WO2010082755A2

WO2010082755A2 - Evaporation apparatus, thin film depositing apparatus and method for feeding source material of the same

Info

Publication number: WO2010082755A2
Application number: PCT/KR2010/000203
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyung Seok Yoon; Sung Kwan Son; Chang Ho Kang; Hyun Goo Kwon
Original assignee: Snu Precision Co., Ltd
Priority date: 2009-01-16
Filing date: 2010-01-13
Publication date: 2010-07-22
Also published as: CN102282648A; KR101068597B1; TW201030164A; KR20100084217A; CN102282648B; TWI437111B; WO2010082755A3

Abstract

Provided are an evaporation apparatus and a thin film depositing apparatus, and a source material filling method thereof. The thin film depositing apparatus includes a chamber having an inner space, a substrate transferring member to fix a substrate and move the substrate within the inner space, and a plurality of evaporation members to supply a deposition source material to the substrate, wherein each of the evaporation members is disposed to allow its central extension line to form an acute angle with a surface of the substrate that moves. Therefore, it is possible to form a thin film on the substrate by supplying the vaporized source material to the substrate in a sloped direction with respect to the substrate through the use of the plurality of evaporation members, and to fill the source material by selectively control only an evaporation member where the source material is exhausted without shutting down the whole apparatus.

Description

EVAPORATION APPARATUS, THIN FILM DEPOSITING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FEEDING SOURCE MATERIAL OF THE SAME

The present invention relates to an evaporation apparatus, thin film depositing apparatus and method for feeding source material of the same, and more particularly, to a method capable of depositing an uniform thin film on a substrate, moving as vertically standing, using a plurality of evaporation members and supplying a source material to an evaporation member, i.e., an evaporation apparatus, where the source material is exhausted, without shutting down the whole apparatus.

A sputter and an evaporation method have been used to form an aluminum (Al) layer on an insulating substrate, e.g., a glass substrate. The sputter hits a target with ions or neutral particles and thus makes atoms being ejected. The ejected atoms are attached to the substrate to form a layer. However, when fabricating an organic light emitting device (OLED), the plasma generated when performing a sputtering process may significantly damage a substrate, or an organic device or an organic thin film formed on the substrate. Moreover, it is difficult to constantly control a target of the sputter and thus to uniformly deposit a thin film. In case the size of the substrate increases, the size of the target should increase as well.

In the evaporation method, a furnace where the source material is stored is heated, and thus the source material is vaporized. The vaporized source material is absorbed to the substrate to form a layer. The evaporation method does not damage the substrate, or a device or a thin film formed on the substrate.

However, since, in a conventional evaporation apparatus, one furnace is disposed in a spot shape in a chamber, it is difficult to deposit a thin film having an uniform thickness on a substrate having a large area.

Moreover, in case of the conventional evaporation apparatus, when the source material within the furnace is exhausted, the source material is supplied into the furnace after shutting down the whole apparatus. Thus, a fabricating process is not performed continuously, and the whole apparatus should be shut down after a plurality of depositing processes is performed. As a result, a processing yield and the productivity are deteriorated.

The present disclosure provides a thin film depositing apparatus capable of depositing an uniform thin film on the whole surface of a substrate by disposing a plurality of evaporation sources on one side of a chamber and moving the substrate in one direction in a state of horizontally disposing the substrate with respect to one side of the chamber, i.e., standing the substrate vertically, and a source material filling method of the thin film depositing apparatus.

The present disclosure also provides a thin film depositing apparatus capable of preventing the shut-down of the apparatus due to the supply of a source material by supplying the source material to each evaporation source separately, and thus enhancing the productivity.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a thin film depositing apparatus includes a chamber having an inner space, a substrate transferring member to fix a substrate and move the substrate within the inner space, and a plurality of evaporation members to supply a deposition source material to the substrate, wherein each of the evaporation members is disposed to allow its central extension line to form an acute angle with a surface of the substrate that moves.

The plurality of evaporation members may be arranged apart from each other in an upward direction with respect to the bottom of the chamber, at least one of the evaporation members being disposed at a position corresponding to a central region of the substrate and at least one of the evaporation members being disposed at a position corresponding to a lower region of the substrate.

The thin film depositing apparatus may further include a compensation plate disposed between the substrate and the plurality of evaporation members and including an incision region of a slit shape in a vertical direction at its central region.

The plurality of evaporation members may be arranged on a central line of the incision region.

An incision distance of the incision region at an upper portion of the compensation plate may be smaller than that at a lower portion of the compensation plate.

Each of the evaporation members may include a furnace sector including a furnace filled with the source material, a heating unit to heat the furnace, and a shutter unit to shut and open the furnace, and a rotating body rotating as being connected to the furnace sector.

