WO2011160749A1

WO2011160749A1 - Method and device for coating a surface

Info

Publication number: WO2011160749A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/002468
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philipp Stoessel; Holger Heil; Hubert Spreitzer; Bernhard Schubach; Johannes Dasenbrock
Original assignee: Merck Patent Gmbh
Priority date: 2010-06-22
Filing date: 2011-05-18
Publication date: 2011-12-29
Also published as: DE112011102108A5; JP2013536315A; JP5801390B2; CN102947479A; KR20130121080A; KR101780521B1; CN102947479B; DE102010024543A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for coating a surface (1) of a carrier material (2) with molecules (5, 6), said molecules (5, 6) being transferred from a molecular store (3, 4) into a gaseous state and ionised, the electrically charged molecules (5, 6), on the way to the surface, are subjected to at least one electric and/or magnetic field having at least one field component which is perpendicular to the targeted movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6), in order to exert targeted force perpendicular to the targeted movement of said electrically charged molecules (5, 6) onto the electrically charged molecules (5, 6). An electric and/or magnetic focusing device (8), for example a quadrupole field, acts upon the targeted movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) between the molecule store (3, 4) and the surface (1). A filter device (12) is arranged between the molecule store (3, 4) and the surface (1) such that only molecules (5, 6) having a predetermined mass-charge ratio can reach the surface (1) through the filter device (12). The electrically charged molecules (5, 6) are prevented from impacting the surface (1) for predetermined periods of time by means of suitable electric and/or magnetic fields or means of temporally changeable filter devices (14). This enables the structured coating of the surface to take place.

Description

Method and device for coating a surface

The invention relates to a method for coating a surface of a carrier material with molecules, wherein the molecules are converted from a molecule supply into a gaseous state and ionized, wherein the electrically charged molecules in an electric field perform a directed movement in the direction of the surface and wherein the molecules hit the surface and be deposited there.

In numerous microtechnical products, the coating of a surface of a carrier material with a coating material represents an important process step in the production of microtechnical products. Various coating methods are known in practice which, depending on the respective requirements, in particular of the coating material and the final product, the desired coating of the carrier material enable.

The coating of a carrier material with an organic material, as is necessary, for example, for the production of OLEDs, OFETs or organic solar cells, in practice often represents a production step which is decisive for the quality of the end product and with regard to the production costs Molecules of the coating material which have molecular weights in the range of 200-1000 g / mol and also significantly moreover, numerous otherwise customary and suitable coating methods can not be used. In the production of OLEDs, it must also be taken into account that a microstructured application of the coating on the surface of the carrier material is necessary in order to be able to produce individual pixels of the display at a distance from one another and to be able to control them independently of one another later on. This also applies to other organic electronic devices, for example for the production of printed conductors.

The coating of the surface of the carrier material in the production of OLEDs is currently usually carried out by a thermally induced Evaporation of the organic coating material in vacuo and its subsequent deposition on the surface to be coated. To coat individual pixels, this is covered by a grid-shaped shadow mask, which leaves only the pixels to be coated and shields the non-coated areas of the surface. However, it has been found that this coating method is associated with considerable disadvantages in practice.

In order to enable an economically useful, sufficiently high coating rate, the organic coating material has to be converted into the gaseous state at the highest possible evaporation temperature. However, the high evaporation temperatures lead to a strong thermal load of the carrier material and the coating device. In particular, the regularly used shadow masks are considerably mechanically stressed by high evaporation temperatures, so that unwanted deformations and aberrations can hardly be reliably avoided, especially in the case of large-format shadow masks. For this reason, the use of shadow masks for microstructuring the coating of a surface currently sees an upper limit for the largest possible format, which can still be produced without major aberrations and with a sufficiently low scrap.

The coating materials which can be used for a coating are also subject to restrictions. Currently, with thermal evaporation, coating materials having a molecular weight of up to about 1000 g / mol can be used. If the molecular mass significantly exceeds this value, then the stability of the large molecules is often no longer sufficient, so that the molecules are thermally broken up and destroyed. The proportion of decomposition products increases with increasing evaporation temperature and reduces the purity of the coating material and thus the quality of the coating.

