JP2010140840A - Organic el device manufacturing apparatus, film forming apparatus, and liquid crystal display substrate manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An organic EL device manufacturing apparatus, a film forming apparatus, and a liquid crystal display substrate manufacturing apparatus capable of reducing the deflection of a substrate and a mask and depositing with high accuracy are provided. Alternatively, an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus and a film forming apparatus having a high productivity or a high operation rate can be provided by reducing the generation of dust and gas in a vacuum by arranging a driving unit on the atmosphere side. That is.
The present invention images a substrate holding means for holding a substrate in an upright position, a shadow mask hanging means for holding a shadow mask in a suspended position, and an alignment mark provided on the substrate and the shadow mask. Alignment optical means, alignment drive means for driving the shadow mask in the suspended position, and control means for controlling the alignment drive means based on the result of the alignment optical means.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus, a film forming apparatus, and a liquid crystal display substrate manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus, a film forming apparatus, and a liquid crystal display substrate manufacturing apparatus suitable for alignment of a large substrate.

  There exists a vacuum evaporation method as an influential method of manufacturing an organic EL device. In vacuum deposition, alignment between the substrate and the mask is necessary. As the size of the processing substrate increases, the size of the G6 generation substrate becomes 1500 mm × 1800 mm. Naturally, when the substrate size is increased, the mask is also increased in size, and the dimension reaches about 2000 mm × 2000 mm. In particular, when a steel mask is used, an organic EL device has a weight of 300 kg. Conventionally, alignment has been performed with the substrate and mask horizontal. As such a prior art, there is the following Patent Document 1.

JP 2006-302896 A

  However, in the method of aligning the substrate and the mask sideways disclosed in Patent Document 1, the substrate and the mask are largely bent due to their thinness and weight as shown in FIG. If the deflection is uniform, it is sufficient to manufacture the mask in consideration of this, but naturally it becomes difficult to manufacture when the center becomes larger and the substrate size becomes larger. In general, the amount of deflection at the center point is d1> d2, where d1 is the substrate deflection and d2 is the mask deflection. If the substrate deflection is large, the substrate deposition surface comes into contact with the mask and contact scratches occur, so that the substrate cannot be brought into close contact. For this reason, there is a problem that if the alignment is performed with a distance greater than the depth of field, the accuracy is poor and the product becomes defective. In particular, a high-definition screen cannot be obtained with a display device substrate.

  Next, in the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the whole mechanism for aligning the substrate and the mask is installed in a vacuum, there is a possibility that dust and heat accompanying the movement of the drive unit and the like are generated, In the former case, leakage into the vacuum causes leaked dust to adhere to the substrate and mask, resulting in poor deposition, and the latter heat generation promotes thermal expansion with the mask and changes the deposition size, resulting in a decrease in yield rate, that is, productivity. There is.

  In addition, since the entire mechanism for aligning the substrate and the mask is installed in a vacuum, once a failure occurs in the drive unit or the like, maintenance takes time and the operating rate of the apparatus is lowered.

Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus, a film forming apparatus, and a liquid crystal display substrate manufacturing apparatus capable of reducing the deflection of a substrate and a mask and depositing with high accuracy.
In addition, a second object of the present invention is to provide a highly productive organic EL device manufacturing apparatus and film forming apparatus that reduce the generation of dust and gas in a vacuum by disposing a drive unit and the like on the atmosphere side. That is.
Further, the third object of the present invention is to provide an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus and a film forming apparatus with high maintainability and high operating rate by disposing a drive unit and the like on the atmosphere side.

  To achieve the above object, the substrate holding means for holding the substrate in an upright position, the shadow mask hanging means for holding the shadow mask in a suspended position, and the alignment marks provided on the substrate and the shadow mask are imaged. A first feature includes alignment optical means, alignment drive means for driving the shadow mask in the suspended position, and control means for controlling the alignment drive means based on the result of the alignment optical means. To do.

In order to achieve the above object, in addition to the first feature, the shadow mask hanging means includes a plurality of (three or more locations) that rotatably support the shadow mask on the shadow mask or an alignment base that holds the shadow mask. ), And the alignment driving means further includes main driving means for driving at least one main rotation supporting section among the plurality of rotation supporting sections, and the organic EL device manufacturing apparatus further includes the main driving apparatus. A second feature of the invention is that it has an alignment driven means for following the operation of the main rotation support portion with a driven rotation support portion which is a rotation support portion other than the rotation support portion. In addition to the second feature, the main rotation support portion is provided for the shadow mask or an alignment base for holding the shadow mask. Parts, the third characterized by providing two places at both ends.

