KR102788970B1 - Film forming apparatus, film forming method and manufacturing method of electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The film forming apparatus of the present invention is a film forming apparatus for forming a film material on a substrate through a mask, the apparatus including: first and second substrate supporting portions which are arranged in a chamber and support a first peripheral portion of the substrate and a second peripheral portion opposite to the first peripheral portion, respectively, and which can be independently raised and lowered; a substrate adsorption means which is arranged above the first and second substrate supporting portions and for adsorbing the substrate; and a control portion, wherein the control portion controls the substrate adsorption means so that, when the substrate is separated from the substrate adsorption means, separation proceeds sequentially from the first peripheral portion toward the second peripheral portion, and controls the first substrate supporting portion and the second substrate supporting portion to be sequentially lowered in accordance with the timing at which the separation proceeds.

Description

Film forming apparatus, film forming method, and manufacturing method of electronic device {FILM FORMING APPARATUS, FILM FORMING METHOD AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE}

The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus, a film forming method, and a method for manufacturing an electronic device.

In the manufacture of an organic EL display (organic EL display), when forming an organic light-emitting element (organic EL element; OLED) that constitutes the organic EL display, an organic layer or a metal layer is formed by depositing a deposition material evaporated from an evaporation source of a film forming device onto a substrate through a mask having a pixel pattern formed thereon.

In a deposition apparatus of the upward deposition method (depo-up), an evaporation source is installed at the bottom of a vacuum vessel of the deposition apparatus, a substrate is placed at the top of the vacuum vessel, and deposition is performed on the lower surface of the substrate. In this deposition apparatus of the upward deposition method, the periphery of the lower surface of the substrate is supported by the support part of the substrate holder so as not to damage the organic layer/electrode layer formed on the lower surface, which is the deposition surface. In this case, as the size of the substrate increases, the central portion of the substrate that is not supported by the support part of the substrate holder sags due to its own weight, which is one factor that reduces the deposition precision. Sagginess due to the self-weight of the substrate may also occur in deposition apparatuses of methods other than the upward deposition method.

A technology using an electrostatic chuck is being examined as a method for reducing sagging due to the weight of a substrate. That is, an electrostatic chuck is installed on the upper part of the substrate, and the upper surface of the substrate supported by the support part of the substrate holder is attracted to the electrostatic chuck so that the central part of the substrate is pulled by the electrostatic force of the electrostatic chuck, thereby reducing the sagging of the substrate.

However, in this method of using an electrostatic chuck to adsorb a substrate, there may be problems such as damage to the substrate when separating the substrate from the electrostatic chuck after deposition, or the separation taking time, thereby increasing the overall process time (tact time).

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 9, when the substrate (S) is separated, if the support member (220) of the substrate holder is separated from the substrate (S) and the adsorption voltage applied to the electrostatic chuck (240) is turned OFF, there is a risk that the substrate (S) separated from the electrostatic chuck (240) may be damaged when it falls onto the support member (220) due to impact. Meanwhile, in order to prevent such damage, if the substrate support member (220) is kept in substantial contact with the substrate (S) during separation, the substrate (S) is restrained and the time required for substrate separation increases.

Accordingly, the present invention, taking the above problems into consideration, aims to more effectively separate a substrate from an electrostatic chuck.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a film forming apparatus is a film forming apparatus for forming a film material on a substrate through a mask, the film forming apparatus including: first and second substrate supporting portions which are arranged in a chamber and support a first peripheral portion of the substrate and a second peripheral portion opposite to the first peripheral portion, respectively, and which can be independently raised and lowered; a substrate adsorption means which is arranged above the first and second substrate supporting portions and for adsorbing the substrate; and a control portion, wherein the control portion controls the substrate adsorption means so that, when the substrate is separated from the substrate adsorption means, separation proceeds sequentially from the first peripheral portion toward the second peripheral portion, and controls the first substrate supporting portion and the second substrate supporting portion to be sequentially lowered in accordance with the timing at which the separation proceeds.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a film forming method is a film forming method for forming a film material on a substrate through a mask inside a chamber of a film forming apparatus, the method including: a step of supporting a first peripheral portion and a second peripheral portion opposite to the first peripheral portion of the substrate brought into the chamber with a first substrate support portion and a second substrate support portion, respectively; a step of adsorbing a back surface of the substrate opposite to a film forming surface to substrate adsorption means arranged above the first and second substrate support portions; a step of forming a film material released from a film forming source onto the film forming surface of the substrate through the mask; and a step of separating the substrate from the substrate adsorption means and supporting it with the first and second substrate support portions, wherein in the separating step, the substrate adsorption means is controlled by a control portion so that separation proceeds sequentially from the first peripheral portion toward the second peripheral portion, and the first substrate support portion and the second substrate support portion are controlled to be sequentially lowered in accordance with the timing at which the separation proceeds.

A method for manufacturing an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention is characterized by manufacturing an electronic device using the film forming method.

According to the present invention, the substrate separation from the electrostatic chuck can be performed more effectively.

Additionally, the effects described herein are not necessarily limited and may be any effects described in the present disclosure.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a part of a manufacturing apparatus for an electronic device.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a film forming device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a substrate support unit according to one embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above in the vertical direction (Z direction).
FIG. 4 is a drawing explaining the configuration of an adsorption part of an electrostatic chuck according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a drawing showing a substrate separation process according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a drawing showing a substrate separation process according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing the bias phenomenon during substrate adsorption.
Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing an electronic device.
Figure 9 is a drawing showing a conventional substrate separation process.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments and examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the following embodiments and examples are only illustrative of preferred configurations of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these configurations. In addition, in the following description, the hardware configuration and software configuration, processing flow, manufacturing conditions, size, material, shape, etc. of the device are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention unless specifically stated otherwise.