The furnace may be formed of one selected from the group consisting of tungsten (W), alumina (Al₂O₃), pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN), and graphite.

The thin film depositing apparatus may further include rotating member to rotate the rotating body as being connected to the rotating body, and a source material filling member to refill the source material into the furnace.

The shutter unit may include a first shutter disposed at one side of the furnace and moving in a moving direction of the substrate to shut an upper region of the furnace, and a second shutter disposed at the other side of the furnace facing with the first shutter and moving in the moving direction of the substrate to open the upper region of the furnace.

The first and second shutters may shut and open the furnace, respectively, when the substrate moves to a corresponding evaporation member.

The thin film depositing apparatus may further include a storage member to store the furnace, wherein the shutter unit may be disposed on an outer side of the storage member.

The substrate transferring member may include a substrate supporting unit to vertically dispose the substrate with respect to the bottom of the chamber, and a transferring unit to move the substrate supporting unit.

An evaporation apparatus for depositing a thin film by vaporizing a source material onto a deposition-target substance, the evaporation apparatus include a furnace sector including a furnace filled with the source material, a heating unit to heat the furnace, and a shutter unit to shut and open the furnace, a rotating body rotating as being connected to the furnace sector, and a rotating member to rotate the rotating body as being connected to the rotating body.

The rotating member may rotate and fix the rotating body to allow a central line of the furnace sector to form an acute angle with a surface of the deposition-target substance.

The deposition-target substance may move, and the shutter unit may include a first shutter disposed at one side of the furnace and moving in a moving direction of the deposition-target substance to shut an upper region of the furnace, and a second shutter disposed at the other side of the furnace facing with the first shutter and moving in the moving direction of the deposition-target substance to open the upper region of the furnace.

A source material filling method of a thin film depositing apparatus that includes a plurality of furnace sectors to deposit a thin film on a substrate using the source material filled therein, and first and second shutters that shut and open upper regions of the plurality of furnace sectors, the method includes detecting a furnace sector where the source material is exhausted, shutting an upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the first shutter of the detected furnace sector in a moving direction of the substrate, moving the detected furnace sector to a position where the source material is filled, refilling the detected furnace sector with the source material by opening the upper region of the detected furnace sector, shutting the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the substrate, moving the detected furnace sector to a position where the thin film is deposited, and opening the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter in the moving direction of the substrate.

The method may further include, before moving the detected furnace sector to the position where the source material is filled, shutting the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter, wherein the refilling of the detected furnace sector with the source material comprises opening the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the first and second shutters and injecting the source material into the detected furnace sector.

The method may further include, before moving the detected furnace sector to the position where the thin film is deposited, moving the first shutter in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the substrate.

The shutting of the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the first shutter of the detected furnace sector in the moving direction of the substrate and the opening of the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter in the moving direction of the substrate may be performed when the substrate moves to the detected furnace sector.

The moving of the detected furnace sector to the position where the source material is filled may be to rotate the detected furnace sector so that the upper region of the detected furnace sector is disposed in a direction opposite to the substrate, and the moving of the detected furnace sector to the position where the thin film is deposited may be to rotate the detected furnace sector so that the upper region of the detected furnace sector is disposed in a direction of the substrate.

The method may further include, before refilling the detected furnace sector with the source material, quantifying an amount of the source material to be filled.

In accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to deposit an uniform thin film on the whole surface of a substrate by supplying a vaporized source material in a sloped direction with respect to the substrate that is moving, and disposing a compensation plate over the substrate.

Moreover, in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, a source material may be refilled without shutting down the whole apparatus by disposing a plurality of evaporation members, selectively interrupting the operation of an evaporation member in which the source material is exhausted, and then refilling the evaporation member whose operation is interrupted with the source material.

Furthermore, in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the deposition of an abnormal thin film that may be generated when refilling a source material and to minimize the generation of particles by disposing two shutters in evaporation members, moving one shutter to a moving direction of a substrate to shut a furnace sector of an evaporation member in which the source material is exhausted, and moving the other shutter to the moving direction of the substrate to open the furnace sector of the evaporation member refilled with the source material.