  In order to achieve the above object, in addition to the second feature, the alignment driving means includes a vertical driving means for independently driving the two positions in the vertical direction, and one of the two positions in the horizontal direction. A fourth feature is that the main drive means having left and right drive means for driving and the left and right follower means that the other one place is driven in the left and right direction.

  In order to achieve the above object, in addition to the first to fourth features, the fifth feature is that the alignment driving means and / or the alignment follower means are installed outside the vacuum chamber.

  Furthermore, in order to achieve the above object, in addition to the first to fifth features, the alignment driving means is provided on the upper side of the shadow mask, and the alignment follower is provided on the lower side of the shadow mask. Six features.

  In order to achieve the above object, in addition to the first to sixth features, the substrate holding means includes a means for standing the substrate from a horizontal state.

  In order to achieve the above object, in addition to the first to sixth features, the substrate holding means has a means for bringing the substrate into contact with or in close contact with the shadow mask in a standing state.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the bending of a board | substrate and a mask can be reduced, and the organic EL device manufacturing apparatus or film-forming apparatus which can be deposited with high precision, or a liquid crystal display substrate manufacturing apparatus can be provided.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a highly productive organic EL device manufacturing apparatus or film forming apparatus by arranging the driving unit and the like on the atmosphere side to reduce the generation of dust and gas in a vacuum. it can.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus or a film forming apparatus with high maintainability by arranging the drive unit and the like on the atmosphere side and having a high operating rate.

  A first embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Organic EL device manufacturing equipment is not simply a structure in which a light emitting material layer (EL layer) is formed and sandwiched between electrodes, but a hole injection layer or transport layer on the anode, and an electron injection layer or transport layer on the cathode. A multilayer structure in which various materials are formed as a thin film is formed, and a substrate is cleaned. FIG. 1 shows an example of the manufacturing apparatus.

  The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into a load cluster 3 that carries a substrate 6 to be processed, four clusters (A to D) that process the substrate 6, between each cluster, or between the cluster and the load cluster 3. Or it is comprised from the six delivery chambers 4 installed between the following processes (sealing process). In this embodiment, the substrate is transported with the deposition surface of the substrate as the upper surface, and the substrate is erected and deposited when vapor deposition is performed.

  The load cluster 3 receives a substrate 6 (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) from the load lock chamber 31 having the gate valve 10 and the load lock chamber 31 in order to maintain a vacuum in the front-rear direction, and rotates to receive the substrate 6 in the delivery chamber 4a. Is composed of a transfer robot 5R. Each load lock chamber 31 and each delivery chamber 4 have a gate valve 10 in the front and rear, and deliver the substrate to the load cluster 3 or the next cluster or the like while maintaining the vacuum by controlling the opening and closing of the gate valve 10.

  Each cluster (A to D) includes a transfer chamber 2 having a single transfer robot 5 and two processing chambers 1 (first) arranged on the top and bottom of the drawing for receiving a substrate from the transfer robot 5 and performing a predetermined process. 1 subscripts a to d indicate clusters, and second subscripts u and d indicate upper and lower sides). A gate valve 10 is provided between the transfer chamber 2 and the processing chamber 1.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the configuration of the transfer chamber 2 and the processing chamber 1. Although the configuration of the processing chamber 1 varies depending on the content of processing, a vacuum deposition chamber 1bu that deposits a luminescent material in vacuum to form an EL layer will be described as an example. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram and an operation explanatory diagram of the configuration of the transfer chamber 2b and the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu at that time. The transfer robot 5 in FIG. 2 has a three-link structure arm 57 that can move up and down as a whole (see arrow 59 in FIG. 3) and can turn left and right. Two hands 58 are provided in two upper and lower stages. In the case of a single hand, a rotation operation for transferring the substrate to the next process, a rotation operation for receiving the substrate from the previous process, and an accompanying gate valve opening / closing operation are necessary during the loading / unloading process. By making the upper and lower two stages, the substrate to be carried into one hand is held, the substrate is carried out from the vacuum deposition chamber with the other hand not holding the substrate, and then the carrying-in operation is continuously performed. be able to.
Whether to use two hands or one hand depends on the required production capacity. In the following description, a single hand is used for the sake of simplicity.

  On the other hand, the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu is roughly divided into a vapor deposition unit 7 for sublimating a luminescent material and depositing it on the substrate 6, an alignment unit 8 for aligning the substrate 6 and the shadow mask, and depositing on a necessary part of the substrate 6, And the transfer robot 5 and the processing delivery unit 9 that transfers the substrate to the vapor deposition unit 7. The alignment unit 8 and the processing delivery unit 9 are provided in two systems, a right R line and a left L line.