The present invention can be applied to a device that deposits various materials on the surface of a substrate to form a film, and can be preferably applied to a device that forms a thin film (material layer) of a desired pattern by vacuum deposition. Any material such as glass, a film of a polymer material, or a metal can be selected as the substrate material, and for example, the substrate may be a substrate in which a film such as polyimide is laminated on a glass substrate. In addition, any material such as an organic material or a metallic material (metal, metal oxide, etc.) can be selected as the deposition material. In addition to the vacuum deposition device described below, the present invention can also be applied to a deposition device including a sputtering device or a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) device. Specifically, the technology of the present invention can be applied to a manufacturing device for an organic electronic device (e.g., an organic light-emitting element, a thin film solar cell), an optical member, or the like. Among these, an organic light-emitting element manufacturing device that forms an organic light-emitting element by evaporating a deposition material and depositing it on a substrate through a mask is one of the preferable application examples of the present invention.

<Electronic device manufacturing equipment>

Figure 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating the configuration of a part of a manufacturing device for an electronic device.

The manufacturing device of Fig. 1 is used, for example, for manufacturing a display panel of an organic EL display device for a smartphone. In the case of a display panel for a smartphone, for example, after film formation for forming an organic EL element is performed on a 4.5 generation substrate (about 700 mm × about 900 mm) or a 6th generation full-size (about 1500 mm × about 1850 mm) or half-cut size (about 1500 mm × about 925 mm) substrate, the substrate is cut out to manufacture a plurality of panels of smaller sizes.

An electronic device manufacturing device generally includes a plurality of cluster devices (1) and a relay device connecting the cluster devices (1).

A cluster device (1) comprises a plurality of film forming devices (11) for performing processing (e.g., film forming) on a substrate (S), a plurality of mask stock devices (12) for storing masks (M) before and after use, and a return room (13) arranged in the center thereof. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the return room (13) is connected to each of the plurality of film forming devices (11) and the mask stock devices (12).

In the return room (13), a return robot (14) for returning a substrate and a mask is arranged. The return robot (14) returns a substrate (S) from a pass room (15) of a relay device arranged on the upstream side to a film forming device (11). In addition, the return robot (14) returns a mask (M) between the film forming device (11) and a mask stock device (12). The return robot (14) may be, for example, a robot having a structure in which a robot hand for holding and supporting a substrate (S) or a mask (M) is mounted on a multi-joint arm.

In the film forming device (11) (also called a deposition device), the deposition material stored in the evaporation source is heated by a heater to evaporate and is deposited on a substrate through a mask. A series of film forming processes, such as exchanging the substrate (S) with a transfer robot (14), adjusting the relative positions (alignment) of the substrate (S) and the mask (M), fixing the substrate (S) onto the mask (M), and film forming (deposition), are performed by the film forming device (11).

In the mask stock device (12), new masks and used masks to be used in the film forming process in the film forming device (11) are divided and stored in two cassettes. The return robot (14) returns the used masks from the film forming device (11) to the cassette of the mask stock device (12), and returns the new masks stored in the other cassette of the mask stock device (12) to the film forming device (11).

A cluster device (1) is connected to a pass room (15) for transferring a substrate (S) from the upstream side in the flow direction of the substrate (S) to the cluster device (1), and a buffer room (16) for transferring a substrate (S) on which film formation processing has been completed in the cluster device (1) to another cluster device on the downstream side. A return robot (14) of a return room (13) receives a substrate (S) from the pass room (15) on the upstream side and returns it to one of the film formation devices (11) in the cluster device (1) (e.g., the film formation device (11a)). In addition, the return robot (14) receives a substrate (S) on which film formation processing has been completed in the cluster device (1) from one of a plurality of film formation devices (11) (e.g., the film formation device (11b)) and returns it to a buffer room (16) connected to the downstream side.

Between the buffer room (16) and the pass room (15), a turning room (17) is installed to change the direction of the substrate. A return robot (18) is installed in the turning room (17) to receive the substrate (S) from the buffer room (16), rotate the substrate (S) 180 degrees, and return it to the pass room (15). Through this, the direction of the substrate (S) is made the same in the upstream cluster device and the downstream cluster device, making substrate processing easier.

The pass room (15), buffer room (16), and turning room (17) are so-called relay devices connecting between cluster devices, and the relay devices installed on the upstream and/or downstream sides of the cluster devices include at least one of the pass room, buffer room, and turning room.

The film forming device (11), mask stock device (12), return room (13), buffer room (16), and rotation room (17) are maintained in a high vacuum state during the manufacturing process of the organic light-emitting device. The pass room (15) is usually maintained in a low vacuum state, but may be maintained in a high vacuum state as needed.

In this embodiment, the configuration of an electronic device manufacturing apparatus has been described with reference to FIG. 1, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may have other types of apparatus or chambers, and the arrangement between these apparatuses or chambers may be different.

Below, the specific configuration of the tabernacle device (11) is described.

<Tabernacle Device>

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a film forming device (11). In the following description, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is used in which the vertical direction is the Z direction. When the substrate (S) is fixed parallel to the horizontal plane (XY plane) during film forming, the short-side direction (the direction parallel to the short side) of the substrate (S) is referred to as the X direction, and the long-side direction (the direction parallel to the long side) is referred to as the Y direction. In addition, the rotation angle around the Z axis is expressed as θ.