Exemplary embodiments can be understood in more detail from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a thin film depositing apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual view of the thin film depositing apparatus taken by vertically cutting a cross-section of the thin film depositing apparatus described in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual view illustrating the disposition of a substrate and an evaporation member in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an evaporation member in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a conceptual view of explaining a source material filling method of a plurality of evaporation members in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGs. 6 and 7 are conceptual views of explaining an opening and shutting method of an evaporation member to fill a source material in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

In the figures, the dimensions of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity of illustration. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a thin film depositing apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a conceptual view of the thin film depositing apparatus taken by vertically cutting a cross-section of the thin film depositing apparatus described in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a conceptual view illustrating the disposition of a substrate and an evaporation member in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an evaporation member in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a conceptual view of explaining a source material filling method of a plurality of evaporation members in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and FIGs. 6 and 7 are conceptual views of explaining an opening and shutting method of an evaporation member to fill a source material in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGs. 1 to 4, the thin film depositing apparatus in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber 100 having an inner space, a substrate transferring member 200 for vertically fixing a substrate 1, i.e., a deposition-target substance, and moving the substrate 1 that vertically stands in the inner space, and a plurality of evaporation members 300 for vaporizing a source material and supplying the vaporized source material to the substrate 1, wherein a central extension line of the evaporation member 300 forms an acute angle with a surface of the substrate 1.

As described in FIG. 1, the thin film depositing apparatus further includes a compensation plate 400 disposed between the plurality of evaporation members 300 and the moving substrate 1, a plurality of rotating members 500 connected to the plurality of evaporation members 300 to rotate the plurality of evaporation members 300, respectively, and a plurality of source material filling members 600 for filling the source material into the plurality of evaporation members 300, respectively.

The chamber 100 uses a chamber type of an in-line deposition system. Of course, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the chamber 100 may use an independent single chamber. It is effective to form the chamber 100 in a shape of a polygonal case. A substrate entry through which the substrate 1 comes in and a substrate outlet through which the substrate 1 comes out may be disposed on a side of the polygonal case. The chamber 100 may be connected to various chambers such as a substrate transfer chamber, a thin film deposition chamber, a thin film etch chamber, a buffer chamber and a heating chamber. The chamber 100 may further include a pressure adjusting member for adjusting a pressure of the inner space.

The substrate transferring member 200 moves the substrate 1 vertically with respect to the bottom of the chamber 100, wherein the substrate 1 vertically stands. That is, the substrate 1 moves in one direction from the bottom of the chamber 100.

The substrate transferring member 200 includes a substrate supporting unit 210 for supporting the substrate 1 and a transferring unit 220 for moving the substrate supporting unit 210.

The substrate supporting unit 210 may be formed in a plate shape as described in FIG. 2. It is effective to dispose the substrate 1 in a central region of the substrate supporting unit 210. The shape of the substrate supporting unit 210 may be changed depending on a shape of the substrate 1. Herein, the substrate supporting unit 210 is sticked to a backside of the substrate 1 to support the substrate 1. The substrate supporting unit 210 is disposed horizontally with respect to a sidewall of the chamber 100. As a result, it is possible to vertically stand the substrate 1 within the chamber 100.

Since the transferring unit 220 supports a lower portion of the substrate supporting unit 210, the substrate 1 can stand vertically with respect to the bottom of the chamber 100. The transferring unit 220 moves the substrate supporting unit 210 in one direction in the inner space of the chamber 100. That is, the transferring unit 220 is disposed in a line shape and thus moves the substrate supporting unit 210 along the line. A rail, a motor or conveyer, and an LM guide may be used as the transferring unit 220. At this time, the transferring unit 220 is disposed close to the bottom of the chamber 100, and the substrate supporting unit 210 supporting the substrate 1 vertically stands over the transferring unit 220 against the bottom of the chamber 100.

The present invention is not limited to the above description, and the substrate transferring member 200 can be variously changed. That is, the substrate supporting unit 210 may support the substrate 1 in a frame shape, and the transferring unit 220 moving the substrate supporting unit 210 may be installed on an upper wall of the chamber 100. In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, the transferring unit 220 may be installed on the sidewall of the chamber 100. Moreover, the transferring unit 220 may use various apparatuses capable of moving a substrate under vacuum.

A thin film is formed on the substrate 1 using the plurality of evaporation members 300.

Herein, this embodiment uses the substrate 1 having a large area. Therefore, there occurs a problem that it is difficult to form a thin film on the whole surface of the substrate 1 in spite of using the plurality of evaporation members 300. Thus, a region where the thin film is deposited by the plurality of evaporation members 300 is formed within the chamber 100, and the substrate 1 penetrates the deposition region, so that the thin film can be deposited on the whole surface of the substrate 1.