FIG. 4 shows the alignment unit 8 according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the substrate 6 and the shadow mask are set up substantially vertically. Further, as much as possible, the mechanism for alignment is provided on the atmosphere side outside the vacuum deposition chamber 1, specifically, on the upper wall 1T of the vacuum deposition chamber 1 or below the lower wall 1Y. Moreover, what must be provided in the vacuum evaporation chamber 1bu is provided with a convex portion provided from the atmosphere portion.
In this embodiment, at the time of alignment, the substrate 6 is fixed, the shadow mask 81 is moved, and alignment is performed so that vapor deposition can be performed on a necessary portion of the substrate 6.

Hereinafter, the mechanism and operation of the alignment unit 8 will be described.
The alignment unit 8 holds a shadow mask 81, an alignment base 82 that fixes the shadow mask 81, and an alignment base 82, and an alignment driving unit 83 that defines the orientation of the alignment base 82, that is, the shadow mask 81 in the XZ plane, and an alignment base 82. , An alignment follower 84 for defining the posture of the shadow mask 81 in cooperation with the alignment drive unit 83, an alignment optical system 85 for detecting an alignment mark (described later) provided on the substrate 6 and the shadow mask 81, The image processing apparatus includes a control device 60 (see FIG. 7) that processes the image of the alignment mark, obtains the alignment amount, and controls the alignment driving unit 83.

  First, the shadow mask 81 is shown in FIG. The shadow mask 81 includes a mask 81M and a frame 81F. For example, a size of G6 with respect to a substrate size of 1500 mm × 1800 mm is about 2000 mm × 2000 mm, and its weight is also 300 kg. The mask 81M has a window for defining the deposition position. For example, when forming a deposited film that emits red (R), there is a window at a portion corresponding to R. The size of the window varies depending on the color, but on average is about 30 μm in width and about 150 μm in height. The thickness of the mask 81M is about 50 μm and tends to be thinner in the future. On the other hand, the mask 81M has four alignment marks 81m and two sparse alignment marks 81mr, and six alignment marks 81m. Correspondingly, alignment marks 6m are provided at a total of six locations, including four fine alignment marks 6ms and two sparse alignment marks 6mr.

  The alignment base 82 has holding portions 82 u and 82 d for holding the upper and lower portions of the shadow mask 81, and the back side of the shadow mask 81 is hollow like a round shape so that it can be deposited on the substrate 6. The alignment base 82 is rotatably supported by four rotation support portions in total near the four corners, two locations 81a and 81b at the top, and 81c and 81d provided below each of the two locations. ing.

  Next, the alignment driving unit 83 and the alignment driven unit 84 that define the posture of the shadow mask 81 will be described. First, the movement of the four rotation support portions will be described, and the configuration and operation of the alignment drive portion 83 and the alignment follower portion 84 that drive the four rotation support portions or follow the movement of the rotation support portion will be described.

Of the four rotation support portions, when the rotation support portion 81a is mainly driven (actively driven) in the Z direction and the rotation support portion 81b is mainly driven in the Z direction and the X direction, the rotation support portion 81a is moved via the alignment base 82. Following the X direction, the rotation support portions 81c and 81d rotate following the rotation support portion 81a as a fulcrum by the combined action of the main motion.
Alignment shafts 83a and 84a that connect each rotation support portion and an action point of a driving portion or a driven portion to be described later are translated in the vertical direction in the Z direction and / or in the X direction without being inclined by the splines 83s and 84s. For this purpose, each rotation support portion is rotatably attached to the alignment base 82. Therefore, the driven rotation of the rotation support portions 81c and 81d described above is a movement that is decomposed in the X direction and the Z direction.
That is, in this embodiment, the Z position is corrected by the movement of the rotation support portions 81a and 81b in the Z direction, the rotation correction is performed by the difference between the two, and the X position correction is performed by the movement of the rotation support portion 81b in the X direction. . Further, the longer the distance between both of the rotation support portions 81a and 81b, there is an advantage that the rotation correction can be accurately performed for the same movement in the Z direction.

  The above-described shadow mask drive unit 83 that drives the rotation support units 81a and 81b is provided in the atmosphere on the upper wall 1T (see also FIG. 2) of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu, and moves the rotation instruction unit 81a in the Z direction. The left drive part 83L having the Z drive part 83Z, the Z drive part 83Z for moving the rotation support part 81b in the Z direction similarly to the left drive part 83L, and the entire Z drive part are moved in the X direction (left and right direction in FIG. Z). And right drive unit 83R having X drive unit 83X. Since the Z drive units of the left and right drive units 83L and 83R are basically the same and configured, the same numbers are given and some numbers are omitted. Hereinafter, the numbering and omission methods are the same in the mechanism section.