However, an important problem of the currently used coating methods is the often inefficient use of the evaporated coating material for coating the surface, typically only 1-10% of the vaporized material is deposited on the surface of the substrate to be coated. The far greater proportion of the evaporated coating material is deposited within the coating device and in particular on the particular shadow mask used and leads to a rapid contamination of the coating device and the shadow masks. The coating apparatus and in particular the vacuum chamber in which the coating process is carried out, must be cleaned regularly, so that longer machine life is unavoidable. Also, the shadow masks used must be regularly replaced and cleaned to minimize aberrations as possible.

When different coating materials are successively used, as is essential for the fabrication of OLEDs or other organic electronic devices, cross-contamination of various coating materials often occurs when used sequentially during the manufacturing process to coat the surface. Frequent cleaning of the coating device and in particular of the shadow masks is necessary in order to avoid undesired contamination with adhering the same or different coating material from previous coating operations.

In order to increase the yield of molecules deposited on the surface, an electric field may be generated between the molecular reservoir from which the molecules are converted by vaporization into a gaseous state and the surface to be coated, which ionized during or immediately after evaporation and thereby accelerate electrically charged molecules towards the surface. In this way, a preferential direction is created for the vaporized and moving, electrically charged molecules, which results in a greater proportion of the molecules being deposited on the surface. However, it has been found that excessively high field strengths and excessive acceleration of the electrically charged molecules thereby caused can be detrimental and can cause the molecules to impinge too rapidly on the surface to be coated, and in the process

Impacts are destroyed or break into decomposition products and thereby the purity of the coating is reduced.

It is therefore considered to be an object of the present invention to improve a coating method of the type mentioned above, so that a higher yield of attaching to the surface to be coated molecules of the coating material, a higher purity of the coating and lower manufacturing costs are possible. Another task of the present

The invention is to improve a coating method of the type mentioned above, that the molecules can be applied structured on the surface to be coated.

This object is achieved in that the electrically charged molecules are exposed to at least one electric and / or magnetic field on the way to the surface that at least one field component perpendicular to the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules to one perpendicular to the directed movement the electrically charged molecules directed force acting on the electrically charged molecules. Due to the perpendicular to the movement of the electrically charged molecules component of an electric or magnetic field, a likewise directed perpendicular to the direction of movement of the molecules force is exerted. The molecules can be deflected and influenced in their direction on their way to the surface. In this way it can be prevented that a significant or predominant proportion of the evaporated molecules outside the surface to be coated impinges in the coating apparatus and is lost for the desired coating of the surface.

According to one embodiment of the inventive concept, it is provided that an electric current flows between the molecule reservoir and the surface or magnetic focusing means acts on the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules. As a focusing device, for example, a Wehnelt cylinder or a system of magnetic lenses are used. Suitable electrical or magnetic or electromagnetic focusing devices are well known in practice and can be adapted in a simple manner to the respective requirements of the coating process. By using a suitable focusing device, the molecules converted into an ionized and gaseous state can be bundled into a molecular ion beam and directed onto the surface to be coated almost loss-free.

A particularly advantageous embodiment of the inventive concept as a consequence provides that an aperture device is arranged between the molecule reservoir and the surface in such a way that only molecules with a predeterminable mass-charge ratio pass through the diaphragm device to the surface. With a suitable diaphragm device, which is expediently arranged according to a focusing device, it can be ensured that only the molecules intended for a coating reach the surface to be coated, while, for example, molecules broken down in an evaporation process or their decomposition products or impurities due to a deviating mass Charging ratio of the diaphragm device and prevented from reaching the surface to be coated. The suitable for the coating method aperture device and the combinations of a diaphragm device with a preceded

Focusing device are known from practice, for example in connection with mass spectrometers.

It is preferably provided that at least one quadrupole field acts on the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules between the molecule reservoir and the surface.

An electric quadrupole field can be inexpensively generated and controlled. Which depends on the movement of the electrically charged molecules. acting forces allow a reliable influence on the direction of flight of the molecules. With an electric quadrupole field, which is acted upon by a suitable alternating voltage, a very precise mass separation of the electrically charged molecules can be carried out in a simple manner in order to ensure a high purity of the molecules of the coating material used for the coating can. The high purity not only leads to a correspondingly good coating quality, but also to a prolonged durability and functionality of the coated surface, for example in the case of OLEDs, since it is known that even small amounts of impurities can significantly disturb the properties of an OLED.

