Film-forming apparatus

Abstract

Provided is a film-forming apparatus, which is extremely useful, and which can be applied even to large substrates of the fourth and higher-order generations. The film-forming apparatus is provided with a film-forming chamber (1), in which a film is formed on a substrate (2) by adhering a film-forming material through a mask (3), said substrate being held in an upright state. The film-forming chamber (1) is provided with: an alignment drive mechanism, which aligns the mask (3) and the substrate (2) with each other, such that the mask (3) is at a correct position with respect to the substrate (2); an evaporation source (100), which can move in the transfer direction of the substrate (2) or the mask (3); and a mask transfer mechanism and a substrate transfer mechanism, which respectively transfer the substrate (2) and the mask (3) in the upright state to each of a plurality of film-forming positions facing the evaporation source (100). The film-forming apparatus is configured such that the mask (3) and the substrate (2) are aligned with each other at one film-forming position by means of the alignment drive mechanism, while performing film formation at other film-forming position by means of the evaporation source (100).

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a film forming device. Background technique [0002] Currently, regarding the transport method of organic EL (electro-luminescence: electroluminescence) display panels in the manufacturing equipment, since the size of the substrate is, for example, the half-cut size of the fourth generation, the deflection of the glass substrate due to gravity is small, and it is not feasible. The problem, therefore, is that face-down horizontal conveyance becomes mainstream. [0003] However, it is clear that the size of the substrate will increase in the future (4th generation or higher), and in the case of horizontally transferring the substrate, the installation space of the device will increase as the substrate becomes larger. [0004] In addition, even if the size of the substrate becomes larger, the accuracy of calibration remains unchanged, which leads to relatively increased difficulty in alignment. Furthermore, there is a co...

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Problems solved by technology

[0006] In addition, the alignment unit for alignment protrudes in the planar direction, so there is a possibility of increasing the installation space

[0007] In addition, as the size of the substrate increases, the size of the chamber (film formation chamber) also increases, which increases the deformation of the chamber. Therefore, the deformation of the chamber acts as an overload on the internal LM (Linear Motion : linear motion) guide, shortening the life of the LM guide accordingly

In addition, if the strength of the chamber is increased to reduce deformation, the weight will increase, resulting in cost and handling problems

[0008] In addition, raw materials for vapor deposition of organic EL are very expensive, and it is desired to use vapor deposition materials efficiently without waste

That is, in a common evaporation device, after the evaporation is completed, the evaporation source will continue to eject the evaporation material until the positioning of the next substrate is completed, and this part of the amount is wasted, correspondingly making the use of the evaporation material Reduced efficiency

In addition, if the substrate is brought closer to the evaporation source, the use efficiency is improved, but there is a problem that the temperature of the substrate and the mask rises, and the evaporation pattern shifts.

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