The film forming device (11) includes a vacuum vessel (21) maintained in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere such as nitrogen gas, a substrate support unit (22) installed in the vacuum vessel (21), a mask support unit (23), an electrostatic chuck (24), and an evaporation source (25).

The substrate support unit (22) is a means for receiving and supporting a substrate (S) returned by a return robot (14) installed in a return room (13), and is also called a substrate holder. The substrate support unit (22) includes a support portion that supports the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate. The detailed configuration of the support portion of the substrate support unit (22) will be described later.

A mask support unit (23) is installed below the substrate support unit (22). The mask support unit (23) is a means for receiving and supporting a mask (M) returned by a return robot (14) installed in a return room (13), and is also called a mask holder.

The mask (M) has an aperture pattern corresponding to a thin film pattern to be formed on a substrate (S) and is placed on a mask support unit (23). In particular, the mask used for manufacturing an organic EL element for a smartphone is a metal mask having a fine aperture pattern formed thereon, and is also called a fine metal mask (FMM).

Above the substrate support unit (22), an electrostatic chuck (24) is installed to fix the substrate by adsorption using electrostatic attraction. The electrostatic chuck (24) has a structure in which an electric circuit such as a metal electrode is embedded in a dielectric (e.g., ceramic material) matrix. The electrostatic chuck (24) may be a Coulomb force type electrostatic chuck, a Johnson-Rahbek force type electrostatic chuck, or a gradient force type electrostatic chuck. It is preferable that the electrostatic chuck (24) is a gradient force type electrostatic chuck. By making the electrostatic chuck (24) a gradient force type electrostatic chuck, even if the substrate (S) is an insulating substrate, it can be well adsorbed by the electrostatic chuck (24). In the case where the electrostatic chuck (24) is a Coulomb force type electrostatic chuck, when a positive (+) and negative (-) potential are applied to the metal electrode, a polarization charge of the opposite polarity to that of the metal electrode is induced in the adsorbent such as the substrate (S) through the dielectric matrix, and the substrate (S) is adsorbed and fixed to the electrostatic chuck (24) by the electrostatic attraction between them.

The electrostatic chuck (24) may be formed as a single plate, or may be formed to have multiple sub-plates. In addition, even when formed as a single plate, it may include multiple electric circuits inside, so that the electrostatic force can be controlled to be different depending on the position within the single plate. That is, the electrostatic chuck may be divided into multiple suction module modules depending on the structure of the embedded electric circuits. The details of the configuration of the suction part of the electrostatic chuck (24) and the control method for applying the suction voltage will be described later, along with the operation control of the support part of the substrate support unit (22).

On the upper part of the electrostatic chuck (24), although not shown, a magnetic force applying means may be installed to apply a magnetic force to the mask (M) during film formation to pull the mask (M) toward the substrate (S) and make it adhere to the substrate (S). The magnet as the magnetic force applying means may be formed of a permanent magnet or an electromagnet and may be divided into a plurality of modules.

In addition, although not shown in Fig. 2, a cooling mechanism (e.g., a cooling plate) that suppresses a temperature rise of the substrate (S) on the opposite side to the adsorption surface of the electrostatic chuck (24) may be installed to suppress deterioration or deterioration of the organic material deposited on the substrate (S). The cooling plate may be formed integrally with the magnet.

The evaporation source (25) includes a crucible (not shown) in which a deposition material to be formed into a film on a substrate is stored, a heater (not shown) for heating the crucible, a shutter (not shown) for preventing the deposition material from flying onto the substrate until the evaporation rate from the evaporation source becomes constant, etc. The evaporation source (25) may have various configurations depending on the purpose, such as a point evaporation source or a linear evaporation source.

Although not shown in Fig. 2, the film forming device (11) includes a film thickness monitor (not shown) and a film thickness calculation unit (not shown) for measuring the film thickness deposited on the substrate.

A substrate Z actuator (26), a mask Z actuator (27), an electrostatic chuck Z actuator (28), a position adjustment mechanism (29), etc. are installed on the upper outer side (atmosphere side) of the vacuum container (21). These actuators and the position adjustment device are composed of, for example, a motor and a ball screw, or a motor and a linear guide. The substrate Z actuator (26) is a driving means for raising and lowering (moving in the Z direction) the substrate support unit (22). Details of the lifting and lowering control of the substrate support unit (22) by driving the substrate Z actuator (26) will be described later. The mask Z actuator (27) is a driving means for raising and lowering (moving in the Z direction) the mask support unit (23). The electrostatic chuck Z actuator (28) is a driving means for raising and lowering (moving in the Z direction) the electrostatic chuck (24).

The position adjustment mechanism (29) is a driving means for adjusting (aligning) the positional misalignment between the electrostatic chuck (24) and the substrate (S) and/or the substrate (S) and the mask (M) within the horizontal plane. That is, the position adjustment mechanism (29) is a horizontal driving mechanism for relatively moving/rotating the electrostatic chuck (24) in at least one of the X-direction, Y-direction, and θ-direction within a plane parallel to the horizontal plane with respect to the substrate support unit (22) and the mask support unit (23). In the present embodiment, the position adjustment mechanism is configured to fix the movement of the substrate support unit (22) and the mask support unit (23) within the horizontal plane and move the electrostatic chuck (24) in the XYθ direction, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the position adjustment mechanism may be configured to fix the movement of the electrostatic chuck (24) in the horizontal direction and move the substrate support unit (22) and the mask support unit (23) in the XYθ direction.

On the outer upper surface of the vacuum vessel (21), in addition to the aforementioned driving mechanism, an alignment camera (20a, 20b) is installed to photograph alignment marks formed on the substrate (S) and the mask (M) through a transparent window installed on the upper surface of the vacuum vessel (21). By recognizing the alignment mark on the substrate (S) and the alignment mark on the mask (M) from images photographed by the alignment cameras (20a, 20b), the respective XY positions or relative misalignment within the XY plane can be measured.