For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment provides the plurality of evaporation members 300 that is vertically arranged in an upward direction from the bottom of the chamber 100. This is because the substrate 1 moves as vertically standing in the inner space of the chamber 100. In FIG. 1, 3 numbers of evaporation members 300 are arranged. However, the number of the evaporation members 300 is not limited thereto, and it may be less than or greater than 3. However, it is effective to employ 2 or more evaporation members 300 since, in this embodiment, only a certain evaporation member where the source material is exhausted is shut down, and the source material is additionally supplied to the certain evaporation member without shutting down all of the evaporation members 300 when the source material is exhausted. This will be described in detail later.

In this embodiment, it is effective to vertically arrange the plurality of evaporation members 300 with respect to a direction along which the substrate 1 moves. Moreover, it is effective to arrange the plurality of evaporation members 300 on a straight line. Therefore, the thin film is deposited on a portion of the substrate 1 that is adjacent to the plurality of evaporation members 300. At this time, since the substrate 1 moves, the whole portion of the substrate 1 can be adjacent to the plurality of evaporation members 300. As a result, the thin film is deposited on the whole surface of the substrate 1.

In this embodiment, as described in FIGs. 1 to 3, it is effective that the central extension line of the evaporation member 300 forms an acute angle θ1 with the surface of the substrate 1. Herein, the evaporation member 300 acts as a deposition source in a spot shape.

Therefore, in case the central extension line of the evaporation member 300 is vertical to the surface of the substrate 1, i.e., an angle θ1 between the central extension line and the surface of the substrate 1 is 90 °, like a dotted line in FIG. 3, there occurs a problem that the uniformity of the thin film is not constant. Since the evaporation member 300 acts as the deposition source in the spot shape, there occurs a problem that the thin film deposited on a surface region of the substrate 1 corresponding to a central region of the evaporation member 300 is thicker than the thin film deposited on a region around the central region.

Therefore, in accordance with this embodiment, it is possible to enhance the uniformity of the thin film by establishing the angle θ1 between the central extension line of the evaporation member 300 and the surface of the substrate 1 to an acute angle smaller than 90 °. It is effective that the acute angle is in a range of 30 °to 80 °. The acute angle may be changed depending on the number of the evaporation members 300. If the angle θ1 is smaller than 30 °, the thickness of the thin film deposited on the substrate 1 may be smaller. On the other hand, if the angle θ1 is greater than 80 °, the uniformity of the thin film may be reduced.

As described above, the source material vaporized in the evaporation members 300 is supplied slantingly to the surface of the substrate 1 by establishing the angle θ1 to the acute angle. Thus, the vaporized source material can be uniformly supplied to the whole surface of the substrate 1. Herein, in case of establishing the angle θ1 between the central extension line of the evaporation member 300 and the surface of the substrate 1 to the acute angle, the vaporized source material is supplied in a direction from a lower portion to an upper portion of the substrate 1. That is, as mentioned above, the vaporized source material is supplied in a sloped direction. Therefore, it is effective to dispose the evaporation member 300 at the position lower than that of the substrate 1. Herein, as shown in FIG. 1, it is effective to dispose the evaporation member 300 arranged at the uppermost part at a central region of the substrate 1. Moreover, it is preferable that the evaporation member 300 arranged at the lowest part is disposed at a lower region of the substrate 1.

In accordance with this embodiment, it is effective that the compensation plate 400 exposing a portion of the substrate 1 is disposed between the substrate 1 and the evaporation members 300.

It is possible to further improve the uniformity of the thin film deposited on the substrate 1 through the use of the compensation plate 400.

In case of disposing the evaporation members 300 to form the acute angle with the surface of the substrate 1, a deposition range by the evaporation members 300 forms a rough elliptical shape. At this time, when the substrate 1 moves in a region of the elliptical shape, the thickness of the thin film deposited in a peripheral region of the ellipse may be non-uniform. Thus, this embodiment employs the compensation plate 400 that opens a portion of the substrate 1 corresponding to the evaporation members 300 to expose only a portion of the substrate 1 corresponding to a central region of the deposition range of the evaporation members 300. As a result, it is possible to further enhance the uniformity of the thin film deposited on the substrate 1.

The compensation plate 400 has an opening region or an incision region of a slit shape in its central region as shown in FIG. 2. At this time, the substrate 1 is exposed through the opening region of the slit shape.

To form the opening region of the slit shape, the compensation plate 400 may include a first compensation plate and a second compensation plate apart from the first compensation plate. Herein, a space between the first compensation plate and the second compensation plate may be the opening region or the incision region of the slit shape.

At this time, as described in FIG. 2, it is effective that the opening region of the slit shape has a lower portion whose area is greater than that of an upper portion. This is because the evaporation members 300 slantingly supply the vaporized source material to the substrate 1 in a direction from the lower portion to the upper portion of the substrate 1 as before-mentioned, and the vaporized source material may be concentrated on the upper portion of the substrate 1. Therefore, it is possible to adjust an amount of the source material supplied to the substrate 1 through the use of the compensation plate 400.