It is also conceivable that a magnetic quadrupole field is provided for focusing and deflecting the electrically charged molecules. Usually, a plurality of magnetic quadrupole fields are arranged one behind the other in order to enable all-round focusing and advantageous influencing of the direction of flight of the electrically charged molecules.

It is also possible that as an alternative or in addition to other devices, the electrically charged molecules are influenced on their way from the molecule supply to the surface to be coated, known from the prior art for directing the direction of electrically charged particles. It could also be a fast ion trap or any suitable for this application electrostatic or magnetic deflection system are used. The suitably used method of influencing the direction of the molecular ion beam from electrically charged molecules, for example, depending on the intensity of the electrically charged

Molecular ion beam, the predetermined deflection angles and the molecular masses relevant for a coating of the surface for each individual application can be selected.

In order to dispense with the use of shadow masks or the like in a microstructured coating of the surface, it is provided that the electrically charged molecules during a Movement be diverted from the molecule supply to the surface by means of time-varying electric and / or magnetic fields. The electrically charged molecules can be deflected, for example, by means of two pairs of deflection capacitor during their movement onto the surface, so that a molecular ion beam previously generated by a focusing device is precisely directed at those

Areas of the surface can be directed to be coated with the molecules.

In this way, the structured coating of the surface and thus the coating of individual pixels (pixels) is possible. The size and shape of the individual pixels and the arrangement of the pixels depend on the desired resolution, the intended use and the desired activation (active matrix or passive matrix). Those skilled in the art of organic electroluminescent devices will know how to design the pixels for their application.

As with a Braun tube or an oscilloscope, it can be provided that the electric fields generated by the two deflection capacitor pairs are oriented essentially perpendicular to one another and to the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules. For such a coating of the surface of an OLED, for example, the beam deflection devices and control methods known from the tube screens can be adopted and used.

In order to coat side by side delimited and non-merging areas of the surface with the electrically charged molecules, it is provided according to an embodiment of the inventive idea that by means of suitable electrical and / or magnetic fields or by means of temporally variable aperture devices for predetermined periods of time an impact of the electric charged molecules on the surface is prevented. By the

Applying additional deflection electric fields or by using rotating mechanical diaphragms may be a molecular ion beam of the electrically charged molecules are interrupted at predetermined intervals, so that individual areas of the surface coated and other areas are not coated.

By using time-varying electrical and / or magnetic fields, with which the molecular ion beam previously generated can be directed to a predeterminable position of the surface, in combination with optional in selectable electric deflection fields or rotating diaphragm systems can be achieved that from the existing molecule supply a microstructured coating of the surface of the substrate to be coated can be made almost loss-free. Since shadow masks do not have to be used and unwanted deposition of gaseous molecules in the coating apparatus or outside of the surface to be coated can be prevented, precise microstructured surface coatings can be produced quickly and inexpensively. Longer set-up, changing or cleaning times are not required, so that in conjunction with a largely error-free, or appropriately corrected imaging geometry reliable and precise, even structured coating of large surfaces is possible. In contrast to the use of shadow masks, even large-format surfaces can be manufactured or coated substantially free from aberrations and without the risk of increasing contamination or cross-contamination.

To support a microstructuring of the surface to be coated, it is provided that to be coated surface areas opposite to the electrically charged molecules are electrically charged and surface areas to be kept with the electrically charged molecules qualitatively coinciding and thus usually also positively charged before with a coating by the electrically charged molecules is started. Due to the spatially varying charge ratios, the electrically charged molecules approaching the surface are attracted to those regions and preferably deposited there, in which an opposite surface charge was generated. In contrast, the electrically charged molecules repelled and kept away from those surface areas by a surface charge of the same name, which should be kept free of the coating material and therefore charged the same name.

