Vapor deposition device and vapor deposition method

Abstract

The invention provides an evaporation device and an evaporation method, the device comprises a crucible, a crucible cover, M crucible nozzles and a flow guide device, the crucible is used for generating evaporation gas, the crucible cover is used for covering the top of the crucible, the M crucible nozzles are arranged on the crucible cover and used for enabling the evaporation gas to be sprayed out of the crucible, and M is a positive integer; the flow guide device is arranged in the crucible and comprises a flow guide plate and N flow guide pieces, N flow guide holes are formed in the flow guide plate, the N flow guide pieces are arranged on the flow guide plate through at least two supporting pieces, the N flow guide pieces are used for adsorbing or reflecting impurity particles in evaporation gas penetrating through the N flow guide holes, and N is a positive integer smaller than or equal to M. The evaporation device can effectively prevent impurity particles from being sprayed out from the crucible nozzle, so that the stability and the uniformity of an evaporation film layer are improved, and the performance and the yield of a display panel are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of evaporation equipment, and, more specifically, to an evaporation device and an evaporation method. Background Art

[0002] Organic light emitting diode (OLED) is one of the hottest research areas of display devices due to its fast response time, wide viewing angle, high contrast, light weight and low power consumption. In addition, due to its unique flexibility, it can be used to manufacture bendable and foldable displays, which shows great potential in new applications such as wearable devices, flexible electronic devices and curved display devices.

[0003] At present, in the process of preparing OLED display panels, each layer of organic light-emitting material needs to be evenly evaporated onto the substrate, that is, an evaporation device needs to be set under the substrate. The evaporation material in the evaporation device is evaporated or gasified after heating and sprayed out from the nozzle of the evaporation device, so that the material is evenly attached to the substrate to form a high-quality film layer.

[0004] However, in the above process, some organic materials or metal materials may become ashed or partially deteriorated after being heated and evaporated, generating impurity particles. These impurity particles and effective materials are evaporated together through the nozzle and deposited on the substrate, which will affect the performance and yield of the display panel. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides an evaporation device and an evaporation method, wherein the evaporation device can effectively prevent foreign particles from being ejected from a crucible nozzle, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporated film layer and improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0006] In a first aspect, a vapor deposition device is provided, comprising: a crucible, a crucible cover, M crucible nozzles and a guide device, wherein the crucible is used to generate vapor deposition gas, the crucible cover is used to cover the top of the crucible, the M crucible nozzles are arranged on the crucible cover, and are used to make the vapor deposition gas spray out from the crucible, M is a positive integer; the guide device is arranged in the crucible, and the guide device comprises: a guide plate and N guide members, N guide holes are provided on the guide plate, the N guide members are arranged on the guide plate through at least two supporting members, the N guide members are used to adsorb or reflect impurity particles in the vapor deposition gas passing through the N guide holes, and N is a positive integer less than or equal to M.

[0007] In the embodiment of the present application, since the N guide members can adsorb and reflect the impurity particles in the evaporation gas passing through the N guide holes, the guide device can effectively block the impurity particles from being ejected from the crucible nozzle, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporated film layer and improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, a cross-sectional area of ​​the N flow guide members is greater than or equal to a cross-sectional area of ​​the N flow guide holes.

[0009] In an embodiment of the present application, by setting the sum of the cross-sectional areas of N guide members to be greater than or equal to the cross-sectional areas of N guide holes, the N guide members can more effectively adsorb or reflect impurity particles in the evaporation gas passing through the N guide holes, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporated film layer.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the N guide members include at least one first guide member, and the at least one first guide member is in the shape of a truncated cone, and the truncated cone includes a bottom surface and a side surface; the bottom surface is arranged on the guide plate through the at least two support members, and the angle between the generatrix of the truncated cone and the plane where the bottom surface is located is less than or equal to 45 degrees.

