A continuous coating device and method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a continuous coating device, comprising: at least one first coating chamber, a material source is arranged at the bottom of the first coating chamber, the first coating chamber includes a first side wall and a second side wall, a first inlet is arranged on the first side wall, and a first outlet is arranged on the second side wall; an atomic layer deposition chamber, including a spraying module arranged at the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber, the spraying module includes an air outlet surface facing the top of the atomic layer deposition chamber, the atomic layer deposition chamber includes a third side wall and a fourth side wall, a second inlet is arranged on the third side wall, and a second outlet is arranged on the fourth side wall; a transmission device, the transmission device is used to transport a carrier plate carrying a substrate through the first inlet, the first coating chamber, the first outlet, the second inlet, the atomic layer deposition chamber and the second outlet in sequence, the first outlet corresponds to and is selectively communicated with the second inlet, so that the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber coat the lower surface of the substrate in sequence. The present invention discloses a continuous coating method.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor devices, and specifically, to a continuous coating production line and method. Background Art

[0002] Semiconductor devices generally include a substrate and multiple layers of patterns or film layers formed on the substrate. For example, a photovoltaic cell includes an electron transport layer.

[0003] When preparing the electron transport layer, various coating processes such as evaporation coating, atomic layer deposition, and sputtering processes are often used to prepare a nanoscale film thickness. However, the existing atomic layer deposition process has low production efficiency, and there are also differences in the chamber structures between various coating processes, which often results in a problem that the front and rear coating processes do not match, leading to additional processing during the switching of coating equipment for the product and reducing the production efficiency.

[0004] Therefore, developing and designing a continuous coating device and a continuous coating method to improve production efficiency is an urgent problem to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention aims to solve one of the technical problems in the related art to a certain extent. For this purpose, the present invention provides a kind of.

[0006] To achieve the above object, as the first aspect of the present invention, a continuous coating device is disclosed, and the continuous coating device includes:

[0007] At least one first coating chamber, a material source is provided at the bottom of the first coating chamber, the first coating chamber includes a first side wall and a second side wall, a first inlet is provided on the first side wall, and a first outlet is provided on the second side wall;

[0008] An atomic layer deposition chamber, the atomic layer deposition chamber includes a spraying module, the spraying module includes an air outlet surface, the spraying module is provided at the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber, the air outlet surface faces the top of the atomic layer deposition chamber, the atomic layer deposition chamber includes a third side wall and a fourth side wall arranged opposite to each other, a second inlet is provided on the third side wall, and a second outlet is provided on the fourth side wall;

[0009] A transmission device, the transmission device is used to transport a carrier plate carrying a substrate through the first inlet, the first coating chamber, the first outlet, the second inlet, the atomic layer deposition chamber, and the second outlet in sequence, and the first outlet corresponds to and is selectively communicated with the second inlet, so that the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber coat the lower surface of the substrate in sequence through the transmission device.

[0010] Further, the first sidewall is disposed opposite to the second sidewall, the third sidewall is disposed opposite to the fourth sidewall, and the first inlet, the first outlet, the second inlet, and the second outlet have the same height.

[0011] Further, the transfer device includes a first carrier transfer device and a second carrier transfer device. The first carrier transfer device is configured to drive the carrier to translate in the first coating cavity, and the second carrier transfer device is configured to drive the carrier to translate in the atomic layer deposition cavity. The first carrier transfer device and the second carrier transfer device have the same height.

[0012] Further, the first carrier transfer device includes a plurality of first driving mechanisms, and the second carrier transfer device includes a plurality of second driving mechanisms. A plurality of driving holes are formed in the sidewalls of the first coating cavity and the atomic layer deposition cavity. The first driving mechanism is inserted into the driving hole of the first coating cavity to form a first driving wheel, and the second driving mechanism is inserted into the driving hole of the atomic layer deposition cavity to form a second driving wheel. The first driving wheel and / or the second driving wheel is configured to carry and drive the carrier, and the bearing surface height of the first driving wheel is the same as the bearing surface height of the second driving wheel.

[0013] Further, the second driving mechanism further includes a plurality of synchronous wheels, synchronous belts, and a plurality of auxiliary driving members. The plurality of synchronous wheels are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction on the outer side of the atomic layer deposition cavity. The auxiliary driving members are arranged between adjacent synchronous wheels. Any adjacent synchronous wheels and the auxiliary driving members therebetween are sleeved and connected by the synchronous belts so that the plurality of synchronous wheels can be synchronously driven.

[0014] Further, the second driving wheel includes an extension portion, a carrier contact portion, and a limiting portion. The extension portion, the carrier contact portion, and the limiting portion are arranged and connected along the axial direction of the second driving wheel. The limiting portion is arranged between the extension portion and the carrier contact portion. The carrier contact portion is configured to carry and drive the carrier, and the outer diameter of the limiting portion is larger than the outer diameter of the carrier contact portion so that the limiting portion limits the carrier in the width direction.

[0015] Further, a plurality of mounting notches are provided at the edge of the spraying module. The plurality of mounting notches are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction. The plurality of mounting notches correspond to the plurality of second driving wheels. The shape of the mounting notch matches the shape of the second driving wheel, so that there is a gap between the spraying module and the second driving wheel.

[0016] Further, the spraying module further includes a plurality of support and limiting members, which are arranged between the spraying module and the bottom surface of the atomic layer deposition chamber, for supporting the spraying module and enabling a set interval between the spraying module and the carrier plate.

[0017] Further, the support and limiting members include a plurality of limiting rods and a plurality of adjusting mechanisms, and the spraying module includes a plurality of first limiting holes.

[0018] The first end of the limiting rod is fixedly connected to the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber, and the second end of the limiting rod is movably connected to the spraying module through the first limiting hole, so that the first limiting hole limits the spraying module.

[0019] Both ends of the adjusting mechanism are respectively fixedly connected to the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber and the spraying module, and the adjusting structure is used to adjust the distance between the spraying module and the carrier plate.

[0020] Further, the atomic layer deposition chamber further includes an upper cavity cover and a heating module. The upper cavity cover is used to seal the atomic layer deposition chamber from the top, and the heating module is arranged on the upper cavity cover.