In order to avoid an excessively high impact velocity of the electrically charged molecules upon impact with the surface and to reduce the risk of breakage of the molecule during the impact on the surface to be coated, it is provided that in an area in front of the surface of the movement the electrically charged molecules counteracting electric field is generated and the electrically charged molecules are braked before hitting the surface. In this way, even very large electrically charged molecules can be used to coat the surface, which would be regularly destroyed in an unbraked impact on the surface to be coated and broken up into smaller fragments. This can be effected, for example, by the surface to be coated carrying a surface charge of the same name, so that the approaching electrically charged molecules are slowed down.

At a later deceleration of the electrically charged molecules, a gentle impact of the molecules on the surface to be coated can be ensured. The molecules can therefore be arbitrarily accelerated in the desired direction after their ionization by generating a suitable acceleration field, without their destruction would have to be feared when hitting the surface.

Since the kinetic energy of the individual molecules required for the molecular ion beam can be generated by acceleration fields, it is not necessary to transfer additional kinetic excitation to the molecules as soon as the molecules are transferred to the gaseous state and ionized. The method of ionization can therefore be selected with regard to a high ion yield and as non-destructive ionization as possible. A particularly gentle and non-destructive ionization method, for example, is the photoionization, in which light of a predetermined wavelength is irradiated and used to excite an electron of the molecule. Due to the predetermined wavelength of the irradiated photons, the preferably excited electrons can be selected precisely and their excitation be specified so that the

Excitation energy is approximately equal to or slightly larger than the ionization energy of a given type of molecule. In this case, a gentle and particularly efficient ionization of the selected type of molecule in the molecule supply can be effected while at the same time preventing other molecules from being ionized with a different excitation energy of the external electrons. As a result, a selection can already be made during the ionization of the molecules from the molecule supply and a marked reduction of impurities can be made possible.

Particularly advantageous is the use of a laser-induced 2-photon absorption for ionization of the molecules of the molecule supply is considered. Particularly in connection with the use of organic coating materials for coating an OLED, good absorption coefficients result in the 2-photon absorption, so that an effective and gentle ionization of the OLED materials can be carried out.

The photoionization or the laser-induced 2-photon absorption and the resulting ionization of the coating material can be carried out intermittently or in a pulsed manner. In this way, the molecular ion beam used for the coating can be largely generated or interrupted at will. In conjunction with the likewise easily predeterminable lateral deflection of the

Molecular ion beam can be a highly accurate spatially resolved coating with the electrically charged molecules without significant amounts of molecules already dissolved out of the molecule supply on the way to the surface to be coated must be deflected and discarded. The loss of molecules from the molecule supply is therefore extremely low. For that reason, no noticeable Contamination of the coating apparatus to be feared, which in short time intervals, a complex cleaning of the apparatus

would require.

However, there are other methods and procedures for

Ionization of the molecules conceivable and depending on the particular coating material optionally appropriate.

Other suitable ionization methods are electron impact ionization (El), chemical ionization (Cl), gentle ionization (Sl), field ionization (Fl), field desorption (FD), liquid injection field desorption ionization (LIFDI), fast atom bombardment (FAB), electrospray Ionization (ESI), Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI), Atmospheric Pressure Photo Ionization (APPI), Atmospheric Pressure Laser Ionization (APLI), Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption / Ionization (MALDI), Single Photon Ionization (SPI), Resonance Enhanced Multi Photon Ionization (REMPI), Thermal Ionization (Tl), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), and Glow Discharge Ionization (GI).

It is envisaged that molecules from at least two different molecular stocks will successively or alternately be converted to a gaseous state and used to coat the surface. In this way, for example, OLEDs can be produced very rapidly, the pixels of each of which are composed of individual regions of coating materials which can shine in different colors.

It is further contemplated that molecules from at least two different molecular stocks are simultaneously converted to a gaseous state and used to coat the surface. In this way, for example, OLEDs can be produced which

Layers containing a mixture of at least two

Materials included. This is important, for example, for the production of doped emission layers, as are conventionally used in accordance with the prior art, or doped hole or electron transport layers. It is also possible to use more than two materials in this way simultaneously applied to the surface, for example, three, four or five different materials. For example, it is possible to produce so-called "mixed HOSF systems with two or more host materials and one or more dopants.