  The Z drive unit 83Z will be described by taking the left drive unit 83L as an example. As described above, the Z drive unit 83Z is fixed to the Z drive unit fixing plate 83k that follows the rail 83r in the X direction, and the Z direction drive motor 83zm moves the connecting rod 83j in the Z direction via the ball screw 83n and the taper 83t. Moving. The alignment shaft 83a is moved in the Z direction by a connecting rod 83j connected at the top thereof. The taper 83t is provided to prevent the lost motion in the Z direction using the gravity of the alignment base 82 or the like, and as a result, there is an effect that the hysteresis is eliminated and the target value is converged quickly. Each alignment shaft 83a operates through a bellows 83v having one end fixed to a seal portion (not shown) provided on the upper wall 1T of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu.

  In addition to the Z drive unit 83Z, the right drive unit 83R is fixed to the upper wall 1T of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu, and the Z drive unit fixing plate 83k on which the Z drive unit 83Z is mounted extends along the X-axis rail 83r. And an X driving unit 83X for driving the motor. The driving method of the X driving unit 83X is basically the same as that of the Z-axis driving unit 83Z, such as the rotational force of the X direction driving motor 83xm via the ball screw 83n, but the driving force rotates and aligns the alignment base 82. Power is required to move other drive units or follower units through the base. Since the alignment 83a axis of the right drive unit 83R also moves in the X direction, the bellows 83v also has a degree of freedom in the X direction, and has flexibility in the right and left as well as expansion and contraction.

  The alignment follower 84 includes left and right followers 84L and 84R that can move the respective alignment shafts 84a in the Z direction and the X direction so as to correspond to the above-described driven rotation of the rotation support portions 81c and 81d. There may be one follower portion at the center, but in this embodiment, two followers are provided for stable operation. Since both driven parts basically have the same structure symmetrical with respect to the left and right lines, 84R will be described as a representative. The alignment shaft 84a is driven by the X axis via a bellows 84v and a spline 84s that seal the vacuum of the chamber 1bu in the same manner as the bellows 83v fixed at one end to a seal portion 84c provided on the lower wall 1Y of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu. It is fixed to the plate 84k. Therefore, the X direction is driven by moving the rail 84r laid on the alignment support portion fixing base 84b for fixing the alignment driven portion 84, and the Z direction is passively performed by the spline 84s.

  In the embodiment of the alignment unit described above, of the four rotation support units 81, two rotation support units provided at the upper part of the vacuum deposition chamber are driven (actively driven) in the Z direction and one of them is driven in the X direction. Thus, alignment of the shadow mask is performed. In addition, various driving methods can be mentioned. For example, rotation support portions are provided at three upper portions, the center rotation support portion is rotated, and alignment is performed by moving the left and right rotation support portions in the Z direction and the X direction. Provide at the bottom and at least one follower. Alternatively, as in the above embodiment, two upper rotation support portions are provided, the rotation, the main movements in the Z direction and the X direction are concentrated at one place, and the others are driven. In the above embodiment, the upper part is basically driven and the lower part is driven, but this may be reversed.

  Next, the alignment optical system 85 will be described. The alignment optical system includes four precision alignment optical systems 85s for the four precision alignment marks 81ms and two sparse alignment optical systems 85r for the two sparse alignment marks 81m so that the alignment marks described above can be imaged independently. These are composed of a total of six optical systems.

  FIG. 6 shows the basic configuration of six alignment optical systems. The basic configuration of the optical system is that a light source 85k is housed in a light source housing cylinder 85ts having an optical window 85ws at the tip on the side of the alignment base 82 with the shadow mask 81 in between and protruding inside the vacuum in the atmosphere. And a light source side reflecting mirror 85 km fixed to a blocking arm 85 as described later, and is housed in the imaging camera side reflecting mirror 85 cm and the imaging camera housing cylinder 85 t attached to the arm 85 a from the imaging camera housing cylinder 85 t on the substrate 6 side. It has a so-called transmission type configuration provided with an imaging camera 85c which is an imaging means. For this purpose, a rectangular through-hole alignment mark 81m is provided in the mask 81M so that light can pass, and a cylindrical through-hole 81k is also provided in the frame 81F. On the other hand, the alignment mark 6m of the substrate 6 is a square and black metal on the light-transmitting substrate, and is sufficiently smaller than the alignment mark 81m of the shadow mask.

  If the through hole 81k is provided, the vapor deposition material enters the through hole during vapor deposition and is vapor deposited on the alignment mark. Therefore, alignment cannot be performed from the next step. In order to prevent this, the vapor deposition material is shielded from entering the through hole 81k during vapor deposition. In this embodiment, the arm to which the light source side reflecting mirror is attached during alignment blocks an effective area for vapor deposition during vapor deposition, so that the arm can be moved and has a structure that shields the through hole 81k during vapor deposition. 85 as. The shielding arm 85as is expanded and contracted by a connecting rod 85b driven up and down by a drive motor (not shown) provided on the atmosphere side, and one end thereof is driven via a bellows 85v fixed to the seal portion 85s. The broken line shown in FIG. 6 shows the shielding state, and the solid line shows the alignment state.