Alignment between the substrate (S) and the mask (M) can be performed in two stages: a first alignment (also called “rough alignment”), which is a first position adjustment process that roughly aligns the positions; and a second alignment (also called “fine alignment”), which is a second position adjustment process that aligns the positions with high precision. In that case, two types of cameras can be used: a camera (20a) for the first alignment that has a low resolution but a wide viewing angle, and a camera (20b) for the second alignment that has a narrow viewing angle but a high resolution. For each of the substrate (S) and the mask (120), alignment marks installed at two locations on a pair of opposing sides are measured by two first alignment cameras (20a), and alignment marks installed at four corners of the substrate (S) and the mask (120) are measured by four second alignment cameras (20b). The number of alignment marks and the cameras for measuring them is not particularly limited, and for example, in the case of fine alignment, marks installed at two opposing corners of the substrate (S) and the mask (120) may be measured by two cameras.

The film forming device (11) has a control unit (not shown). The control unit has functions such as return and alignment of the substrate (S), control of the evaporation source (25), and control of film forming. The control unit can be configured by, for example, a computer having a processor, memory, storage, I/O, etc. In this case, the function of the control unit is realized by the processor executing a program stored in the memory or storage. As the computer, a general-purpose personal computer may be used, or an embedded computer or a PLC (programmable logic controller) may be used. Alternatively, part or all of the functions of the control unit may be configured by a circuit such as an ASIC or an FPGA. In addition, a control unit may be installed for each film forming device, or a single control unit may be configured to control a plurality of film forming devices.

<Board support unit>

The substrate support unit (22) includes a support member that supports the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the substrate support unit (22) as viewed from above in the vertical direction (Z direction). For convenience of understanding, the drawing illustrates a state in which the substrate (S) is supported while being placed on the substrate support unit (22), and other driving mechanisms such as an electrostatic chuck (24) and a substrate Z actuator (26) arranged on the upper portion of the substrate (S) are omitted.

As described above, the support parts constituting the substrate support unit (22) include support parts (221, 222) which can be lifted and lowered independently, and these support parts (221, 222) are installed to support the peripheral parts of two opposite sides of the substrate (S). Specifically, the first support part (221) is installed along one side (e.g., the first long side) of the two opposite sides of the substrate (S), and the second support part (222) is installed along the other side (the second long side). In FIG. 3, the first support part (221) and the second support part (222) are each configured as a single support member extending in the direction of the corresponding side, but the first support part (221) and the second support part (222) may be configured as a plurality of support members arranged along the direction of the corresponding side to form the first support part (221) and the second support part (222), respectively.

The aforementioned substrate Z actuator (26), which is a driving mechanism for driving the substrate support unit (22) to ascend and descend in the Z-axis direction, is installed corresponding to each of these substrate support members (221, 222). That is, two substrate Z actuators are installed at positions corresponding to two opposing long sides of the substrate (S) and are connected to their respective corresponding substrate support members (221, 222). Then, each of these substrate Z actuators is controlled by the control unit so that the corresponding substrate support members (221, 222) can be ascended and descended independently, respectively.

<Configuration of the suction part of the electrostatic chuck (24)>

The configuration of an adsorption portion of an electrostatic chuck according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4a to 4c.

Fig. 4a is a conceptual block diagram of an electrostatic chuck system (30) of the present embodiment, Fig. 4b is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electrostatic chuck (24), and Fig. 4c is a schematic plan view of an electrostatic chuck (24).

The electrostatic chuck system (30) of the present embodiment includes an electrostatic chuck (24), a voltage application unit (31), and a voltage control unit (32), as shown in FIG. 4a.

The voltage application unit (31) applies voltage to generate electrostatic force to the electrode unit of the electrostatic chuck (24).

The voltage control unit (32) controls the magnitude of the voltage applied to the electrode section by the voltage application unit (31), the start time of voltage application, the voltage maintenance time, the voltage application order, etc. according to the progress of the adsorption and separation process of the electrostatic chuck system (30) or the film forming process of the film forming device (11). The voltage control unit (32) can, for example, independently control the voltage application to a plurality of sub-electrode sections (241 to 249) included in the electrode section of the electrostatic chuck (24) for each sub-electrode section. In the present embodiment, the voltage control unit (32) is implemented separately from the control section of the film forming device (11), but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be integrated into the control section of the film forming device (11).

The electrostatic chuck (24) includes an electrode portion that generates an electrostatic adsorption force for adsorbing an adsorbent (e.g., a substrate (S)) to an adsorption surface, and the electrode portion may include a plurality of sub-electrode portions (241 to 249). For example, the electrostatic chuck (24) of the present embodiment includes a plurality of sub-electrode portions (241 to 249) that are divided along a direction parallel to a long side of the electrostatic chuck (24) (Y direction) and/or a direction parallel to a short side of the electrostatic chuck (24) (X direction), as illustrated in FIG. 4C.

Each sub-electrode section includes an electrode pair (33) to which a positive (first polarity) and negative (second polarity) potential are applied to generate an electrostatic attraction force. For example, each electrode pair (33) includes a first electrode (331) to which a positive potential is applied and a second electrode (332) to which a negative potential is applied.