[0021] Further, the heating module includes a plurality of heating elements and a plurality of heating plates. The plurality of heating elements are fixedly connected to the upper cavity cover and the heating plates. The heating elements are used to transfer electric energy from the outside to the inside of the atomic layer deposition chamber to heat the heating plates, and the plurality of heating plates are arranged along the transmission direction.

[0022] Further, the continuous coating device further includes a vacuum system and a transmission valve. The first outlet and the second inlet are connected by the transmission valve.

[0023] The vacuum system includes a plurality of vacuum pipelines, and the plurality of vacuum pipelines are respectively connected to the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber. When the vacuum degrees of the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber are the same, the transmission valve can be opened. After the carrier plate passes through the first outlet through the transmission device, it enters the atomic layer deposition chamber from the second inlet through the transmission valve.

[0024] Further, the size of the transmission valve along the transmission direction is smaller than the size of the carrier plate along the transmission direction, so that when the carrier plate is transmitted out of the first outlet by the transmission device, both ends of the carrier plate can be respectively located in the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber and are simultaneously carried and transmitted by the transmission device.

[0025] Further, the vacuum pipeline includes an exhaust pipe, the exhaust pipe is arranged below the spraying module in the atomic layer deposition chamber, and a plurality of the exhaust pipes are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction. The exhaust pipe includes a plurality of exhaust ports, so that the gas discharged from the spraying module is discharged from below through the exhaust ports.

[0026] Further, the continuous coating device further includes a feeding chamber, the feeding chamber includes a carrier feeding and transporting device, the feeding chamber further includes a fifth side wall and a sixth side wall arranged opposite to each other. A feeding port is formed on the fifth side wall, and a transfer inlet is formed on the sixth side wall. The feeding port, the transfer inlet correspond to and have the same height as the first inlet or the second inlet, so that the carrier can enter the feeding chamber through the feeding port through the carrier feeding and transporting device, and can pass through the transfer inlet to leave the feeding chamber and enter the first coating chamber and / or the atomic layer deposition chamber;

[0027] Further, the continuous coating device further includes a discharging chamber, the discharging chamber includes a carrier discharging and transporting device and a seventh side wall and an eighth side wall arranged opposite to each other. A transfer outlet is formed on the seventh side wall, and a discharging port is formed on the eighth side wall. The discharging port, the transfer outlet correspond to and have the same height as the first outlet or the second outlet, so that the carrier can enter the discharging chamber through the transfer outlet through the carrier discharging and transporting device, and can pass through the discharging port to leave the discharging chamber.

[0028] As a second aspect of the present application, a continuous coating method is disclosed. Using the above continuous coating device, it includes:

[0029] Providing an initial carrier, the initial carrier carrying a plurality of substrates, the substrates including a front side and a back side;

[0030] Feeding the initial carrier into the first coating chamber from the first inlet through the transporting device, and performing a first coating treatment on the back side of the substrate to obtain a first carrier with a first film layer deposited on the back side of the substrate;

[0031] Feeding the first carrier out from the first outlet through the transporting device and feeding it into the atomic layer deposition chamber from the second inlet, and performing an atomic layer deposition treatment on the back side of the substrate to obtain a second carrier with a second film layer deposited on the back side of the substrate, the second film layer and the first film layer being stacked on the back side of the substrate;

[0032] Feeding the second carrier out from the second outlet through the transporting device to complete continuous coating.

[0033] Further, the first coating treatment includes physical vapor deposition and / or chemical vapor deposition.

[0034] Further, the atomic layer deposition process includes time-separated atomic layer deposition or space-separated atomic layer deposition.

[0035] The continuous coating device of the present application can comprehensively integrate different coating processes to achieve continuous coating in a vacuum. The coating or deposition direction of the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber is set to coat or deposit the lower surface of the substrate from bottom to top, reducing the intermediate flipping operation, eliminating the vacuum transfer chamber for chamber switching, reducing the number of additional evacuation and vacuum pumping times, making the production efficiency higher, and making the deposited film layer have less particle contamination and higher film layer quality from bottom to top.

[0036] These features and advantages of the present invention will be detailedly disclosed in the following specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The best embodiments or means of the present invention will be shown in detail in combination with the accompanying drawings, but it is not a limitation to the technical solution of the present invention. In addition, these features, elements, and components that appear in each of the following texts and drawings are multiple, and different symbols or numbers are marked for convenience of representation, but all represent components with the same or similar structures or functions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0038] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the continuous coating device provided by the present invention;

[0039] Figure 2 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the continuous coating method provided by the present invention;

[0040] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the atomic layer deposition chamber provided by the present invention;

[0041] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the atomic layer deposition chamber provided by the present invention;

[0042] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the atomic layer deposition chamber provided by the present invention;

[0043] Figure 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the atomic layer deposition chamber provided by the present invention;

[0044] Figure 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the atomic layer deposition chamber provided by the present invention;

[0045] Figure 8It is the gas distribution diagram of the simulation of the spray module provided by the present invention.

[0046] Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0047] 1: Continuous coating device; 2: First coating device; 3: Atomic layer deposition device; 4: Vacuum system; 5: Heating module; 6: Gas supply system; 8: Upper cavity cover; 40: Carrier

[0048] 21: First coating chamber; 22: First carrier transfer device; 23: Material source;

[0049] 31: Atomic layer deposition chamber; 3a: Second inlet; 3b: Second outlet;

[0050] 32: Spray module; 33: Second carrier transfer device; 34: Intake module

[0051] 32a: Limit rod; 32b: Installation notch; 32c: Adjustment mechanism; 321: First limit hole; 320a: First precursor gas hole; 320b: Second precursor gas hole; 320c: Isolation gas hole;

[0052] 330: Second transmission mechanism; 330a: Active transfer device; 330b: Driven transfer device;

[0053] 33a: Synchronous pulley; 33b: Synchronous belt; 33c: Auxiliary transmission part;

[0054] 331: Second transmission wheel; 331a: Extension part; 331b: Limit part; 331c: Carrier contact part;

[0055] 51: Heating element; 52: Heat insulation board; 52a: Heat insulation board notch; 53: Limit fixing hole;

[0056] 4a: Exhaust pipe; 4a1: Exhaust port;

[0057] 10: Feed chamber; 10a: Carrier feed transfer device; 11: Discharge chamber; 11a: Carrier discharge transfer device;

[0058] 1a: Feed platform; 1b: First transfer valve; 1c: Transfer valve; 1d: Second transfer valve; 1e: Discharge platform. Detailed Embodiment

[0059] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the drawings, where the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. Based on the embodiments in the embodiments, it is intended to explain the present invention and should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

[0060] As used herein, the terms "one embodiment", "example" or "instance" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment itself can be included in at least one embodiment disclosed in this application. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various positions in the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

[0061] It should be noted that in the present invention, "inner side" refers to the side close to the initial substrate, and "outer side" refers to the side away from the initial substrate.