Herein, when setting the minimum distance length at an upper part of the opening region of the slit shape to 1, the maximum distance length at a lower part of the opening region may be in a range of 1.2 to 3. These distance length may be changed depending on the distance length between the compensation plate 400 and the substrate 1, the number of the evaporation members 300 and the angle between the central extension line of the evaporation member 300 and the surface of the substrate 1. It is preferable that the above distance length is an incision distance of the incision region. Herein, the incision distance refers to as a length of a line horizontally extending from one point to the other point of an incised plane of the compensation plate 400. This may be a length of the incised opening.

In this embodiment, it is effective that the compensation plate 400 is fixed in a space between the substrate 1 and the evaporation members 300, and the plurality of evaporation members 300 is arranged at the position corresponding to a central line of the opening of the compensation plate 400. As a result, a portion of the substrate 1 exposed by the compensation plate 400 may be changed depending on a moving direction of the substrate 1.

As described above, the evaporation members 300 are slantingly disposed against the substrate 1 and supply the vaporized source material to the moving substrate 1 through the compensation plate 400 to form the thin film on the surface of the substrate 1.

The evaporation member 300 includes a furnace sector 310 vaporizing the source material 301 and a rotating body 320 rotating as being connected to the furnace sector 310.

The furnace sector 310 includes a furnace 311 whose upper portion is opened and inner space stores the source material 301, a heating unit 312 for heating the furnace 311, a storage unit 313 for storing the furnace 311, and a shutter unit 314 for opening and shutting the storage unit 313 to shut the furnace 311.

Herein, in case of using a hot wire as the heating unit 312, the hot wire may be disposed within the furnace 311 or in a shape of surrounding the outside of the furnace 311. The source material 301 within the furnace 311 is heated and vaporized by heating the furnace 311 using the heating unit 312. At this time, it is effective to form the furnace 311 with a material whose thermal conductivity is excellent. In case of evaporating metal, in general, the metal may include one selected from the group consisting of tungsten (W), alumina (Al₂O₃), pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN), and graphite. In case of evaporating the metal such as aluminum, it is important to select the material of the furnace 311 as a result of considering the reaction with the metal such as the aluminum. Therefore, it is preferable to use a PBN furnace in this embodiment. Through this, the heat of the heating unit 312 is uniformly provided to the furnace 311, so that it is possible to effectively heat the source material 301 within the furnace 311.

To provide the heat energy generated from the heating unit 312 to the substrate 1 at a minimum, it is effective to employ a cooling unit such as a cooling channel at the outside of the heating unit 312.

The furnace 311 is formed in a case shape whose upper portion is opened. It is effective that the inside of the case is filled with the source material 301. It is preferable that the storage unit 313 storing the furnace 311 is also formed in the case shape whose upper portion is opened, and the furnace 311 is stored in the storage unit 313.

In this embodiment, the shutter unit 314 opens and shuts the storage unit 313. That is, the opened upper portion of the storage unit 313 is shut by the shutter unit 314, and thus it is possible to block the source material vaporized by the furnace 311 from being supplied to the outside.

Herein, the shutter unit 314 includes a first shutter 314-1 disposed at one side of the storage unit 313 and moving in the moving direction of the substrate 1 to shut the upper portion of the storage unit 313, and a second shutter 314-2 disposed at the other side of the storage unit 313 facing with the first shutter 314-1 and moving in the moving direction of the substrate 1 to open the upper portion of the storage unit 313.

Of course, the present invention is not limited thereto, and, in case of omitting the storage unit 313, the shutter unit 314 may directly open and shut the furnace 311. Namely, the first and second shutters 314-1 and 314-2 may directly shut or open an upper portion of the furnace 311 as being disposed at a side of the furnace 311. However, since the furnace 311 is heated to a high temperature, it is preferable to use the storage unit 313.

In this embodiment, it is possible to shut the furnace 311 where the source material is exhausted through the use of the shutter unit 314. Moreover, the furnace 311 may be shut until the furnace 311 where the source material is newly filled is heated to a sufficient heat temperature, and then opened.

As a result, it is possible to fill the source material to the inside of the furnace 311 without interrupting the operation of the whole apparatus.

To fill the source material into the furnace 311 without interrupting the whole apparatus, the thin film depositing apparatus includes the rotating member 500 for rotating the rotating body 320 of the evaporation member 300 and the source material filling member 600 for filling the source material to the inside of the furnace 311 in addition to the shutter unit 314.