An advantage of this doping method over the conventional coating methods is that the degree of doping can be set more precisely. This is particularly important when only a small degree of doping is used and small deviations from the degree of doping can already have great effects on the properties of the electronic devices.

The coating process according to the invention makes it possible to apply organic, organometallic and inorganic materials to a surface. The process can be used not only for low molecular weight compounds, but also for relatively high molecular weight compounds, such as oligomers, dendrimers, fullerene derivatives, graphene derivatives, etc., as by gentle ionization methods, these compounds can be ionized undecomposed. This is a further advantage over conventional gas-phase coating processes in which higher molecular weight compounds often undergo thermal decomposition.

Typical classes of molecules used in organic electroluminescent devices are, for example, arylamines as hole transport materials or singlet emitters, aromatic hydrocarbons, in particular those containing anthracene, pyrene, chrysene, benzanthracene, phenanthrene, benzphenanthrene, fluorene or spirobifluorene, as host materials, electron-poor heteroaromatics, in particular containing benzimidazole, triazine or pyrimidine, or aluminum complexes as electron transport materials, carbazole derivatives, aromatic ketones, aromatic phosphine oxides, triazine or pyrimidine derivatives or

Triphenylene derivatives as triplet matrix materials and iridium or platinum complexes as triplet emitters. The invention also relates to a device for coating surfaces of a carrier material with molecules having a storage means for a supply of molecules, comprising means for vaporizing and ionizing molecules from the supply of molecules, comprising means for generating an electrostatic acceleration field for producing a surface directed movement of the electrically charged molecules and with a holder for a carrier material with a surface to be coated. Such coating devices are already known in practice.

According to the invention, provision is made in the coating apparatus for a device for generating an electric and / or magnetic field with a field component acting on the movement perpendicular to the movement of the electrically charged molecules. In this way, it can be prevented with a suitably generated electric and / or magnetic field that a predominant proportion of the vaporized and ionized molecules from the molecule supply is deposited on a non-coated surface of the coating apparatus.

It is preferably provided that the coating device has at least one device for generating a quadrupole field. Such devices may be readily and inexpensively manufactured or commercially purchased and adapted or configured to affect, for example, a magnetic quadrupole field the direction and focus of the beam of the electrically charged molecules or with a quadrupole alternating electric field a selection of the electrically charged molecules and thus to carry out a cleaning of the coating material.

It is advantageously provided that the coating device has a focusing device and / or a diaphragm device. With the focusing device, a molecular ion beam can be generated from electrically charged molecules. In particular, in combination with a diaphragm device can be ensured that only molecules with a predeterminable mass-charge ratio by the Aperture device pass through to the surface to be coated, so that a very homogeneous, extremely pure coating can be constructed.

In order to enable a microstructured embodiment of the coating of the surface, it is provided that the coating device also has a device for generating time-variable electrical and / or magnetic deflection fields for the purposeful deflection of the molecular ion beam. In conjunction with a time-controllable diaphragm device likewise provided in the coating device, it can be achieved that predetermined areas of the surface are coated with the coating material, while other areas are kept free of the coating material and not coated.

Likewise, it is of course possible to apply several layers of different materials on top of each other. It is likewise possible to apply individual layers over a large area and thus unstructured and to apply structured layers to other layers. Thus, for example, the charge transport layers (hole and electron transport layers) can be applied over a large area and unstructured, and the emission layer is patterned, thus enabling the activation of the individual pixels.

The coating device preferably has a photoionization device. The photoionization device expediently comprises at least one laser, which is aligned with the supply of molecules and is capable of releasing electrically charged molecules from the molecule supply. Alternatively, the device may also have another suitable ionization device.

An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail, which is shown in the drawing. It shows:

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a coating apparatus with a Wehnelt cylinder and an approximately homogeneous, vertical aligned to the direction of flight of the electrically charged molecules

magnetic field,

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a deviating coating device, in which the electrically charged molecules are selected with an electric quadrupole field and are subsequently deflected laterally by means of two pairs of deflection condensers, and FIG

Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of a differently designed coating device in which the molecules are ionized by means of a laser-induced 2-photon absorption and then deflected laterally with a magnetic quadrupole field.