In the above embodiment, the light source 85k is attached to the alignment base. However, if the shadow mask frame 81F is sufficiently thick, the frame 81F is provided with an L-shaped through hole 81k, and the light source 85k is connected to the light source side reflection mirror 85km. It can also be built in. In that case, a shielding arm is not necessary.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, since the light source side reflection mirror 85km interrupted | blocked a vapor deposition area | region at the time of alignment, the shielding arm was moved, but when not interrupting, a shielding arm can be fixed.

On the other hand, the camera storage cylinder 85t has a structure protruding from the upper part 1T of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu as shown in FIG. 4, and an optical window 85w is provided at the tip to maintain the imaging camera 85c on the atmosphere side and alignment. The marks 6m and 81m can be imaged (see FIG. 6 for numbers).
In the above embodiment, the imaging camera side reflection mirror is provided in a vacuum, but the imaging camera storage cylinder 85 may be lengthened and the mirror may be incorporated.

  The difference in configuration between the precision alignment optical system 85s and the sparse alignment optical system 85r is that the former has a high magnification lens 85h for imaging the alignment with a small field of view and high resolution in order to perform alignment with high accuracy. Is a point. Accordingly, the dimensions of the alignment marks 6m and 81m of the substrate and the shadow mask shown in FIG. 3 are different. In the case of precision, it is smaller by one digit or more than the sparse, and finally, alignment on the order of μm is possible.

  Therefore, at the time of precision alignment, the precision alignment optical system 85s needs to be moved in accordance with the movement of the alignment 81m of the shadow mask 81 so that the field of view does not deviate. The fixed plates 85p and 85ps for fixing the imaging camera 85c and the light source 85k are connected to the Z driving unit fixing plate 83k or the X-axis driven plate 84k to be followed. The sparse alignment optical system 85r is provided with a camera alignment stage 85d so that the position can be adjusted at the time of initial attachment.

  In the above embodiment, six alignment optical types are used. However, depending on the required accuracy of alignment, there is no need to provide a sparse alignment optical system, and no four precision alignment optical systems are required. There should be at least two.

In the embodiment of the alignment unit 8, the alignment driving unit 83, the alignment driven unit 84, and the alignment optical system 85 are provided on the atmosphere side above or below the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu. It may be provided. Of course, it may be dispersed in the upper part, the lower part, and the side wall part. Next, a mechanism will be described in which the substrate is erected before the alignment is performed and the substrate 6 is brought close to the shadow mask after the alignment is completed. The processing delivery unit 9 shown in FIG. 3 has a comb-like hand 91 that can deliver the substrate 6 without interfering with the comb-like hand 58 of the transfer robot 5, and the substrate 6 on the comb-like hand 91. There is a substrate turning approaching means 93 that is fixedly mounted, turns the substrate 6 upright, and further approaches the alignment unit 8. The fixing means is constituted by electrostatic adsorption or mechanical clamp in consideration of being in a vacuum, and is provided at least on the upper side 94u when the substrate is erected.

FIG. 7 shows the substrate turning approaching means 93 in detail, and further, there is no problem of outgas from the coating material of the wiring, and there is no fear of fluid leakage that causes damage to the piping fatigue. FIG.
First, the substrate turning function of the substrate turning approach means 93 will be described. The substrate turning approach means 93 includes a placing table 93d for placing the substrate 6, a cooling jacket 93j for cooling the substrate 6 during vapor deposition, and a substrate turning driving unit for integrally rotating the substrate 6, the placing table 93d and the cooling jacket 93j. 93b, a rotation support base 93k that rotatably supports the cooling jacket 93j and the like. Cooling water pipes 43 and 44 are laid on the cooling jacket 93j. The substrate turning drive unit 93b includes a turning motor 93sm provided on the atmosphere side, a hollow first link 41 that turns in the direction of arrow A via the gears 93h ₁ and 93h ₂ by the turning motor 93sm, The first link 41 is fixed so as to have a hollow portion continuous with the hollow portion of the first link, and has a second link 42 provided along the side surface portion of the cooling jacket 93J. The first link is interposed by a bellows 93v having one end fixed to a seal portion 93s provided on the side wall of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu, and is rotatably supported by a rotation support base 93k. The turning motor 93sm is controlled by a control device 60 provided on the atmosphere side.