That is, this embodiment includes the plurality of evaporation members 300 as illustrated in FIGs. 1 and 5. As shown in FIG. 5, it is noticed that the thin film deposition is performed through three

furnace sectors

310a, 310b and 310c. At this time, as described in FIG. 5 (a), in case the source material within the first furnace sector 310a of the first evaporation member 300 is exhausted, the furnace sector 310a is shut using the shutter unit 314a of the first furnace sector 310a. As a result, it is possible to prevent the deposition of an abnormal thin film by the furnace sector 310a where the source material is exhausted. At this time, since the second and

third furnace sectors

310b and 310c are opened as shown in FIG. 5 (a), it is possible to continuously perform the thin film deposition process. In this case, the thickness of the thin film deposited by the evaporation member 300 may be smaller, which can be compensated by reducing a moving speed of the substrate 1 or increasing an amount of the vaporized source material of the evaporation member 300 where the furnace sector 310 is opened.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a), after shutting the first furnace sector 310a of the first evaporation member 300 using the shutter unit 314a, the evaporation member 300 where the furnace sector 310a is shut as shown with a dotted line of FIG. 1 is rotated in a direction opposite to the substrate 1 through the rotating member 500. This is because the source material filling member 600 is disposed on the other side facing with one side of the chamber 100 adjacent to the substrate 1. As a result, the thin film deposition process may not be interrupted when filling the source material. The rotating member 500 is formed in a frame shape. The plurality of evaporation members 300 is arranged within the frame. Although it is not shown, the rotating member 500 includes a rotating unit for rotating the rotating body 320 of the evaporation member 300. It is effective to use a motor as the rotating unit. The rotating member 500 may further include a fixing unit for slantingly fix the evaporation member 300 with respect to the substrate 1. In the above description, although it is explained that the evaporation member 300 and the rotating member 500 are separately formed, the

members

300 and 500 may be formed as one body.

As described above, after rotating the evaporation member 300 where the furnace sector 310a is shut in the direction opposite to the substrate 1 through the use of the rotating member 500, the source material is filled through the source material filling member 600. For this purpose, the furnace sector 310a is opened by moving the shutter unit 314a that shut the furnace sector 310a. After that, a source material of a source material storage unit 620 is supplied to the furnace sector 310a by extending an extension pipe 610 of the source material filling member 600 to the furnace sector 310a.

Herein, the source material filling member 600 includes the source material storage unit 620 disposed at the outside of the chamber 100 and the extension pipe 610 extendable to the inside of the chamber 100 as penetrating the chamber 100 as shown in FIG. 1. A plurality of source material filling members 600 is prepared to correspond to the plurality of evaporation members 300, respectively. In accordance with another embodiment, the source material is refilled to the plurality of evaporation members 300 using one source material filling member 600.

As described above, after filling the inside of the furnace sector 310a with the source material through the source material filling member 600, the furnace sector 310a is shut again by the shutter unit 314a. This prevents particles from being generated when the furnace sector 310a is rotated. Subsequently, the rotating member 500 rotates the evaporation member 300 in the direction of the substrate 1. At this time, the evaporation member 300 is arranged slantingly against the substrate 1. Then, the furnace sector 310a of the evaporation member 300 is heated, and the thin film deposition process is performed by opening the shutter unit 314a.

As shown in FIG. 5 (b), even in case the source material within the second furnace sector 310b is exhausted, the furnace sector 310b may be shut by the shutter unit 314b and rotated to refill the source material. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the third furnace sector 310c where the source material is exhausted may be also shut by the shutter unit 314c and rotated to refill the source material.

In accordance with this embodiment as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to refill the source material to each furnace sector 310 of the plurality of evaporation members 300 without interrupting the operation of the thin film depositing apparatus. This is because, although the refilling process is performed as the source material within the furnace sector 310 of one evaporation member 300 is exhausted, the deposition process is continuously performed by the remaining evaporation members 300 as shown in FIG. 5.

This embodiment shuts only at least one evaporation member 300 where the source material is exhausted among the plurality of evaporation members 300 each of which has its corresponding furnace sector 310. That is, the shutter unit 314 shuts the furnace sector 310. In this case, at least one evaporation member 300 operates, and it is possible to minimize the deterioration of the productivity due to the shut-down of the whole apparatus by supplying the source material into the furnace sector 310 of the evaporation member 300 whose operation is interrupted.

In this embodiment, since the substrate 1 moves, the furnace sector 310 of the evaporation member 300 is opened and shut using the two shutters 314-1 and 314-2. However, in case the substrate 1 passes over the furnace sector 310 at the moment the furnace sector 310 is shut, i.e., closed, and at the moment the furnace sector 310 is opened, the thin film can be deposited on a portion of the substrate 1 by the source material provided from the furnace sector 310. Thus, there may occur a problem that the uniformity of the thin film is deteriorated.