[0062] In the evaporation coating process, the evaporation source needs to be heated to vaporize the evaporation source. Affected by thermal expansion and contraction, the gas will rise. Therefore, in the evaporation coating chamber, the evaporation source is usually arranged below the chamber, and the substrate is arranged above the chamber. The rising gas solidifies after encountering the substrate to form a film layer.

[0063] In the atomic layer deposition process, the gaseous process gas is directly sprayed into the chamber through spraying, and is deposited on the substrate under the action of the spraying pressure and the gravity of the gas. Therefore, in the atomic layer deposition process, the substrate is usually arranged below the chamber, and the gas spraying module for spraying gas is arranged above the chamber.

[0064] With the increase in the types of semiconductor devices, there is a situation where the previous film layer is prepared by the evaporation coating process and the subsequent film layer is prepared by the atomic layer deposition process. For example, in a perovskite solar cell, the electron transport layer includes C60 and SnO2 film layers arranged in a stack, where C60 is prepared by the evaporation coating process and the SnO2 layer is prepared by the atomic layer deposition process.

[0065] After the C60 layer is prepared by the evaporation coating process in the evaporation coating chamber, it is necessary to break the vacuum to take out the carrier from the evaporation coating chamber and put it into the transfer-out chamber. After the transfer-out chamber breaks the vacuum, the carrier is taken out from the transfer-out chamber. After manual wafer flipping treatment, the carrier is transferred into the atomic layer deposition transfer chamber, and then evacuated. After the vacuum degrees of the transfer chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber are the same, the carrier is transferred into the atomic layer deposition chamber for atomic layer deposition. On the one hand, this coating method will cause an additional breakage of vacuum and evacuation when transferring from evaporation coating to the atomic layer deposition chamber, resulting in a long production time and low efficiency. On the second hand, after the substrate is coated with C60 and taken out from the evaporation coating equipment, manual wafer flipping is required to perform atomic layer deposition, which will cause particle contamination and inconvenience in manual operation. Moreover, due to the difference in coating up and down of these two coating devices, they cannot be integrated together to achieve continuous vacuum coating.

[0066] Due to the particularity of the evaporation coating equipment, specifically, after the evaporation material is heated and evaporated, it naturally evaporates upward, so its evaporation direction is also from bottom to top. This requires that the evaporation port of the evaporation source must be set upward. Otherwise, affected by gravity, the evaporation material will flow out of the evaporation crucible. However, if in order to adapt the evaporation coating to atomic layer deposition, the evaporation source is set at the top of the evaporation chamber to evaporate the upper surface of the substrate, then a special pipeline direction needs to be set additionally, that is, the beam is made to change direction in the pipeline through the pipeline to complete the downward evaporation of the evaporation material, so as to coat the upper surface of the substrate; or, a special-shaped crucible is used, and the outlet of the special-shaped crucible is set downward through a specific processing method. These two methods will make the structure of the evaporation coating equipment extremely complex and difficult to implement. At the same time, the equipment processing and use costs will increase sharply. In addition, the evaporation material is likely to deposit on the inner wall of the pipeline in a special direction or the special-shaped crucible, resulting in a large waste of the evaporation material. The material deposited on the inner wall of the pipeline or crucible is difficult to remove, and the residual evaporation material in the pipeline will also limit the evaporation coating equipment to only be used for the evaporation coating of a single material and unable to add other evaporation materials, otherwise it will cause cross-contamination of the materials. In addition, the pipeline and the special-shaped crucible will significantly affect the evaporation beam, reduce the evaporation coating efficiency, and thus reduce the overall efficiency of continuous coating. At the same time, the evaporation coating method from top to bottom will additionally generate particle contamination on the surface of the substrate, which is not conducive to improving the film layer quality.

[0067] In view of this, the present application creatively invents a continuous coating device for coating / depositing from bottom to top, in which the atomic layer deposition chamber is set as a chamber structure that sprays upward from bottom to top, and the spraying module is set at the bottom of the reaction chamber. The reaction gas sprays the substrate upward with a certain spraying pressure to overcome the gravity of the reaction gas itself, so as to obtain a deposition effect consistent with the traditional atomic layer deposition method from top to bottom.

[0068] This atomic layer deposition chamber can be connected to other coating devices with a coating direction from bottom to top, and there is no need to change the position of the transmission device and the structure of other equipment chambers. Therefore, it can be adapted to other coating devices. Among them, there is no need to set an additional transfer chamber for vacuum pumping and vacuum breaking between the atomic layer deposition chamber and other coating chambers. Only the vacuum valve needs to be opened and closed between the chambers to achieve continuous transmission and chamber isolation. And if the substrate is always in a vacuum state during the chamber switching process, it can reduce the contamination of the film layer / surface by particles, thereby improving the coating quality and realizing vacuum continuous coating.

[0069] However, the atomic layer deposition chamber of the present application is not limited to depositing SnO2, and can also be other metal oxides. The other coating chambers are not limited to evaporation coating chambers, and evaporation coating is not limited to C60. It can also be any coating chamber that coats the lower surface of the substrate from bottom to top in any coating direction, such as a magnetron sputtering chamber, a plasma chemical deposition chamber, etc. Any front-end and back-end coating equipment with a bottom-to-top coating or deposition method can be adapted to the atomic layer deposition chamber of the present application to achieve vacuum continuous coating.