In the above description, by supporting the substrate 6 standing only by the fixing means 94u provided on the upper part of the fixing means 94 shown in FIG. After the bending is eliminated, the whole may be fixed by fixing means 94d provided at the lower part of the substrate. Further, when the substrate 6 is set up vertically, there is a possibility that a minute gap is generated between the substrate 6 and the mounting table 93d. For example, the substrate 6 is stably inclined with a slight inclination of about 1 degree, and the bending thereof is ensured. Can be eliminated.
In this embodiment, since the substrate deposition surface is the upper surface, the substrate 6 is transported, so that the substrate 6 can be aligned as it is.

  Next, the approach function will be described. Further, the substrate turning approaching means 93 has a substrate approaching drive portion 93g for performing this function. The board approach driving unit 93g fixes the board turning drive unit 93b and moves on the rail 93r in the direction of arrow B on the turning drive unit mounting table 93t, and the approaching motor that drives the turning drive unit mounting table 93t via the ball screw 93n. Has 93 dm. By controlling such a mechanism by the control device 60, the substrate 6 can be brought close to the shadow mask 81 and brought into close contact if necessary.

  According to the above embodiment, it is possible to eliminate the bending of the substrate during vapor deposition. In addition, the distance between the substrate and the shadow mask can be maintained and aligned, and then the substrate is brought close to or in close contact with the shadow mask, thereby reducing blurring in vapor deposition and enabling highly accurate vapor deposition.

Further, the substrate turning approaching means 93 has an in-vacuum wiring / piping mechanism in which there is no problem of outgas from the coating material of the wiring, and there is no fear of fluid leakage that causes damage to the piping fatigue.
The in-vacuum wiring / piping mechanism 40 is composed of the first link 41 and the second link 42, and the cooling water for the supply 43 and the recovery 44 is provided in the hollow portion so that the cooling water flows through the cooling jacket 93J. Piping is provided. Each link is made of a metal that is strong against rust and has sufficient strength, such as stainless steel and aluminum, and the hollow motor 93 sm side of the hollow portion of the first link 41 is open to the atmosphere. The two cooling water pipes are made of a material having flexibility that is generally used in the atmosphere or made of metal, and the first link 41 has no flexible part in the link. And it pipes in the L shape which is the shape formed with the 2nd link 42, and a flexible part is provided in the atmosphere side. If the latter is used, piping with less fatigue damage can be constructed. In addition, the connection part at the side wall of the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu is made lower than the connection part at the cooling jacket 93J so that even if the cooling water leaks from the cooling water pipes 43 and 44, it is drained to the atmosphere side.

According to the in-vacuum wiring / piping mechanism 40 of the present embodiment, one end is opened to the atmosphere, a pipe is provided in the hollow portion of the link mechanism in which multiple ends are connected to the moving unit, and the rotating portion of the link mechanism is vacuum-sealed, Since it is completely cut off from the vacuum side, even if water leaks from the cooling water pipe, it does not leak to the vacuum side, and the hollow part of the link mechanism does not need to be evacuated. Further, since the link mechanism is made of stainless steel or aluminum, no outgas is generated. In addition, since the in-vacuum wiring / piping mechanism constitutes a part of the substrate turning drive unit, the overall structure can be simplified. In the above example, the pipe is laid on the link. However, even if the signal line is wired in the link, a configuration that does not enter into the vacuum of the outgas generated from the signal line can be provided. Therefore,
High vacuum can be maintained and highly reliable vapor deposition processing can be performed.

  Finally, the processing operation in the vacuum deposition chamber using this mechanism will be described mainly with respect to the alignment operation.

  Hereinafter, a processing flow after the substrate is carried into the vacuum deposition chamber 1bu is shown. (1) First, the upper part of the substrate 6 carried in the R line shown in FIG. 3 is fixed to the substrate mounting table, and then it is raised substantially vertically to eliminate the bending. (2) Sparse alignment is performed with a sparse alignment mark in a state where the substrate 6 is separated from the substrate 6, a positional shift in the sparse alignment is detected, and a sparse correction amount is obtained. (2) Based on the sparse correction amount, the shadow mask 81 is moved on the ZX plane shown in FIG. (3) Precise alignment is performed with a precision alignment mark while maintaining a certain distance, and a positional deviation in the precision alignment is detected to obtain a precision correction amount. (4) Based on the precision correction amount, the shadow mask 81 is moved on the ZX plane shown in FIG. (5) The substrate 6 and the shadow mask 81 are brought into close contact with each other. (6) The alignment result (position shift) of (3) is detected. (7) If the positional deviation amount is within an allowable range, the process waits for the completion of the deposition of the L-line substrate shown in FIG. (8) When the deposition of the L line is completed, the evaporation source 71 is moved to the R line for deposition. (9) If the amount of misalignment is outside the allowable range in (7), release both and return to (3) for precise alignment.