[0011] In the embodiment of the present application, by setting at least one first guide member to be in the shape of a truncated cone, the vapor deposition gas can be adsorbed or reflected by the bottom surface of the truncated cone. On the other hand, the vapor deposition gas passing through the side of the guide device can be further adsorbed and reflected by the side of the truncated cone. In this way, the effect of the guide device on adsorbing and reflecting impurity particles is improved, thereby further improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the N guide holes is greater than or equal to 2 percent of the cross-sectional area of ​​the guide plate.

[0013] In the embodiment of the present application, by setting the cross-sectional area of ​​the N guide holes to be greater than or equal to 2% of the cross-sectional area of ​​the guide plate, the evaporation time can be shortened and the evaporation efficiency of the evaporation device can be improved.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the cross-section of the N guide holes is circular, the length of the at least two support members is less than or equal to the radius of the circle, or when the cross-section of the N guide holes is polygonal, the length of the at least two support members is less than or equal to one half of the length of the diagonal of the polygon.

[0015] In the embodiment of the present application, the length of the support member is set based on the shape of the guide hole, which can ensure that the support member has good structural strength and stability, prevent the support member from bending, deformation or vibration due to excessive length, and thus improve the performance of the entire evaporation device.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the evaporation device is a line source evaporation device, and the cross-sections of the crucible cover and the guide plate are rectangular; the M crucible nozzles are arranged along the length direction of the crucible cover, and the N guide holes are arranged along the length direction of the guide plate.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the evaporation device is a point source evaporation device, and the cross-section of the guide plate is circular.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the device also includes a blocking structure; the blocking structure is arranged above the M crucible nozzles, the blocking structure includes Q through holes, and the blocking structure is used to block impurity particles in the evaporation gas, where Q is a positive integer.

[0019] In an embodiment of the present application, a blocking structure is arranged above the M crucible nozzles. The blocking structure can further block impurity particles in the evaporation gas, thereby further reducing the probability of impurity particles being deposited on the substrate along with the effective evaporation material, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporation film layer and improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, diameters of the Q through holes are greater than or equal to 45 micrometers and less than or equal to 1000 micrometers.

[0021] In the embodiment of the present application, by setting the diameters of the Q through holes in the blocking structure, the performance of the blocking structure can be controlled, so that the blocking structure can be suitable for different application scenarios.

[0022] In a second aspect, a vapor deposition method is provided, the method comprising: using the vapor deposition device in any one of the implementations of the first aspect to evaporate or gasify a material, the material comprising an organic material and / or a metal material. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a line source evaporation device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a point source evaporation device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 31 is a front view and a top view of a first flow guide member provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a line source evaporation device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a flow guiding device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a point source evaporation device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another flow guiding device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a blocking structure provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means or, for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0032] The prefixes such as "first" and "second" used in the embodiments of the present application are only used to distinguish different description objects, and have no limiting effect on the position, order, priority, quantity or content of the described objects. The use of prefixes such as ordinal numbers used to distinguish description objects in the embodiments of the present application does not constitute a limitation on the described objects. For the statement of the described objects, please refer to the description in the context of the claims or embodiments, and the use of such prefixes should not constitute an unnecessary limitation.

[0033] The technical solution in this application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0034] OLED is one of the hottest research areas in display devices due to its fast response time, wide viewing angle, high contrast, light weight and low power consumption. In addition, due to its unique flexibility, it can produce bendable and foldable displays, which shows great potential in new applications such as wearable devices, flexible electronic devices and curved display devices.