[0070] As a first aspect of the present invention, a continuous coating device 1 is disclosed. As shown in Figure 1 , Figures 3 to 7 , the continuous coating device 1 includes:

[0071] A first coating device 2, wherein the first coating device has at least one first coating chamber 21. A material source 23 is provided at the bottom of the first coating chamber 21. The first coating chamber 21 includes a first side wall and a second side wall. A first inlet is provided on the first side wall, and a first outlet is provided on the second side wall.

[0072] An atomic layer deposition device 3, the atomic layer deposition device having an atomic layer deposition chamber 31. The atomic layer deposition chamber 31 includes a spraying module 32. The spraying module 32 includes an air outlet surface. The spraying module 32 is provided at the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber 31, and the air outlet surface faces the top of the atomic layer deposition chamber 31. The atomic layer deposition chamber 31 includes a third side wall and a fourth side wall disposed opposite to each other. A second inlet 3a is provided on the third side wall, and a second outlet 3b is provided on the fourth side wall.

[0073] It further includes a transmission device for transporting a carrier plate carrying a substrate to sequentially pass through the first inlet, the first coating chamber 21, the first outlet, the second inlet, the atomic layer deposition chamber 31, and the second outlet. The first outlet corresponds to and is selectively connected to the second inlet, so that the first coating chamber 21 and the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 sequentially coat the lower surface of the substrate on the carrier plate through the transmission device.

[0074] The present application does not make special limitations on the transmission sequence, and the positions of the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber are not fixed, as long as it is satisfied that the carrier plate can sequentially pass through different chambers for coating. For example, the transmission device can also carry the carrier plate to sequentially pass through the second inlet, the atomic layer deposition chamber, the second outlet, the first inlet, the first coating chamber, and the first outlet, so that the atomic layer deposition chamber first performs atomic layer deposition on the back surface of the substrate, and then the first coating chamber coats the back surface of the substrate; for another example, an atomic layer deposition chamber can also be provided between two first coating chambers; or, a first coating chamber can be provided between two atomic layer deposition chambers, as long as it is satisfied that at least one first coating chamber is connected to the atomic layer deposition chamber.

[0075] It can be understood that in some cases, if the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber are directly connected, there may be a problem of a large pressure difference, and the reaction gases in the two chambers are likely to mix, causing chamber contamination. Therefore, at least one buffer chamber can be added between the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber. The buffer chamber is used to adjust the vacuum degree between the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber and avoid cross-contamination between the two chambers, so that after the carrier plate is sent out from the first coating chamber, it enters the atomic layer deposition chamber after passing through the buffer chamber for transition. In addition, the buffer chamber can also play a role in adjusting the operation rhythm. For example, after the operation of the first coating chamber is completed, but the subsequent atomic layer deposition chamber has not completed the deposition operation of the previous batch of substrates. In this case, the substrates that have completed the first coating are stored in the buffer chamber through the carrier plate and wait for atomic layer deposition. At the same time, the first coating chamber can also perform the coating operation on the next batch of substrates, greatly increasing the continuous coating efficiency.

[0076] The spray module of the present application is not simply a random replacement of the spray module, but also involves the installation and connection of the spray module to the chamber, and the structures and positions of other components also need to be adjusted accordingly. Specifically, in the traditional upper coating process, the gas is sprayed from top to bottom, and the exhaust pipe and the exhaust port are generally arranged at the side wall of the chamber or the bottom of the chamber. This makes the exhaust pipe have a relatively small pumping capacity for the reaction gas sprayed from above, which will lead to an increase in the number of gas molecules in the chamber. On the one hand, it will increase the lateral diffusion length of different precursor gases, resulting in the inability to form a self-limiting single precursor adsorption and atomic deposition reaction for the mixed gas (more likely to form chemical reaction deposition). On the other hand, more reaction gases remain and cannot be pumped out of the chamber, increasing the chamber pressure. The increase in chamber pressure will further cause difficulties in the decomposition and dissociation of the precursor gas, reducing the reaction efficiency, and the residual gases react and polymerize with each other, further increasing the possibility of polymer contamination and adhesion on the chamber wall in the chamber.

[0077] However, the above problems can be solved in the lower coating of the present invention. This is because in the process of lower coating, the gas is sprayed from bottom to top, and the exhaust pipe and the exhaust port can more easily pump out the gas sprayed from below, and the pumping capacity will be relatively larger than that of the upper coating. Therefore, the number of gas molecules in the chamber is less, which helps to reduce the lateral diffusion length of the precursor, reduce the possibility of gas mixing between different gas sources, and greatly improve the efficiency of the self-limiting atomic layer deposition reaction. In addition, the increase in pumping capacity results in a smaller chamber pressure, which can reduce gas-phase reactions and ensure that deposition mainly occurs on the substrate surface. This makes the film thickness more uniform, and the low pressure is also beneficial to the desorption of by-product molecules from the substrate surface, making room for more precursor molecules. This is crucial for maintaining a continuous and efficient deposition process. Preferably, during the lower coating operation of the present invention, the chamber pressure is in the range of 1 mbar to 5 mbar, while the chamber pressure during the traditional upper coating operation is generally greater than 5 mbar.

[0078] Figure 8 It is a gas distribution diagram obtained by simulating the gas flow of the air outlet holes during the spraying of the spraying module of the present application using the ANSYS Fluent simulation software. The abscissa represents the positions of different precursor gas outlet holes, and the ordinate represents the outlet gas pressure distributions of the first precursor gas holes and the second precursor gas holes. Among them, the first precursor gas is tin tetrakis(dimethylamino), and the second precursor gas is H2O. Figure 7 It can be seen that after the precursor gas is ejected from the air outlet holes, the gas will show a "flare-shaped" diffusion, and the isolation gas holes will isolate the diffusion between adjacent precursor gases. However, as the distance between the carrier plate and the spraying module increases and the film-forming gap becomes larger, the isolation effect of the isolation gas holes will weaken, resulting in signs of mixing between the precursors. According to the diffusion characteristics of different precursors, it is crucial to select an appropriate spraying distance.