  In the above, the alignment of the sparse alignment is imaged by the two imaging cameras 85c, and the shadow mask 81 and the alignment marks 81mr and 6mr of the substrate 6 are imaged as shown in the drawing of FIG. It is possible to perform unambiguous alignment based on the midpoint between the two alignment marks. On the other hand, in precision alignment, four alignment marks are provided near the four corners of the substrate, and correction is performed based on the center point of the substrate. Theoretically, two are uniquely determined, while four are information-rich. This is because the information on the four corners determines the center point of the substrate so that the four corners are minimized, thereby reducing the difference between the substrate 6 and the shadow mask 81 and increasing the area that can be effectively used as a product. It is for taking. If the upper middle point is used as a reference for sparse alignment, the distortion on the lower side increases and the area available as a product decreases.

  According to this embodiment described above, it is possible to provide an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus that can perform alignment in a state where the substrate and the shadow mask are vertical or substantially vertical. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the influence of bending due to the weight of the substrate and shadow mask, to eliminate positional deviation and film blurring due to the inability of the substrate and shadow mask to be close to each other, and to deposit high-precision, and to produce a high-definition substrate A device manufacturing apparatus can be provided.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, in a mechanism necessary for alignment, generation of dust and gas can be suppressed by providing a driving device in the atmosphere, and defective vapor deposition due to dust and gas can be reduced. Equipment can be provided.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, in a mechanism necessary for alignment, a drive device, a mechanism that generates heat, or many alignment optical system components are provided in the atmosphere, thereby providing an organic EL device with high maintainability and high operating rate. Equipment can be provided.

  Further, by performing alignment around the substrate, it is possible to perform vapor deposition with a high effective area as a product, that is, it is possible to provide an EL device manufacturing apparatus with high yield, that is, high productivity.

  Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to provide a highly reliable EL device manufacturing apparatus that can reliably detect the substrate and the shadow mask by using the alignment mark as a transmission type.

  The embodiment described so far is an example in which the substrate 6 and the shadow mask 81 are set up and aligned, and then vapor deposition is performed while maintaining the set up state. It is not always necessary to perform the deposition in an upright state, and by adding a mechanism for delivering the shadow mask to the substrate side, the alignment state may be maintained and leveled once, and then the deposition may be performed. For example, the first method is a method in which the substrate is rotated again by the substrate turning approach means 93 shown in FIG.

  The second method is a method in which one of the two processing lines shown in FIG. 3 is an alignment dedicated line (for example, R line) and the other line (L line) is a vapor deposition dedicated line. After the alignment with the R line, the transfer robot 5 moves to the L line. Thereafter, the substrate is turned 180 degrees by the substrate turning approach means 93 provided in the L line, and vapor deposition is performed from below. In this method, although processing time is somewhat required, it is also possible to perform processing alternately by providing vapor deposition dedicated lines on both sides of the alignment dedicated line.

  Also in the above-described embodiment in which vapor deposition is performed horizontally, the same effects as those in the vapor deposition in an upright state can be obtained.

  In the embodiment described above, the case where the substrate is transported horizontally to the processing delivery unit has been described. However, the substrate may be transported vertically and then alignment may be performed.

  In the above description, the organic EL device has been described as an example. However, the present invention can also be applied to a film forming apparatus and a film forming method that perform vapor deposition processing in the same background as the organic EL device.

Further, the alignment mechanism can be applied to alignment of a liquid crystal display device or the like performed in the atmosphere.

It is a figure which shows the organic EL device manufacturing apparatus which is embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of a structure of the conveyance chamber 2 and the processing chamber 1 which are embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic diagram and operation | movement explanatory drawing of a structure of the conveyance chamber and processing chamber which are embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the alignment part which is embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the shadow mask which is embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the basic composition of the alignment optical system which is embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the board | substrate rotation approach means 93 which is embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the subject of a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

1: Processing chamber 1bu: Vacuum deposition chamber 2: Transfer chamber 3: Load cluster 6: Substrate 6m: Substrate alignment mark 7: Deposition unit 8: Alignment unit 9: Processing delivery unit 60: Controller 71: Evaporation source 81: Shadow Mask 81a-d: Rotation support part 81m: Shadow mask alignment mark 82: Alignment base 83: Alignment drive part 83Z: Z-axis drive part 83X: X-axis drive part 84: Alignment driven part 85: Alignment optical system 85c: Imaging camera 85k: Light source 93: Substrate turning approach means 93b: Substrate turning drive unit 93g: Substrate approach drive unit 100: Organic EL device manufacturing apparatuses A to D: Clusters.