The first electrode (331) and the second electrode (332) each have a comb shape, as illustrated in FIG. 4C. For example, the first electrode (331) and the second electrode (332) each have a plurality of comb-teeth portions and a base to which the plurality of comb-teeth portions are connected. The base of each electrode (331, 332) supplies a potential to the plurality of comb-teeth portions, and the plurality of comb-teeth portions generate an electrostatic adsorption force between themselves and the adsorbed body. Within one sub-electrode portion, the comb-teeth portions of the first electrode (331) are alternately arranged to face the comb-teeth portions of the second electrode (332). In this way, by configuring the comb-teeth portions of the electrodes (331, 332) to face each other and be intertwined with each other, the gap between electrodes to which different potentials are applied can be narrowed, and a large unequal electric field can be formed, so that the substrate (S) can be adsorbed by the gradient force.

In this embodiment, each electrode (331, 332) of the sub-electrode portions (241 to 249) of the electrostatic chuck (24) is described as having a comb shape, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may have various shapes as long as it can generate electrostatic attraction between itself and the absorbent body.

The electrostatic chuck (24) of the present embodiment has a plurality of suction portions corresponding to a plurality of sub-electrode portions. For example, the electrostatic chuck (24) of the present embodiment may have nine suction portions corresponding to nine sub-electrode portions (241 to 249) as shown in Fig. 4c, but is not limited thereto, and may have a different number of suction portions in order to more precisely control suction of the substrate (S).

The plurality of adsorption units may be implemented by having a single physical plate having a plurality of electrode units, or may be implemented by having each of the plurality of physically divided plates having one or more electrode units. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4c, each of the plurality of adsorption units may be implemented to correspond to each of the plurality of sub-electrode units, but one adsorption unit may also be implemented to include a plurality of sub-electrode units.

For example, by controlling the voltage application to the sub-electrode parts (241 to 249) by the voltage control part (32), as described below, three sub-electrode parts (241, 244, 247) arranged in a direction (Y direction) intersecting with the adsorption progress direction (X direction) of the substrate (S) can be made to form one adsorption part. That is, although each of the three sub-electrode parts (241, 244, 247) can be independently voltage-controlled, by controlling the voltage to be applied to these three sub-electrode parts (241, 244, 247) simultaneously, these three sub-electrode parts (241, 244, 247) can function as one adsorption part. As long as substrate adsorption can be performed independently for each of the plurality of adsorption parts, their specific physical structures and electrical circuit structures may be different.

<Substrate (S) separation process from electrostatic chuck (24)>

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 5, a configuration of substrate separation according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The present invention is characterized in that, when separating a substrate from an electrostatic chuck, the adsorption voltage applied to the electrostatic chuck is sequentially turned off for each adsorption area (or the separation voltage is applied for each adsorption area), and furthermore, the adsorption area control of the electrostatic chuck and the drive control of the substrate support are mutually linked. Specifically, the present invention is characterized in that the adsorption area of the electrostatic chuck is controlled while the substrate support is in contact with the substrate, so that the separation is partially initiated from one area, and the substrate support is also sequentially lowered from the side where the separation began in accordance with the separation timing.

FIG. 5 illustrates a detailed process of sequentially separating a substrate (S) from one peripheral edge toward the opposite peripheral edge based on the interlocking of the suction area control of the electrostatic chuck and the drive control of the substrate support. Here, the explanation is made on the premise that three sub-electrode parts (241, 244, 247) arranged along the long side direction (Y direction) of the electrostatic chuck (24) form a first suction part (①), three sub-electrode parts (242, 245, 248) in the central part of the electrostatic chuck (24) form a second suction part (②), and the remaining three sub-electrode parts (243, 246, 249) form a third suction part (③).

When the substrate adsorption voltage (ΔV1) is applied to the entire adsorption area (the first adsorption portion ①, the second adsorption portion ②, and the third adsorption portion ③) of the electrostatic chuck (24), so that the entire surface of the substrate (S) is adsorbed to the electrostatic chuck (24), and both of the substrate support portions (221, 222) are raised and in contact with the peripheral portions of both sides of the substrate (S) (Fig. 5a), the voltage control portion (32) turns off the substrate adsorption voltage (ΔV1) applied to the sub-electrode portions of the electrostatic chuck (24) arranged at a position corresponding to the first support portion (221), i.e., the three sub-electrode portions (241, 244, 247) constituting the first adsorption portion (①) (Fig. 5b). As a result, partial separation is initiated from one peripheral portion of the substrate (S) corresponding to the first adsorption portion (①). In accordance with the timing of this separation initiation, the first support portion (221) supporting the corresponding peripheral portion of the substrate (S) is lowered. Next, the voltage control unit (32) controls the substrate adsorption voltage (ΔV1) applied to the three sub-electrode units (242, 245, 248) of the central portion of the electrostatic chuck (24) constituting the second adsorption unit (②) to be turned off, whereby the substrate separation initiated from one peripheral portion progresses to an area corresponding to approximately half of the substrate (S) including the central portion of the substrate (S) in the direction toward the opposite peripheral portion (Fig. 5c).

Finally, the voltage control unit (32) controls the substrate adsorption voltage (ΔV1) applied to the three sub-electrode units (243, 246, 249) constituting the third adsorption unit (③) to be turned off, thereby lowering the second support unit (222) supporting the other-side peripheral portion of the substrate (S) in time with the timing at which substrate separation from the other-side peripheral portion corresponding to the third adsorption unit (③) begins (Fig. 5d). As a result, substrate separation is completed.

Each left-hand drawing of Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the above separation process, and each right-hand drawing of Fig. 5 is a top view (top view as seen from the electrostatic chuck (24) side) conceptually showing the substrate (S) separation state at each voltage application step. The substrate adsorption area at each step is shown in an oblique line.