A coating device for a surface 1 to be coated 1 of a carrier material 2, in the illustrated example an OLED, has a first molecular reservoir 3 and a second molecular reservoir 4, in each of which solutions or condensed amounts of organic molecules 5, 6 are stored with which the surface 1 is to be coated. The organic molecules 5, 6 are vaporized with a suitable evaporation device 7 and ionized. The ionization of the molecules 5, 6 can be carried out either with the use of correspondingly suitable evaporation apparatuses 7 simultaneously with the evaporation or in a subsequent method step with the aid of a suitable ionization apparatus. Subsequently, the vaporized and electrically charged molecules 5, 6 by means of a

Focusing device 8, for example by means of a Wehneltzylinders, bundled into a molecular ion beam 9 (solid line) and 10 (dashed line) and accelerated in the direction of an apparatus 11 for generating an electric and / or magnetic field, the at least one acting on the movement field component perpendicular for moving the electrically charged molecules 5, 6.

The device 11 generates, for example, a magnetic field which is directed perpendicular to the direction of movement of the electrically charged molecules 5, 6 and, due to the Lorentz force exerted on the moving molecules 5, 6, a circular movement of the electrically charged Molecules 5, 6 forces. The radius of the forced circular motion depends not only on the magnetic field, but also on the mass charge ratio and the velocity of the electrically charged molecules 5, 6. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the field lines of the magnetic field are directed to the viewer to perpendicular to the plane and divert the positively charged molecules 5, 6 in the plane on a circular arc segment approximately 90 ° to the right. When the molecular ion beam 9, 10 of the respective molecules 5, 6 leaves the device 11 with the magnetic field, the molecular ion beam 9, 10 is already aligned with the surface 1 to be coated.

Subsequent to the device 11, a diaphragm device 12 is arranged so that only molecules 5, 6 coincide with one another

Mass-charge ratio, the aperture device 12 can traverse. In this way, a single-species molecular ion beam 9, 10 is generated and all contaminants or contaminating molecules from the molecular ion beam 9, 10 are discarded.

Subsequently, the molecule ion beam 9, 10 is subjected by means of a deflection device 13 to a time-variable deflection and directed in a targeted manner to the respective areas of the surface 1 to be coated. The deflection device 13 can consist, for example, of two mutually perpendicular pairs of plate capacitors, as is known, for example, in oscilloscopes or cathode ray tubes. By means of the deflection device 13, the molecular ion beam 9, 10 can be guided in a predeterminable movement pattern over the surface 1 in order to coat it.

In the exemplary embodiment shown by way of example in FIG. 1, a further diaphragm device 14 is arranged between the deflection device 13 and the surface 1 to be coated, with which the molecular ion beam 9, 10 can be interrupted at intervals which can be predetermined in time or transmitted to the surface 1. In this way, with the molecule ion beam 9, 10 impinging intermittently on the surface 1, individual points 15 can be formed with the coating layer desired in each case. material, or the respective molecules 5, 6 are generated, wherein the points 15 spaced from each other and arranged adjacent points 15 can be successively made of different molecules 5, 6 to form individually controllable pixels (pixels) of an OLED.

In an embodiment which is likewise shown schematically and by way of example in FIG. 2, the molecules 5 in the molecule reservoir 3 are vaporized into a gaseous state. A laser beam of a laser 16 is directed into the molecule supply 3. The ionized by the laser 16 and ionized molecules 5 are then combined with the focusing device 8 to a molecular ion beam 9 and fed into an AC voltage applied quadrupole electric field device 17. The suitably operated quadrupole field device 17 allows very precise selection and passage of molecules 5 having a predeterminable charge-to-mass ratio, while other molecules having a different charge-to-mass ratio are laterally rejected and do not reach the surface 1 to be coated , Subsequently, the molecule ion beam 9 is subjected to a deflection that is variable over time by means of the deflection device 13 and directed in a targeted manner to the areas of the surface 1 to be coated in each case.

Merely to illustrate the possibilities of variation which are given for the individual components, a again different coating device is shown by way of example in FIG. 3. From the molecule reservoir 3, individual molecules 5 are dissolved out and ionized by the laser 16 by a 2-photon absorption. By appropriate selection and specification of the wavelength of the laser beam, the molecules 5 intended for the coating can be selectively excited and ionized, whereas impurities or other molecules are not excited or ionized.