[0079] The spraying module of the present application is not simply swapped up and down. If only the position is changed from the upper side to the lower side, but the spraying distance remains unchanged (the distance between the spraying module and the carrier plate), it will cause changes in the gas flow field between the lower spraying module and the carrier plate, which cannot form an effective atomic layer deposition reaction. When the distance is too large, the isolation function of the isolation gas is insufficient, and a reaction accompanied by CVD occurs, rather than only a self-limiting atomic layer deposition reaction. As the distance between the carrier plate and the nozzle decreases, the sealing effect between the precursors will improve, but a distance less than 1 mm is difficult to achieve in terms of processing difficulty. In order to further improve the reaction efficiency during atomic layer deposition, the distance between the spraying module and the carrier plate in the atomic layer deposition equipment of the present application is set within the range of 2 mm to 10 mm. The following table 1 shows the simulation data of the distance between the carrier plate and the spraying module in the lower coating atomic layer deposition equipment of the present application, simulated using the ANSYS Fluent simulation software. TDMASn represents that the first precursor gas source is tin tetrakis(dimethylamino), H2O represents that the second precursor gas source is water, the distribution length (D) represents the length of the corresponding precursor gas source spreading horizontally on the lower surface of the substrate during spraying, and the formula for the self-limiting property (δ) is:

[0080] δ = (1 - ((D - d1) / d1)) * 100%

[0081] Among them, δ is the self-limiting property, D is the distribution length, and d1 is the distance between adjacent pores of different precursors. The self-limiting property in Table 1 is calculated when the d1 distance is set to 40 mm. It should be noted that after the precursor gas is ejected from the pores, the gas will show a "flare-shaped" diffusion. The distribution length refers to the lateral diffusion length of a single precursor gas when it is sprayed on the lower surface of the substrate. Generally, the larger the distribution length, the greater the diffusion distance of the precursor "flare". If the distribution length is greater than the distance between the pores, it is easier for adjacent precursor gases to diffuse and cross-mix, resulting in poor isolation effect, so that a pure single reaction cannot occur within each cycle of the atomic layer; while the smaller the distribution length, the smaller the diffusion distance of the precursor, the smaller the "flare" angle of the sprayed gas, and it is more inclined to a shape that sprays almost vertically. Therefore, adjacent precursors do not interfere with each other and are not easy to mix, so that single reaction is more likely to occur in atomic layer deposition, and the atomic layer deposition effect is better. The self-limiting property is calculated based on the distribution length and the pore distance. It represents the degree to which atomic layer deposition can undergo a single reaction according to the simulated distribution length when the pore distance is not fixed. The larger the self-limiting property, the smaller the ratio of the distribution length to the pore distance, and it is not easy for adjacent precursor gases to mix; the smaller the self-limiting property, the larger the ratio of the distribution length to the pore distance, and it is easier for adjacent precursor gases to mix.

[0082] Table 1

[0083]

[0084] According to Table 1, when the spraying distance is 2 mm, the distribution length of the first precursor gas, namely tin bis(dimethylamino), is 53.67 mm, and the distribution length of the second precursor gas (H2O) is 39.98 mm. If the set interval between the pores of the two precursor gases is 40 mm, the calculated self-limiting properties are 65.82% and 100% respectively, which shows that at a distance of 2 mm, a higher self-limiting atomic layer deposition effect (rather than ordinary CVD reaction) can be obtained; when the spraying distance is 10 mm, the distribution length of tin bis(dimethylamino) is 70.21 mm, and the distribution length of the second precursor gas is 51.47 mm, then the calculated self-limiting properties are 24.47% and 71.32% respectively. Tin bis(dimethylamino) is more likely to diffuse laterally, its corresponding self-limiting property decreases, there is gas mixing, the atomic layer deposition effect decreases, and the chemical reaction deposition effect increases. When the distance is 11 mm, the distribution lengths of the first precursor gas and the second precursor gas both exceed the distance of 40 mm between adjacent pores, the self-limiting property is 0, the isolation gas loses its isolation function, and the chamber completely turns into a chemical vapor deposition reaction.

[0085] Different from the traditional spray spacing and gas interval in coating, in the solution where the above spray spacing is 2 mm - 10 mm, the application adjusts the interval between the air outlet holes. The interval between the air outlet holes of adjacent different precursors of the spray module is between 16 mm and 80 mm. The following Table 2 shows the simulation data of the air outlet hole interval of the spray module in the lower coating atomic layer deposition equipment of the application. Among them, the digital item after the "-" in the first column of Table 2 represents half of the interval between the precursor gas air hole corresponding to the previous item and the adjacent different precursor gas air hole. For example, "TDMASn - 10 mm" means that the interval between the tetra(dimethylamino)tin precursor gas air hole and the adjacent H2O precursor gas air hole is 20 mm. Another example, "H2O - 20 mm" means that the interval between the H2O precursor gas air hole and the tetra(dimethylamino)tin precursor gas air hole is 40 mm.

[0086] Table 2

[0087]

[0088] It can be seen from Table 2 that the interval between the adjacent air outlet holes of the spray module determines the diffusion distance of the precursor. When the interval decreases, that is, when the interval between the air outlet holes of adjacent different precursors is less than 16 mm, the isolation gas cannot form an effective isolation, and the precursors will converge with each other, that is, the distribution length becomes longer and is longer than the interval of the air outlet holes, and the self-limiting property decreases to 0. At this time, the chamber is completely transformed into a chemical vapor deposition reaction. When the interval between the air outlet holes of adjacent different precursors is too large, although its self-limiting property can be significantly improved, it will waste the chamber space and affect the production efficiency.

[0089] The application does not make special limitations on the interval of the isolation gas air holes. In the solution of the spray module for lower coating, generally the precursor gas will not easily undergo lateral diffusion. As a preference, the isolation gas air holes are arranged near the precursor air holes with a larger distribution length for effective isolation of its distribution. In some embodiments, the interval between the isolation gas air holes and the first precursor gas air holes is between 10 mm and 30 mm.