In this way, in one embodiment of the present invention, when separating a substrate from an electrostatic chuck, by controlling the operation of the suction area of the electrostatic chuck and the substrate support part in a mutually interlocked manner, the substrate can be separated smoothly without being damaged, and the time required for separation can also be shortened.

FIG. 6 is a drawing for explaining a configuration of substrate separation according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the driving control of the electrostatic chuck's adsorption area and the substrate support portion during substrate separation as described above are set in relation to the adsorption progress direction during substrate adsorption.

That is, in the above-described embodiment, the substrate separation process has been mainly described, but, similarly, when the substrate is adsorbed, the substrate can be adsorbed sequentially from one area to the other area through control of the adsorption area of the electrostatic chuck, control of the drive of the substrate support portion, or control of both of them.

For example, when adsorbing a substrate (S) onto an electrostatic chuck (24), while applying an adsorption voltage to the electrostatic chuck (24), the first support portion (221) among the substrate support portions (221, 222) may be raised first, so that adsorption is initiated first at one edge of the substrate (S) supported by the first support portion (221), and then the second support portion (222) on the opposite side may be raised, so that adsorption progresses toward the edge of the other side through the center of the substrate (S). In addition, as in the case of substrate separation, the substrate adsorption voltage applied to the electrostatic chuck (24) may be sequentially applied to each adsorption region (the first adsorption region ①, the second adsorption region ②, and the third adsorption region ③), so that adsorption progresses sequentially from one side of the substrate (S) toward the other side. In addition, the application of this adsorption voltage to each region may be linked with the driving control of the substrate support portion described above.

Figures 6a to 6c illustrate a process in which, through this process, adsorption is initiated at one peripheral edge (first adsorption portion ①) of the substrate (S) (Figure 6a), passes through the central edge (second adsorption portion ②) of the substrate (Figure 6b), and progresses to the opposite peripheral edge (third adsorption portion ③) (Figure 6c).

FIGS. 6d to 6f illustrate a process of separating the substrate (S) from the electrostatic chuck (24) again after film formation on the substrate (S) on which adsorption has been completed in this manner. As described in the above-described embodiment, the substrate adsorption voltage (ΔV1) applied to the electrostatic chuck (24) is sequentially controlled for each adsorption area by controlling the turning off of the substrate adsorption voltage (ΔV1) applied to the electrostatic chuck (24), and in accordance with the timing of the substrate separation, the substrate support part on the side where separation is to be initiated is first lowered, and then the substrate support part on the other side is controlled to be lowered.

Since the basic operation of the control of the suction area of the electrostatic chuck (24) during substrate separation and the drive control of the substrate support members (221, 222) linked thereto are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. A point to note in this embodiment is that the direction of the drive control of the suction area of the electrostatic chuck and the substrate support member during substrate separation is set to be opposite to the direction of suction progress during substrate suction. That is, as shown in FIGS. 6d to 6f, during substrate separation, the drive control of each suction area and the substrate support member is performed so that the separation progresses in the opposite direction (from the other side area of the substrate (S) supported by the second support member (222) toward the one side area of the substrate (S) supported by the first support member (221)) to the suction progress direction of FIGS. 6a to 6c.

When the substrate is sequentially absorbed from one region to the other by controlling the absorption region of the electrostatic chuck or sequentially driving the substrate support during substrate absorption, the substrate may be absorbed by the electrostatic chuck in a state that is biased toward the direction in which absorption is progressing due to the influence of the sagging existing in the central portion of the substrate. Fig. 7 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing this bias phenomenon. If such a bias occurs in the position of the substrate, there is a concern that the amount of movement may increase in the alignment process with the mask, which is the next process, or, if the bias is excessive, that the substrate may fall during the return process to the subsequent process.

In this embodiment, by controlling the driving of the suction region and the substrate support portion during substrate separation in the opposite direction to the progress of suction, it is possible to eliminate substrate misalignment that may occur during substrate suction. That is, by performing the separation in the opposite direction to suction, the misalignment in the suction progress direction that occurs during suction to the electrostatic chuck (24) is reduced to the opposite direction during separation, so that the substrate separated from the electrostatic chuck can be placed in the original position without misalignment on the substrate support portion. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent an increase in alignment movement amount due to substrate misalignment, substrate dropping, etc.

<Tabernacle Process>

Hereinafter, a film forming method using a film forming device according to the present embodiment will be described.

With the mask (M) supported on the mask support unit (23) in the vacuum container (21), the substrate (S) is introduced into the vacuum container (21). The substrate (S) is absorbed by the electrostatic chuck (24) through the substrate absorption process described above. Next, after the alignment of the substrate (S) and the mask (M), if the amount of relative positional misalignment between the substrate (S) and the mask (M) becomes smaller than a predetermined threshold, the magnetic force applying means is lowered to bring the substrate (S) and the mask (M) into close contact, and then the film forming material is formed on the substrate (S). After the film is formed to a desired thickness, the magnetic force applying means is raised to separate the mask (M), and the substrate (S) is separated from the electrostatic chuck (24) through the substrate separation process described above, and then taken out.

<Method for manufacturing electronic devices>

Next, an example of a method for manufacturing an electronic device using the film forming apparatus of the present embodiment is described. Hereinafter, as an example of an electronic device, the configuration and manufacturing method of an organic EL display device are exemplified.

First, the organic EL display device being manufactured will be described. Fig. 8(a) is an overall view of the organic EL display device (60), and Fig. 8(b) shows a cross-sectional structure of one pixel.