[0035] At present, in the process of preparing OLED display panels, each layer of organic light-emitting material needs to be uniformly evaporated onto the substrate, that is, an evaporation device needs to be set under the substrate. The evaporation material in the evaporation device is evaporated or gasified after heating and sprayed out from the nozzle of the evaporation device, so that the material is uniformly attached to the substrate to form a high-quality film layer. For example, Figure 1 As shown, the line source evaporation device includes: a crucible 101, a crucible cover 102 and a crucible nozzle 103. A plurality of evaporation chambers can be arranged in the crucible, and the plurality of evaporation chambers are used to store and heat the evaporation materials. The crucible cover is used to seal the crucible. When evaporation is performed, the evaporation materials in the plurality of evaporation chambers are heated. After being heated, the evaporation materials can be evaporated or gasified into evaporation gas, and the evaporation gas is ejected through the crucible nozzle, so that the evaporation material is evaporated onto the substrate. For another example, the following can also be used: Figure 2 The point source evaporation device shown is used for evaporation. Compared with the line source evaporation device, the main advantages of the point source evaporation device include: high material utilization, strong uniformity control, suitability for small area high-precision deposition, flexible multi-layer structure manufacturing and reduced substrate heat load.

[0036] However, when using Figure 1 and Figure 2 During the evaporation process of the evaporation device shown, some organic materials or metal materials may be ashed (i.e., the residue left after the material is burned or decomposed) or partially deteriorated (chemical composition changes) after being heated and evaporated, resulting in impurity particles. These impurity particles and effective materials are evaporated together through the nozzle and deposited on the substrate, which will affect the performance and yield of the display panel. For example, these impurity particles may cause areas on the surface of the display that do not emit light or shine normally, affecting the user's visual experience. For another example, for metal materials, when the evaporation temperature is high, the metal material may boil. These metal particles splashed during boiling may be ejected together with the evaporation gas when passing through the crucible nozzle, and finally deposited on the substrate, thereby affecting the uniformity of the deposited layer. In addition, due to the different heating of different positions of the crucible, the crucible nozzles at different positions have different rates of ejecting materials, which may also affect the uniformity and stability of the film layer.

[0037] The embodiments of the present application provide an evaporation device and an evaporation method, wherein the evaporation device can effectively block foreign particles from being ejected from a crucible nozzle, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporated film layer and improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0038] An evaporation device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes: a crucible 101, a crucible cover 102, M crucible nozzles 103 and a guide device, the crucible 101 is used to generate evaporation gas, the crucible cover 102 is used to cover the top of the crucible 101, the M crucible nozzles 103 are arranged on the crucible cover 102, and are used to make the evaporation gas spray out from the crucible 101, M is a positive integer; the guide device is arranged in the crucible 101, the guide device includes: a guide plate 104 and N guide members 105, N guide holes 106 are provided on the guide plate 104, the N guide members 105 are arranged on the guide plate 104 through at least two support members 107, the N guide members 105 are used to adsorb or reflect impurity particles in the evaporation gas passing through the N guide holes 106, and N is a positive integer less than or equal to M.

[0039] Optionally, the evaporation device may be a line source evaporation device, or the evaporation device may be a point source evaporation device.

[0040] Optionally, the N guide holes 106 may be of any shape. For example, the cross-section of the N guide holes 106 may be circular, polygonal, etc.

[0041] Optionally, the N flow guides 105 may be of any shape, for example, the cross-section of the N flow guides 105 may be circular, polygonal, etc. Further optionally, the shape of the N flow guides 105 is the same as the shape of the N flow guide holes 106 .

[0042] Optionally, the sizes of the N guide holes 106 can be the same or different. The sizes of the N guide holes 106 can be set according to actual evaporation needs. For example, in an online source evaporation device, the rate of evaporation or vaporization of materials in the first evaporation chamber is greater than that in the second evaporation chamber. Then, the size of the first guide hole corresponding to the first evaporation chamber can be greater than the size of the second guide hole corresponding to the second evaporation chamber, so that the size of the guide hole 106 is adapted to the evaporation efficiency of the evaporation chamber, wherein the N guide holes 106 include the above-mentioned first guide hole and second guide hole.

[0043] Optionally, the guide plate 104 may be fixed inside the crucible 101 in a variety of different ways, including: bolt and screw fixing, welding fixing, buckle and slot fixing, magnetic fixing, clamping structure fixing, pin fixing or hanging fixing.