By means of a suitable accelerator device 18, the ionized molecules 5 are withdrawn from the molecule supply 3 and are bundled to form a molecular ion beam 9. The molecular ion beam 9 is directed into a device 19 with which generates a quadrupole magnetic field becomes. In the magnetic quadrupole field, the focusing of the molecular ion beam 9 and its direction at an exit from the device 19 can be predetermined.

The present application is primarily concerned with the coating of surfaces for the production of organic electroluminescent devices. However, the described method can be used equally without any inventive step for the coating of surfaces for the production of other electronic devices, for example organic thin-film transistors, organic field-effect transistors or organic solar cells.

Claims

claims

A process for coating a surface of a support material with molecules, wherein the molecules are transferred from a molecular reservoir to a gaseous state and ionized, wherein the electrically charged molecules in an electric field make a directed movement in the direction of the surface and wherein the molecules on the Impact surface and be deposited there, characterized in that the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) are exposed on the way to the surface (1) at least one electric and / or magnetic field, the at least one field component perpendicular to the directed movement of electrically charged molecules (5, 6) to exert a force directed perpendicularly to the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) on the electrically charged molecules (5, 6).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that between the molecule supply (3, 4) and the surface (1) an electrical and / or magnetic focusing device (8) acts on the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6).

3. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that between the molecule supply (3, 4) and the surface (1) an aperture device (12) is arranged so that only

Molecules (5, 6) reach the surface (1) through the diaphragm device (12) with a predeterminable mass-to-charge ratio.

4. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 3,

characterized in that between the molecule supply (3, 4) and the surface (1) at least one quadrupole field (17, 19) acts on the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6).

5. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) during the movement of the molecule supply (3, 4) to the surface (1) by means of time-varying electrical and / or be deflected magnetic fields.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the

electrically charged molecules (5, 6) are deflected by means of two Ablenkkondensatorpaare during movement on the surface (1).

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the electric fields generated by the two Ablenkkondensatorpaaren substantially perpendicular to each other and to the directed movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) are aligned.

8. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 7,

characterized in that by means of suitable electrical and / or magnetic fields or by means of time-variable diaphragm devices (14) for predeterminable periods of time, an impact of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) on the surface (1) is prevented.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized

characterized in that surface areas to be coated opposite to the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) are electrically charged and surface areas to be kept are charged with the same name, before with a

Coating is started.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in an area in front of the surface (1) of the movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6) counteracting electric field is generated and electrically Charged molecules (5, 6) are decelerated before impinging on the surface (1).

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized

in that the gaseous state transferred molecules (5) of the molecule supply (3) are ionized by photoionization or by laser-induced 2-photon absorption.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the photoionization of the molecules (5) of the molecule supply (3) is carried out temporally intermittent or pulsed.

13. The method according to one or more of claims 1 to 12,

characterized in that molecules (5, 6) from at least two different molecular stores (3, 4) successively or alternately converted into a gaseous state and used for coating the surface (1).

14. An apparatus for coating a surface of a support material with molecules having a supply of molecular storage, comprising means for evaporating and ionizing molecules from the supply of molecules, comprising means for generating an electrostatic acceleration field for generating surface directed movement of the means loaded molecules and with a holder for one

Carrier material with a surface to be coated, characterized in that in the coating device a

Device (11) for generating an electric and / or magnetic field with a force acting on the field component is perpendicular to the movement of the electrically charged molecules (5, 6).

15. Coating device according to claim 14, characterized in that the coating device has an electrical and / or magnetic focusing device (8).

16. Coating device according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the coating device has at least one device for generating a quadrupole field (17, 19).

17. Coating device according to one of claims 14 to 16, characterized in that the coating device has a diaphragm device (12).

18. Coating device according to one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that the coating device, a device (13) for generating time-varying electric and / or magnetic deflection fields for the purposeful deflection of a molecular ion beam (9,10) of electrically charged molecules (5, 6).

19. Coating device according to one of claims 14 to 18, characterized in that the coating device has a Photoionisationseinrichtung.