As illustrated in Fig. 8(a), in the display area (61) of the organic EL display device (60), a plurality of pixels (62) each having a plurality of light-emitting elements are arranged in a matrix form. As will be described in detail later, each of the light-emitting elements has a structure including an organic layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. In addition, the pixel referred to here refers to the minimum unit that enables a desired color display in the display area (61). In the case of the organic EL display device according to the present embodiment, the pixel (62) is configured by a combination of a first light-emitting element (62R), a second light-emitting element (62G), and a third light-emitting element (62B) that exhibit different light emission. The pixel (62) is often configured by a combination of a red light-emitting element, a green light-emitting element, and a blue light-emitting element, but may also be a combination of a yellow light-emitting element, a cyan light-emitting element, and a white light-emitting element, and there is no particular limitation as long as there is at least one color.

Fig. 8(b) is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram taken along line A-B of Fig. 8(a). The pixel (62) has an organic EL element having an anode (64), a hole transport layer (65), light-emitting layers (66R, 66G, 66B), an electron transport layer (67), and a cathode (68) on a substrate (63). Of these, the hole transport layer (65), the light-emitting layers (66R, 66G, 66B), and the electron transport layer (67) correspond to organic layers. In addition, in the present embodiment, the light-emitting layer (66R) is an organic EL layer that emits red, the light-emitting layer (66G) is an organic EL layer that emits green, and the light-emitting layer (66B) is an organic EL layer that emits blue. The light-emitting layers (66R, 66G, 66B) are formed in patterns corresponding to light-emitting elements (sometimes called organic EL elements) that emit red, green, and blue, respectively. In addition, the anode (64) is formed separately for each light-emitting element. The hole transport layer (65), the electron transport layer (67), and the cathode (68) may be formed in common with a plurality of light-emitting elements (62R, 62G, 62B), or may be formed for each light-emitting element. In addition, in order to prevent the anode (64) and the cathode (68) from being short-circuited by a foreign substance, an insulating layer (69) is provided between the anode (64). In addition, since the organic EL layer is deteriorated by moisture or oxygen, a protective layer (70) is provided to protect the organic EL element from moisture or oxygen.

In Fig. 8(b), the hole transport layer (65) or the electron transport layer (67) is illustrated as a single layer, but depending on the structure of the organic EL display element, it may be formed as a plurality of layers including a hole block layer or an electron block layer. In addition, a hole injection layer having an energy band structure that enables smooth injection of holes from the anode (64) to the hole transport layer (6 5) may be formed between the anode (64) and the hole transport layer (65). Similarly, an electron injection layer may also be formed between the cathode (68) and the electron transport layer (67).

Next, a specific example of a method for manufacturing an organic EL display device is described.

First, a circuit (not shown) for driving an organic EL display device and a substrate (63) on which an anode (64) is formed are prepared.

An acrylic resin is formed by spin coating on a substrate (63) on which an anode (64) is formed, and the acrylic resin is patterned by lithography so that an opening is formed in the portion where the anode (64) is formed, thereby forming an insulating layer (69). This opening corresponds to the light-emitting area where the light-emitting element actually emits light.

A substrate (63) on which an insulating layer (69) is patterned is introduced into a first organic material film forming device, the substrate is held and supported by a substrate holding and supporting unit and an electrostatic chuck, and a hole transport layer (65) is formed as a common layer on an anode (64) of a display area. The hole transport layer (65) is formed by vacuum deposition. In reality, since the hole transport layer (65) is formed in a size larger than the display area (61), a high-precision mask is not required.

Next, the substrate (63) formed up to the hole transport layer (65) is introduced into the second organic material film forming device and is held and supported by a substrate holding and supporting unit and an electrostatic chuck. Alignment of the substrate and the mask is performed, the substrate is placed on the mask, and a red-emitting layer (66R) is formed on the portion of the substrate (63) where a red-emitting element is arranged.

As with the deposition of the light-emitting layer (66R), a light-emitting layer (66G) that emits green is deposited by a third organic material deposition device, and further, a light-emitting layer (66B) that emits blue is deposited by a fourth organic material deposition device. After the deposition of the light-emitting layers (66R, 66G, 66B) is completed, an electron-transport layer (67) is deposited over the entire display area (61) by a fifth organic material deposition device. The electron-transport layer (67) is formed as a common layer for the light-emitting layers (66R, 66G, 66B) of three colors.

The substrate formed up to the electron transport layer (67) is moved to a metallic deposition material deposition device to form a cathode (68).

Afterwards, it is moved to a plasma CVD device to form a protective layer (70), thereby completing the organic EL display device (60).

From the time the substrate (63) on which the insulating layer (69) is patterned is brought into the film forming apparatus until the film forming of the protective layer (70) is completed, there is a risk that the light-emitting layer made of the organic EL material may be deteriorated by moisture or oxygen if exposed to an atmosphere containing moisture or oxygen. Therefore, in this example, the bringing in and taking out of the substrate between film forming apparatuses is performed under a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere.

The above embodiment shows an example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and may be appropriately modified within the scope of the technical idea thereof.