[0090] In order to enable the carrier plate to complete the chamber transfer between the two chambers through the transfer device, as an alternative implementation manner, the first side wall and the second side wall are arranged opposite to each other, the third side wall and the fourth side wall are arranged opposite to each other, and the heights of the first inlet, the first outlet, the second inlet, and the second outlet are the same. In this way, when the carrier plate exits from any one of the first outlets or the second outlets, it can be directly introduced into any one of the first inlets or the second inlets along the transfer direction without involving vertical position changes, making the transfer smoother and faster and improving the production efficiency.

[0091] This application does not make special limitations on how the transmission device carries the carrier plate through different coating chambers in sequence. For example, it can be transmitted through a conveyor belt. Another example is that it can be transmitted by the rolling of transmission wheels. Another example is that it can also be clamped and transmitted by means of a robotic arm.

[0092] When the spraying module is arranged at the bottom, the transmission speed affects the residence time of the sample within the range of precursor concentration and the deposition efficiency. The transmission speed of the carrier plate or substrate is positively correlated with the precursor concentration. When the carrier gas flow rate is increased, the speed range will increase accordingly. The maximum movement speed under the stable growth rate increases, but the precursor consumption increases. Therefore, a reasonable process combination has a very important impact on improving production efficiency and reducing consumption. Table 3 below shows the gas distribution length, self-limiting property, and substrate film thickness data corresponding to different transmission speeds in the lower coating atomic layer deposition equipment of this application. The self-limiting property in Table 3 is calculated based on the d1 spacing set to 40 mm, and the film thickness is measured by an ellipsometer.

[0093] Table 3

[0094]

[0095] As can be seen from Table 3, if the transmission speed exceeds 40 m / min, it will cause the carrier plate to be transmitted too fast, resulting in the reaction gas not having enough time to chemically combine on the substrate surface, unable to grow stably, and the film layer thickness will be significantly reduced, thus reducing the coating efficiency. If the transmission speed is lower than 2 m / min, the deposition efficiency of the spatial atomic layer deposition will be reduced, and excessive reaction gas will also be wasted and discharged without being effectively utilized. When the transmission speed changes, the distribution length and self-limiting property do not change significantly, but the film thickness changes significantly. When the transmission speed is 10 m / min, the film thickness within one transmission cycle reaches 7.222 nm, and when the transmission speed increases to 40 m / min, the film thickness within one transmission cycle drops to 3.5228 nm. Preferably, the transmission speed is between 2 m / min and 40 m / min, the deposited film thickness of the substrate is appropriate, and the deposition efficiency is more ideal.

[0096] In order to enable different coating chambers to perform coating or deposition operations independently to maximize production efficiency, as an alternative implementation, the transmission device includes a first carrier plate transmission device 22 and a second carrier plate transmission device 33. The first carrier plate transmission device 22 is used to drive the carrier plate to translate within the first coating chamber 21, and the second carrier plate transmission device 33 is used to drive the carrier plate to translate within the atomic layer deposition chamber 31.

[0097] In some embodiments, while the carrier plate reciprocates for coating in the first coating chamber 21 through the first carrier plate transfer device 22, another carrier plate reciprocates for atomic layer deposition in the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 through the second carrier plate transfer device at this time. In this way, the two chambers do not interfere with each other, and at the same time, the formation of cavities is avoided to prevent waste of production capacity. After the deposition of the previous carrier plate is completed in the atomic layer deposition chamber 31, the carrier plate in the first coating chamber 21 also finishes coating. In this way, after the previous carrier plate is transferred out of the atomic layer deposition chamber 31, the carrier plate in the subsequent first coating chamber 21 can directly enter the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 to continue the deposition process, greatly improving the production efficiency.

[0098] Among them, the first carrier plate transfer device and the second carrier plate transfer device have the same height to facilitate the docking of the two independent transfer devices. That is, at the connection of the two chambers, the carrier plate is first transferred out of the chamber by the first or second carrier plate transfer device. During this transfer process, the end of the carrier plate that is transferred out first will first contact the next deposition chamber and the first or second carrier plate transfer device in the next deposition chamber. To make the transfer process more stable, the heights of the carrier plate transfer devices in the two chambers need to be the same, which enables the carrier plate to be driven on a horizontal plane.

[0099] To further improve the driving effect, increase the synchronous drivability, and ensure the stable driving speed within the set time, preferably, the second carrier plate transfer device 33 includes a driving transfer device 330a and a driven transfer device 330b, which are respectively arranged on two opposite side walls of the atomic layer deposition chamber. The driving transfer device 330a drives the driven transfer device 330b through a transmission rod to achieve synchronous driving.

[0100] The first carrier plate transfer device and the second carrier plate transfer device can have the same structure or different structures.

[0101] To improve the driving effect, increase the synchronous drivability and driving stability, as an alternative implementation, the first carrier plate transfer device 22 includes a plurality of first driving mechanisms, and the second carrier plate transfer device 33 includes a plurality of second driving mechanisms 330. A plurality of driving holes are formed on the side walls of both the first coating chamber 21 and the atomic layer deposition chamber 31. The first driving mechanism is inserted into the driving hole of the first coating chamber 21 to form a first driving wheel, and the second driving mechanism 330 is inserted into the driving hole of the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 to form a second driving wheel 331. The first driving wheel and / or the second driving wheel 331 are used to carry and drive the carrier plate, and the first driving wheel corresponds to the second driving wheel 331. Driving the carrier plate in the form of driving wheels makes the force more evenly balanced, making the carrier plate driving more stable. At the same time, a plurality of driving mechanisms jointly carry the carrier plate, and the matching of their speeds with each other can ensure the synchronism of driving.

[0102] Preferably, the bearing surface height of the first driving wheel is the same as that of the second driving wheel. When the carrier plate is introduced from the first outlet or the second outlet into the second inlet or the first inlet, since no transmission device is provided between the two chambers, it is necessary to ensure that the driving surfaces of the transmission devices in different chambers are the same, so as to reduce the risk of the carrier plate falling or jamming during the transfer between the chambers.