In this embodiment, the storage unit 313 of the furnace sector 310 is first shut by moving the first shutter 314-1 of the shutter unit 314 in the moving direction of the substrate 1 to the movement of the substrate 1. Moreover, the storage unit 313 of the furnace sector 310 is finally opened by moving the second shutter 314-2 in the moving direction of the substrate 1 to the movement of the substrate 1.

This will be described in detail with reference to FIGs. 6 and 7.

First of all, the shutting of the storage unit 313, i.e., the furnace 311, is explained.

As described in FIG. 6 (a), the furnace 311 is opened by the first and second shutters 314-1 and 314-2 of the shutter unit 314. At this time, in case the source material 301 within the furnace 311 is exhausted below a certain range, the source material filling process is performed. Herein, the detection of the furnace 311 where the source material is exhausted may be performed using a separate sensor.

In case the substrate 1 where a thin film is newly deposited moves to the furnace 311 as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the first shutter 314-1 moves in the moving direction of the substrate 1. As a result, the furnace 311 is shut by the first shutter 314-1 as described in FIG. 6 (c).

Like this, when the substrate 1 moves to the furnace 311, the furnace 311 is shut by moving the first shutter 314-1 in the moving direction of the substrate 1. Therefore, as described in FIG. 6 (a) to (c), the substrate 1 may not be exposed to the source material 301 vaporized in the furnace 311. As a result, it is possible to prevent a thin film from being formed on a portion of the substrate 1 by shutting the furnace 311.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (d), the furnace 311 is secondly shut by moving the second shutter 314-2 in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the substrate 1.

As before-mentioned, the operation of the evaporation member 300 is interrupted by stopping the heating of the furnace 311 after shutting the furnace 311 using the above method. After that, the evaporation member 300 is rotated to the source material filling member 600. Subsequently, the furnace 311 is filled with the source material by opening the first and second shutters 314-1 and 314-2.

At this time, an amount of the source material to be filled into the furnace 311 is quantified. That is, in case the furnace 311 is opened at a corresponding position after exactly measuring and preparing the amount of the source material to be filled into the furnace 311, the source material as much as the measured amount is filled into the furnace 311. For instance, in case the source material of 1 g is used when performing the deposition process one time, the source material of 300 g should be quantified and prepared in advance to perform the deposition process 100 times.

After the filling is completed, the first and second shutters 314-1 and 314-2 are shut. After that, the furnace 311 is disposed at a processing position by rotating the evaporation member 300.

Subsequently, the opening of the storage unit 313, i.e., the furnace 311, is described with reference to FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the furnace 311 is disposed at the processing position. At this time, the substrate 1 moves to the furnace 311, and it is effective to heat the furnace 311 up to a processing temperature.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the first shutter 314-1 moves in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the substrate 1. At this time, the second shutter 314-2 shuts the furnace 311. After that, as illustrated in FIG. 7 (c) and (d), the furnace 311 is opened by moving the second shutter 314-2 in the moving direction of the substrate 1. As a result, a thin film may be deposited from a fore portion of the substrate 1 moving to the furnace 311 by the furnace 311 where the source material 301 is newly filled.

In this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the deposition of an abnormal thin film on the substrate 1 generated when refilling the source material 301 by controlling the opening of the shutters 314-1 and 314-2. As a result, it is possible to freely refill the source material 301, and to enhance the uniformity of the thin film deposited on the substrate 1.

In the above description, the furnace 311 was shut by moving both of the first and second shutters 314-1 and 314-2 before rotating the furnace 311. And, the first and second shutters 314-1 and 314-2 were shut even after the filling of the source material 301. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, it is possible to shut the furnace 311 using only one of the first and second shutters 314-1 and 314-2.

For instance, the furnace 311 is shut by moving the first shutter 314-1 of the furnace 311 where the source material is exhausted. Then, the furnace 311 is rotated. After that, the furnace 311 is opened by moving the first shutter 314-1. Subsequently, the source material 301 is supplied to the inside of the furnace 311, and the furnace 311 is shut by moving the second shutter 314-2. The furnace 311 is rotated to be disposed in the processing direction, i.e., the direction of the substrate 1. Then, the furnace 311 is opened by moving the second shutter 314-2. As a result, it is possible to reduce the unnecessary movement of the shutters and unnecessary processes.