11: Tabernacle equipment
22: Substrate support unit
221, 222: Support
23: Mask support unit
24: Static
241~249: Sub electrode section

Claims (17)

A film forming device that forms a film material on a substrate through a mask,
A first substrate support portion, which is positioned within the chamber and supports a peripheral portion of the first side of the substrate;
A second substrate support member, which is positioned within the chamber and supports a peripheral portion of a second side of the substrate facing the first side,
A substrate adsorption means for adsorbing the substrate, arranged above the first and second substrate supports in the chamber,
A driving unit for independently driving the first and second substrate supports, respectively;
Includes a control unit,
The substrate adsorption means is an electrostatic chuck that adsorbs the substrate by an adsorption voltage applied to an adsorption area, and has a plurality of divided adsorption areas as the adsorption area, the application state of the adsorption voltage being independently controllable.
The control unit controls the substrate adsorption means to sequentially turn off the adsorption voltage applied to the plurality of adsorption regions in a direction from the periphery of the first side toward the periphery of the second side when the substrate is separated from the substrate adsorption means, so that the separation is sequentially performed from the periphery of the first side toward the periphery of the second side, and at the same time, the first substrate support unit is first lowered in accordance with the timing at which the adsorption voltage applied to the adsorption region corresponding to the periphery of the first side among the plurality of adsorption regions is turned off, and thereafter, the second substrate support unit is lowered in accordance with the timing at which the adsorption voltage applied to the adsorption region corresponding to the periphery of the second side among the plurality of adsorption regions is turned off.
delete delete In the first paragraph,
A film forming apparatus characterized in that the control unit controls the substrate adsorption means or the first and second substrate support units so that, when the substrate is adsorbed by the substrate adsorption means, adsorption is performed sequentially from the peripheral edge of the second side toward the peripheral edge of the first side.
In paragraph 4,
A film forming device characterized in that the control unit controls, when the substrate is adsorbed, the adsorption voltage to be sequentially applied to the plurality of adsorption areas in a direction from the peripheral edge of the second side toward the peripheral edge of the first side.
In paragraph 4,
A film forming apparatus characterized in that the control unit controls the second substrate support unit and the first substrate support unit to rise in that order when the substrate is adsorbed, so that the second substrate support unit approaches the substrate adsorption means before the first substrate support unit.
A film forming device that forms a film forming material on a substrate through a mask,
A first substrate support portion, which is positioned within the chamber and supports a peripheral portion of the first side of the substrate;
A second substrate support member, which is positioned within the chamber and supports a peripheral portion of a second side of the substrate facing the first side,
A substrate adsorption means is provided above the first and second substrate supports in the chamber to adsorb the substrate by electrostatic force.
The above substrate adsorption means includes a first adsorption electrode part that adsorbs the peripheral part of the first side, and a second adsorption electrode part that adsorbs the peripheral part of the second side.
Each of the first adsorption electrode part and the second adsorption electrode part includes a first electrode to which a positive voltage is applied as the adsorption voltage and a second electrode to which a negative voltage is applied as the adsorption voltage.
When the substrate is separated from the substrate adsorption means, a separation voltage is applied to the first adsorption electrode portion, and further, in a first separation state in which the adsorption voltage is applied to the second adsorption electrode portion, the first substrate support portion is lowered independently with respect to the second substrate support portion.
The state in which the above separation voltage is applied includes a state in which a negative voltage or a positive voltage having an absolute value smaller than the adsorption voltage is applied to the first electrode, a state in which a positive voltage or a negative voltage having an absolute value smaller than the adsorption voltage is applied to the second electrode, and a state in which there is no potential difference between the first electrode and the second electrode.
A film forming apparatus characterized in that after the first substrate support member is lowered, the second substrate support member is lowered in a second separation state in which the separation voltage is applied to both sides of the first adsorption electrode member and the second adsorption electrode member.
delete delete In Article 7,
A film forming apparatus characterized in that, before entering the first separation state, in an adsorption state in which the adsorption voltage is applied to both sides of the first adsorption electrode portion and the second adsorption electrode portion, each of the first substrate support portion and the second substrate support portion is in contact with the substrate adsorbed by the substrate adsorption means.
In Article 7,
A film forming apparatus characterized in that, when the substrate is adsorbed by the substrate adsorption means, the adsorption voltage is applied to the second adsorption electrode part, and then, the adsorption voltage is applied to the first adsorption electrode part.
In Article 10,
A film forming apparatus characterized in that after applying the adsorption voltage to the second adsorption electrode portion, but before applying the adsorption voltage to the first adsorption electrode portion, the second substrate support portion is independently raised with respect to the first substrate support portion.
In Article 12,
A film forming device characterized in that after applying the adsorption voltage to the first adsorption electrode portion, the first substrate support portion is raised.
In Article 7,
A film forming apparatus, characterized in that the substrate adsorption means includes at least one third adsorption electrode part arranged between the first adsorption electrode part and the second adsorption electrode part.
delete A film forming method for forming a film material on a substrate within a chamber of a film forming device,
An adsorption process in which the substrate is adsorbed to the substrate adsorption means by applying an adsorption voltage to a first adsorption electrode portion that adsorbs the peripheral portion of the first side of the substrate and a second adsorption electrode portion that adsorbs the peripheral portion of the second side of the substrate opposite to the first side,
After the above adsorption process, a film forming process of forming a film material through a mask on the substrate adsorbed by the substrate adsorption means;
A film forming method characterized by having a separation process in which, after the film forming process, a separation voltage is applied to the first adsorption electrode part or no adsorption voltage is applied to the first adsorption electrode part, thereby bringing the peripheral edge of the first side of the substrate into a separated state, and a first substrate support part that supports the peripheral edge of the first side and a second substrate support part that supports the peripheral edge of the second side are independently driven by a driving part to first lower the first substrate support part in accordance with the timing at which separation is performed at the peripheral edge of the first side, and thereafter, a separation voltage is applied to the second adsorption electrode part or no adsorption voltage is applied to the second adsorption electrode part, thereby bringing the peripheral edge of the second side of the substrate into a separated state, and the second substrate support part is lowered in accordance with the timing at which separation is performed at the peripheral edge of the second side.
A method for manufacturing an electronic device, characterized by manufacturing an electronic device using the film forming method described in Article 16.

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