[0103] To further improve the transmission effect, increase the synchronous transmission performance, and ensure the stable transmission speed within the set time, preferably, the second transmission mechanism 330 further includes a plurality of synchronous wheels 33a, a synchronous belt 33b, and a plurality of auxiliary transmission members 33c. The plurality of synchronous wheels 33a are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction on the outer side of the atomic layer deposition chamber. An auxiliary transmission member 33c is arranged between adjacent synchronous wheels 33a. Any adjacent synchronous wheel 33a and the auxiliary transmission member 33c therebetween are sleeved and connected by the synchronous belt 33b, so that the plurality of synchronous wheels 33a can be synchronously driven. Among them, the auxiliary transmission member 33c has a tensioning effect and can adjust the tension force between the synchronous belt 33b and the synchronous wheel 33a to achieve the best synchronous effect. It can be understood that in order to ensure the synchronous transmission on both sides, the driven transmission device and the driving transmission device have the same structure, that is, the driven transmission device also includes a plurality of second transmission mechanisms, and the second transmission mechanism includes a synchronous wheel 33a, a synchronous belt 33b, and an auxiliary transmission member 33c, and the positions of the driven transmission devices correspond to those of the driving transmission devices one by one.

[0104] This application does not make special limitations on how the second driving wheel carries and transports the carrier plate. It can be that the carrier plate is carried on the second driving wheel, and the plurality of second driving wheels 331 rotate to drive the carrier plate by friction. Preferably, the second driving wheel 331 includes an extension portion 331a, a carrier plate contact portion 331c, and a limiting portion 331b. The extension portion 331a, the carrier plate contact portion 331c, and the limiting portion 331b are arranged and connected along the axial direction of the second driving wheel 331. The limiting portion 331b is arranged between the extension portion 331a and the carrier plate contact portion 331c. The carrier plate contact portion 331c is used to carry and drive the carrier plate. The outer diameter of the limiting portion 331b is larger than that of the carrier plate contact portion 331c, so that the limiting portion limits the carrier plate in the width direction.

[0105] Since the spraying module of the present application is arranged below the carrier plate for bottom coating, in order to make the spraying module close enough to the carrier plate for spraying while ensuring that the installation of the spraying module does not affect the transmission of the carrier plate by the second driving wheel, the spraying module is provided with a plurality of installation notches 32b at the edge close to the side wall. The plurality of installation notches 32b are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction. The plurality of installation notches 32b correspond to the plurality of second driving wheels, and the shape of the installation notch 32b matches that of the second driving wheel, so that there is an interval between the spraying module and the adjacent plurality of second driving wheels. This enables the second driving wheel not to touch the spraying module when rotating, and at the same time, the interval position can also allow the excess reactant gas during deposition to enter the bottom of the chamber from the interval and be pumped away.

[0106] The present application does not make special limitations on how the spraying module is arranged at the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber, as long as it satisfies spraying from the bottom to the top. For example, it can be simply placed on the bottom surface of the chamber. For another example, it can also be detachably installed and fixed to the bottom of the chamber through bolts, buckles, etc. Considering that the spraying module needs to be cleaned, maintained, and replaced regularly, a certain disassembly structure is required. At the same time, the atomic layer deposition chamber is stationary during operation and will not be disturbed by the transmission device. Therefore, preferably, the spraying module further includes a plurality of support and limit members, which are arranged between the spraying module and the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber to support the spraying module and provide a set interval between the spraying module and the bearing surface of the carrier plate transmission device. Preferably, the set interval is between 3 mm and 8 mm.

[0107] In some embodiments, since the spraying module is affected by the temperature in the chamber and the deposition temperature is generally high, in order to prevent the spraying module from deforming thermally and causing a change in its position relative to the chamber, the support and limit members include a plurality of limit rods 32a. The spraying module includes a plurality of first limit holes 321. The first end of the limit rod 32a is fixedly connected to the bottom of the reaction chamber, and the second end of the limit rod 32a is movably connected to the spraying module through the first limit hole 321, so that the first limit hole 321 limits the spraying module to prevent lateral movement of the spraying module, and at the same time provides a part of the thermal deformation space to avoid thermal stress and improve the service life of the spraying module.

[0108] In some embodiments, the support and limit members further include a plurality of adjusting mechanisms 32c. The two ends of the adjusting mechanism 32c are respectively fixedly connected to the bottom of the reaction chamber and the spraying module, and the adjusting structure is used to adjust the distance between the spraying module and the carrier plate.

[0109] The atomic layer deposition chamber further includes an upper chamber cover 8 and a heating module 5. The upper chamber cover 8 is used to seal the atomic layer deposition chamber from the top, and the heating module 5 is arranged on the upper chamber cover 8. In the related art, the heating module 5 is arranged at the bottom of the chamber and heats from bottom to top (referred to as bottom heating). In this application, it is a top heating mode. Installing the heating module 5 on the chamber cover can avoid interference with the transfer device, make the heating module 5 as large as possible, increase the coverage of the substrate, and reduce edge heat dissipation.

[0110] In order to increase the heat radiation area and at the same time reduce the thermal deformation effect caused by heating, preferably, the heating module includes a plurality of heating elements 51 and a plurality of heating plates. The plurality of heating elements 51 and the heating plates can disperse the concentrated heat. The plurality of heating elements 51 are fixedly connected to the upper chamber cover and the heating plates. The heating elements 51 are used to transfer electrical energy from the outside into the atomic layer deposition chamber to heat the heating plates. The plurality of heating plates are arranged along the transfer direction. Preferably, the distance between the heating plate and the carrier plate is between 5 mm and 9 mm to achieve the best heating effect. In order to make the heating temperature more uniform at each position in the chamber, preferably, the plurality of heating plates include a middle heating plate and edge heating plates. The size of the middle heating plate along the transfer direction is larger than the size of the edge heating plates along the transfer direction. Preferably, the length of the middle heating plate is between 1500 mm and 2500 mm, the length of the edge heating plates is between 100 mm and 500 mm, and the sizes of the middle heating plate and the edge heating plates in the width direction of the reaction chamber are both between 1000 mm and 1500 mm.

[0111] The heating plates are generally metal plates with good thermal conductivity and are prone to thermal deformation when the temperature rises, and are more easily affected by thermal deformation at the fixed connection with the chamber cover. In order to reduce the influence of thermal deformation of the heating plates, preferably, a plurality of heating plates are provided with limit fixing holes 53. The heating plates are connected through fasteners and the limit fixing holes 53. The plurality of limit fixing holes 53 are arranged along the edge of the heating plate, and the plurality of limit fixing holes 53 have a limit space in the transfer direction and / or the width direction of the reaction chamber.