Although the evaporation apparatus, the thin film depositing apparatus and the source material filling method have been described with reference to the specific embodiments, they are not limited thereto. Therefore, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A thin film depositing apparatus, comprising:

a chamber having an inner space;

a substrate transferring member to fix a substrate and move the substrate within the inner space; and

a plurality of evaporation members to supply a deposition source material to the substrate, wherein each of the evaporation members is disposed to allow its central extension line to form an acute angle with a surface of the substrate that moves.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of evaporation members is arranged apart from each other in an upward direction with respect to the bottom of the chamber, at least one of the evaporation members being disposed at a position corresponding to a central region of the substrate and at least one of the evaporation members being disposed at a position corresponding to a lower region of the substrate.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a compensation plate disposed between the substrate and the plurality of evaporation members and including an incision region of a slit shape in a vertical direction at its central region.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of evaporation members is arranged on a central line of the incision region.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 3, wherein an incision distance of the incision region at an upper portion of the compensation plate is smaller than that at a lower portion of the compensation plate.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the evaporation members comprises:

a furnace sector including a furnace filled with the source material, a heating unit to heat the furnace, and a shutter unit to shut and open the furnace; and

a rotating body rotating as being connected to the furnace sector.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the furnace is formed of one selected from the group consisting of tungsten (W), alumina (Al₂O₃), pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN), and graphite.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

a rotating member to rotate the rotating body as being connected to the rotating body; and

a source material filling member to refill the source material into the furnace.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the shutter unit comprises:

a first shutter disposed at one side of the furnace and moving in a moving direction of the substrate to shut an upper region of the furnace; and

a second shutter disposed at the other side of the furnace facing with the first shutter and moving in the moving direction of the substrate to open the upper region of the furnace.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first and second shutters shut and open the furnace, respectively, when the substrate moves to a corresponding evaporation member.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a storage member to store the furnace, wherein the shutter unit is disposed on an outer side of the storage member.
The thin film depositing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate transferring member comprises:

a substrate supporting unit to vertically dispose the substrate with respect to the bottom of the chamber; and

a transferring unit to move the substrate supporting unit.
An evaporation apparatus for depositing a thin film by vaporizing a source material onto a deposition-target substance, the evaporation apparatus comprising:

a furnace sector including a furnace filled with the source material, a heating unit to heat the furnace, and a shutter unit to shut and open the furnace;

a rotating body rotating as being connected to the furnace sector; and

a rotating member to rotate the rotating body as being connected to the rotating body.
The evaporation apparatus of claim 13, wherein the rotating member rotates and fixes the rotating body to allow a central line of the furnace sector to form an acute angle with a surface of the deposition-target substance.
The evaporation apparatus of claim 14, wherein the deposition-target substance moves; and the shutter unit comprises a first shutter disposed at one side of the furnace and moving in a moving direction of the deposition-target substance to shut an upper region of the furnace, and a second shutter disposed at the other side of the furnace facing with the first shutter and moving in the moving direction of the deposition-target substance to open the upper region of the furnace.
A source material filling method of a thin film depositing apparatus that includes a plurality of furnace sectors to deposit a thin film on a substrate using the source material filled therein, and first and second shutters that shut and open upper regions of the plurality of furnace sectors, the method comprising:

detecting a furnace sector where the source material is exhausted;

shutting an upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the first shutter of the detected furnace sector in a moving direction of the substrate;

moving the detected furnace sector to a position where the source material is filled;

refilling the detected furnace sector with the source material by opening the upper region of the detected furnace sector;

shutting the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the substrate;

moving the detected furnace sector to a position where the thin film is deposited; and

opening the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter in the moving direction of the substrate.
The method of claim 16, further comprising, before moving the detected furnace sector to the position where the source material is filled, shutting the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter, wherein the refilling of the detected furnace sector with the source material comprises opening the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the first and second shutters and injecting the source material into the detected furnace sector.
The method of claim 16, further comprising, before moving the detected furnace sector to the position where the thin film is deposited, moving the first shutter in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the substrate.
The method of claim 16, wherein the shutting of the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the first shutter of the detected furnace sector in the moving direction of the substrate and the opening of the upper region of the detected furnace sector by moving the second shutter in the moving direction of the substrate are performed when the substrate moves to the detected furnace sector.
The method of claim 16, wherein the moving of the detected furnace sector to the position where the source material is filled is to rotate the detected furnace sector so that the upper region of the detected furnace sector is disposed in a direction opposite to the substrate, and the moving of the detected furnace sector to the position where the thin film is deposited is to rotate the detected furnace sector so that the upper region of the detected furnace sector is disposed in a direction of the substrate.
The method of claim 16, further comprising, before refilling the detected furnace sector with the source material, quantifying an amount of the source material to be filled.