[0044] In the embodiment of the present application, since the N guide members 105 can adsorb and reflect impurity particles in the evaporation gas passing through the N guide holes 106, the guide device can effectively block the impurity particles from being ejected from the crucible nozzle 103, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporated film layer and improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the cross-sectional area of ​​the N flow guide members 105 is greater than or equal to the cross-sectional area of ​​the N flow guide holes 106 .

[0046] In the embodiment of the present application, by setting the cross-sectional area of ​​the N guide members 105 to be greater than or equal to the cross-sectional area of ​​the N guide holes 106, the N guide members 105 can more effectively adsorb or reflect the impurity particles in the evaporation gas passing through the N guide holes 106, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporated film layer.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the N guide members 105 include at least one first guide member, and the at least one first guide member is in the shape of a truncated cone, which includes a bottom surface and a side surface; the bottom surface is arranged on the guide plate 104 through at least two support members 107, and the angle between the generatrix of the truncated cone and the plane where the bottom surface is located is less than or equal to 45 degrees.

[0048] Optionally, the frustum may include a top surface, and the area of ​​the bottom surface of the frustum is smaller than the area of ​​the top surface.

[0049] Optionally, the truncated cone may not include a top surface, in which case the interior of the truncated cone may be hollow. Figure 3 As shown, the first guide member is in the shape of a truncated cone, which includes a bottom surface and side surfaces. The bottom surface is set on the guide plate 104 through two support members 107. The angle between the generatrix of the truncated cone and the plane where the bottom surface is located is a, and a is less than or equal to 45 degrees. The truncated cone does not include a top surface. Therefore, the area enclosed by the bottom surface and the side surface of the truncated cone is a hollow area.

[0050] In the embodiment of the present application, by setting at least one first guide member to be in the shape of a truncated cone, the vapor deposition gas can be adsorbed or reflected by the bottom surface of the truncated cone. On the other hand, the vapor deposition gas passing through the side of the guide device can be further adsorbed and reflected by the side of the truncated cone. In this way, the effect of the guide device on adsorbing and reflecting impurity particles is improved, thereby further improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the N guide holes 106 is greater than or equal to 2 percent of the cross-sectional area of ​​the guide plate 104 .

[0052] In the embodiment of the present application, by setting the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the N guide holes 106 to be greater than or equal to 2% of the cross-sectional area of ​​the guide plate 104 , the evaporation time can be shortened and the evaporation efficiency of the evaporation device can be improved.

[0053] In one possible implementation, when the cross-section of the N guide holes 106 is circular, the length of at least two support members 107 is less than or equal to the radius of the circle, or when the cross-section of the N guide holes 106 is polygonal, the length of at least two support members 107 is less than or equal to half the length of the diagonal of the polygon.

[0054] In the embodiment of the present application, the length of the support member 107 is set based on the shape of the guide hole 106, which can ensure that the support member 107 has good structural strength and stability, prevent the support member 107 from bending, deformation or vibration due to excessive length, and thus improve the performance of the entire evaporation device.

[0055] In one possible implementation, the evaporation device is a line source evaporation device, and the cross-sections of the crucible cover 102 and the guide plate 104 are rectangular; M crucible nozzles 103 are arranged along the length direction of the crucible cover 102, and N guide holes 106 are arranged along the length direction of the guide plate 104.

[0056] For example, the structures of the line source evaporation device and the flow guide device can be respectively as follows: Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, in this case, M=N=10.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the evaporation device is a point source evaporation device, and the cross section of the guide plate 104 is circular.

[0058] For example, the structures of the point source evaporation device and the flow guide device can be respectively as follows: Figure 6 and Figure 7 As shown, in this case, M=1, N=6.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the evaporation device further includes a blocking structure, which is disposed above the M crucible nozzles 103 . The blocking structure includes Q through holes, and the blocking structure is used to block impurity particles in the evaporation gas, where Q is a positive integer.