Claims (21)

In an organic EL device manufacturing apparatus having a vacuum deposition chamber that performs alignment between a substrate and a shadow mask in a vacuum chamber and deposits a deposition material in an evaporation source on the substrate.
Substrate holding means for holding the substrate in an upright position, shadow mask hanging means for holding the shadow mask in a suspended position, alignment optical means for imaging an alignment mark provided on the substrate and the shadow mask, and An organic EL device manufacturing apparatus, comprising: an alignment driving unit that drives the shadow mask in a suspended position; and a control unit that controls the alignment driving unit based on a result of the alignment optical unit.   The shadow mask hanging means has a plurality of (three or more) rotation support portions that rotatably support the shadow mask on the shadow mask or an alignment base that holds the shadow mask, and the alignment driving means The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus further includes a driven rotation support portion which is a rotation support portion other than the main rotation support portion. The main drive driving means drives at least one main rotation support portion of the rotation support portions. The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an alignment follower that follows the operation of the main rotation support portion.   3. The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the main rotation support portion is provided at two locations on the shadow mask or an alignment base for holding the shadow mask on both ends.   The alignment driving means includes: a main driving means having a vertical driving means for driving the two places independently in the vertical direction; a left and right driving means for driving one of the two places in the horizontal direction; and the other driving means. The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein one place has left and right driven means driven in the left and right direction.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alignment driving unit and / or the alignment follower unit are installed outside the vacuum chamber.   6. The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alignment driving means is provided on the upper side of the shadow mask and the alignment follower is provided on the lower side of the shadow mask.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alignment driving unit and the alignment follower unit are provided on a measurement unit side of the shadow mask.   6. The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rotation support unit is connected to the alignment driving unit and the alignment driven unit by an alignment shaft.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the alignment shaft includes a restraining unit that restrains the alignment shaft so as to move in parallel with the vertical direction.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the restraining means is a spline provided on the alignment shaft.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the alignment shaft is connected to the rotation support portion via a vacuum seal means and a bellows.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate holding unit includes a vertical unit for standing the substrate from a horizontal state.   13. The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the control means tilts a minute angle using the upright means.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate holding unit includes a unit that approaches or closely contacts a shadow mask in a state where the substrate is erected. In a film forming apparatus having a vacuum deposition chamber that performs alignment between a substrate and a shadow mask in a vacuum chamber and deposits a deposition material in an evaporation source on the substrate.
The shadow mask includes substrate holding means for holding the substrate in an upright position, and a plurality of (three or more) rotation support portions that rotatably support the shadow mask on the shadow mask or an alignment base that holds the shadow mask. A shadow mask suspending means for holding the apparatus in a suspended position, an alignment optical means for imaging an alignment mark provided on the substrate and the shadow mask, and at least one main rotation support part among the plurality of rotation support parts. Alignment drive means having main drive means for driving the shadow mask in a suspended position, and a driven rotation support portion that is a rotation support portion other than the main rotation support portion are driven by the operation of the main rotation support portion. Based on the results of the alignment follower and the alignment optical means, Deposition apparatus characterized by a control means for controlling the instrument driving means.   The film forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the main rotation support portion is provided at two positions on the shadow mask or the alignment base that holds the shadow mask on both ends.   The alignment driving means includes a main driving means having a vertical driving means for independently driving the two places in the vertical direction and a left and right driving means for driving one of the two places in the horizontal direction, and the other one. The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the location includes a follower that is driven in the left-right direction.   The organic EL device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the alignment driving unit and / or the alignment follower unit are installed outside the vacuum chamber. In a liquid crystal display substrate manufacturing apparatus that performs alignment between a substrate and a shadow mask and applies a liquid to the substrate,
The shadow mask includes substrate holding means for holding the substrate in an upright position, and a plurality of (three or more) rotation support portions that rotatably support the shadow mask on the shadow mask or an alignment base that holds the shadow mask. A shadow mask suspending means for holding the apparatus in a suspended position, an alignment optical means for imaging an alignment mark provided on the substrate and the shadow mask, and at least one main rotation support part among the plurality of rotation support parts. Alignment drive means having main drive means for driving the shadow mask in a suspended position, and a driven rotation support portion that is a rotation support portion other than the main rotation support portion are driven by the operation of the main rotation support portion. Based on the results of the alignment follower and the alignment optical means, LCD substrate manufacturing apparatus characterized by a control means for controlling the instrument driving means.   20. The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display substrate according to claim 19, wherein the main rotation support portion is provided at two locations on the shadow mask or the alignment base for holding the shadow mask on both ends.   The alignment driving means includes a main driving means having a vertical driving means for independently driving the two places in the vertical direction and a left and right driving means for driving one of the two places in the horizontal direction, and the other one. 21. The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display substrate according to claim 20, wherein the place has a follower that is driven in the left-right direction.

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