,
Characterized in that it further comprises a control unit that calculates the support position of the support pin to support the non-deposition area of the substrate, and operates the axis module and the support pin driver to position the support pin at the support position. Deposition device.
The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate supporting unit,
A deposition device, characterized in that a plurality of deposition devices are installed along both opposite sides of the substrate.
A method of fixing a substrate in the deposition apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:
calculating position information of a non-deposition area of the substrate based on pre-stored substrate information;
calculating a support position of the support pin based on the calculated position information of the non-deposition area;
As the substrate is brought into the vacuum chamber and supported by the substrate holding unit, operating the axis module and the support pin driver so that the support pin is positioned below the calculated support position;
driving the axis module upward so that the support pin lifts the sagging portion of the substrate; and
A method of fixing a substrate in a deposition apparatus comprising: moving the substrate support unit relative to the substrate holding unit and then performing a suction operation on the substrate support unit to fix the substrate.
According to clause 6,
The substrate information is divided into multiple pieces and stored according to the specifications (type) of the panel to be manufactured,
A method of fixing a substrate in a deposition apparatus, characterized in that when a user selects one of a plurality of panels with specifications, substrate information matching the selected panel is used.
According to clause 6,
Lifting and lowering the axis module so that the support pin descends; and
A method of fixing a substrate in a deposition apparatus further comprising rotating the axis module so that the support pin separates from the lower region of the substrate.

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