[0060] Optionally, the blocking structure includes a plate and a bracket, the plate includes Q through holes, and the plate is fixed above the M crucible nozzles 103 through the bracket.

[0061] Optionally, the diameter of the Q through holes is greater than or equal to 45 micrometers and less than or equal to 1000 micrometers. Figure 8 As shown, an Inver36 plate with a thickness of 20 microns can be etched so that the diameter of Q through holes reaches 45 microns.

[0062] In the embodiment of the present application, a blocking structure is arranged above the M crucible nozzles 103. The blocking structure can further block the impurity particles in the evaporation gas, further reducing the probability of the impurity particles being deposited on the substrate along with the effective evaporation material, thereby improving the stability and uniformity of the evaporation film layer and improving the performance and yield of the display panel.

[0063] The present application also provides an evaporation method, which includes: using an evaporation device in any one of the implementation methods in the above embodiments to evaporate or gasify a material, where the material includes an organic material and / or a metal material.

[0064] Optionally, the evaporation device can be Figure 4 or Figure 6 The evaporation device shown.

[0065] The specific implementation methods of this application are described above, but the protection scope of this application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with this technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this application, which should be included in the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A vapor deposition device, characterized in that: The device comprises: a crucible, a crucible cover, M crucible nozzles and a flow guide device, wherein the crucible is used to generate evaporation gas, the crucible cover is used to cover the top of the crucible, the M crucible nozzles are arranged on the crucible cover, and are used to make the evaporation gas spray out of the crucible, and M is a positive integer; The guide device is arranged in the crucible, and the guide device includes: a guide plate and N guide members, the guide plate is provided with N guide holes, the N guide members are arranged on the guide plate through at least two supporting members, the N guide members are used for absorbing or reflecting impurity particles in the evaporation gas passing through the N guide holes, and N is a positive integer less than or equal to M.

2. The evaporation device according to claim 1, characterized in that The cross-sectional areas of the N flow guide members are greater than or equal to the cross-sectional areas of the N flow guide holes.

3. The evaporation device according to claim 2, characterized in that The N flow guides include at least one first flow guide, the at least one first flow guide is in a truncated cone shape, and the truncated cone includes a bottom surface and a side surface; The bottom surface is arranged on the guide plate through the at least two supporting members, and the angle between the generatrix of the truncated cone and the plane where the bottom surface is located is less than or equal to 45 degrees.

4. The vapor deposition device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The sum of the cross-sectional areas of the N guide holes is greater than or equal to 2 percent of the cross-sectional area of ​​the guide plate.

5. The vapor deposition device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that In the case where the cross-section of the N guide holes is circular, the length of the at least two support members is less than or equal to the radius of the circle, or When the cross-section of the N guide holes is a polygon, the length of the at least two support members is less than or equal to half of the length of the diagonal of the polygon.

6. The vapor deposition device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The evaporation device is a line source evaporation device, and the cross-sections of the crucible cover and the guide plate are rectangular; The M crucible nozzles are arranged along the length direction of the crucible cover, and the N guide holes are arranged along the length direction of the guide plate.

7. The vapor deposition device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The evaporation device is a point source evaporation device, and the cross section of the guide plate is circular.

8. The vapor deposition device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The device also includes a blocking structure; The blocking structure is disposed above the M crucible nozzles, and the blocking structure includes Q through holes. The blocking structure is used to block impurity particles in the evaporation gas, and Q is a positive integer.

9. The evaporation device according to claim 8, characterized in that The diameters of the Q through holes are greater than or equal to 45 micrometers and less than or equal to 1000 micrometers.

10. A vapor deposition method, characterized in that: The method comprises: using the evaporation device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 to evaporate or gasify a material, wherein the material comprises an organic material and / or a metal material.

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