[0112] The spatial layer atomic layer deposition equipment of this application further includes a heat insulation plate 52. The heat insulation plate 52 is arranged between the heating plate and the upper chamber cover 8, and the periphery of the heating plate is also surrounded by the heat insulation plate 52 to reduce the consumption of excess heat, thereby ensuring the thermal uniformity of the substrate. Preferably, the four side walls on the outside of the heat insulation plate 52 each have a heat insulation plate notch 52a. The heat insulation plate notch 52a corresponds to the position of the second transmission wheel. When the upper chamber cover 8 is closed through the chamber cover opening and closing mechanism 9, the heat insulation plate notch 52a just allows the second transmission wheel to pass through, so that the heat insulation plate 52 does not hinder the transmission of the second transmission wheel to the carrier plate.

[0113] This application does not make special limitations on how the first coating chamber 21 and the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 are connected, as long as the two chambers can operate independently. Generally, the inlet, outlet, and connection parts of the coating chamber are places with relatively poor airtightness. Therefore, to ensure the vacuum state during continuous coating, the first outlet is connected to the second inlet through a transfer valve 1c. The transfer valve 1c is a kind of vacuum valve with the functions of isolation and sealing, and is used to isolate the first coating chamber 21 from the atomic layer deposition chamber 31.

[0114] The continuous coating device 1 of this application can utilize a set of vacuum system 4 to evacuate multiple different chambers. Specifically, the continuous coating device 1 further includes a vacuum system 4. The vacuum system 4 includes multiple vacuum pipelines, and the multiple vacuum pipelines are correspondingly connected to the first coating chamber 21 and the atomic layer deposition chamber 31. When the vacuum degrees of the first coating chamber 21 and the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 are the same, the transfer valve 1c can be opened. After the carrier tray passes through the first outlet through the transfer device, it enters the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 from the second inlet through the transfer valve 1c. This can not only save vacuum power energy, but also match the vacuum degree in the chamber with that in the adjacent chamber to reduce the opening and closing time of the valve. And during the opening process, the air pressure difference between adjacent chambers is smaller, and the influence on the fluctuation of the carrier tray is also smaller.

[0115] Since the transfer devices in different chambers are disconnected at the connection part, and the chambers are connected by the transfer valve 1c. In some embodiments, during the process of the first carrier tray transfer device 22 transmitting the carrier tray out of the first outlet, the carrier tray will first pass through the transfer valve 1c and then enter and contact the second carrier tray transfer device 33 from the second inlet, so as to achieve continuous transmission. To ensure that the carrier tray will not be blocked by the transfer valve 1c when transferring and continue to be transmitted when contacting the next transfer device, preferably, the distance between the transfer inlet and the transfer outlet is smaller than the size of the carrier tray along the transmission direction, so that when the carrier tray is transmitted out of the first outlet by the transfer device, both ends of the carrier tray can be located in the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber respectively and be carried and transmitted by the first carrier tray transfer device and the second carrier tray transfer device at the same time.

[0116] The vacuum pipeline includes an exhaust pipe 4a. The exhaust pipe is arranged under the spraying module in the atomic layer deposition chamber. Multiple exhaust pipes 4a are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction. The exhaust pipe 4a includes multiple exhaust ports 4a1, so that the gas discharged from the spraying module is discharged from the lower side through the exhaust ports 4a1.

[0117] In some embodiments, the continuous coating device 1 further includes a feeding chamber 10 and a discharging chamber 11. The feeding chamber 10 and the discharging chamber 11 are generally used as the transfer chambers for the outside to transfer the carrier tray in or out. Their chamber volumes are smaller than those of the coating chamber, so that the speed of evacuating and breaking vacuum is faster, the time is shorter, and the production time is reduced.

[0118] The feeding chamber includes a carrier feeding and transporting device 10a. The feeding chamber further includes a fifth sidewall and a sixth sidewall which are oppositely arranged. A feeding port is formed on the fifth sidewall, and a transfer inlet is formed on the sixth sidewall. The feeding port, the transfer inlet and the first inlet or the second inlet have the same height, so that the carrier can enter the feeding chamber through the feeding port via the carrier feeding and transporting device 10a, and can pass through the transfer inlet to leave the feeding chamber and enter the first coating chamber and / or the atomic layer deposition chamber.

[0119] The discharging chamber includes a carrier discharging and transporting device 11a and a seventh sidewall and an eighth sidewall which are oppositely arranged. A transfer outlet is formed on the seventh sidewall, and a discharging port is formed on the eighth sidewall. The discharging port, the transfer outlet and the first outlet or the second outlet have the same height, so that the carrier can enter the discharging chamber through the transfer outlet via the carrier discharging and transporting device, and can pass through the discharging port to leave the discharging chamber. The feeding port and the discharging port are both connected to the outside through gate valves.

[0120] In some embodiments, the continuous coating device further includes a feeding platform 1a and a discharging platform 1e. The feeding platform is connected to the feeding chamber through a first transfer valve 1b, and the discharging platform is connected to the discharging chamber through a second transfer valve 1d.

[0121] This application does not make special limitations on the first coating chamber 21, and only needs to satisfy that the coating direction of the first coating chamber 21 is to coat the back surface of the substrate from bottom to top. The first coating chamber 21 includes at least one of an evaporation chamber, a magnetron sputtering chamber, a reactive plasma deposition chamber and a chemical reaction deposition chamber.

[0122] This application also does not make special limitations on the position of the first coating chamber 21. It can be located in front of the atomic layer deposition chamber 31, that is, first enter the first coating chamber 21 for coating and then enter the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 for deposition. It can also be that the first coating chamber 21 is located behind the atomic layer deposition chamber 31, that is, first enter the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 for deposition and then enter the first coating chamber 21 for coating. In the latter embodiment described above, the first inlet corresponds to the second outlet, so that the atomic layer deposition chamber 31 and the first coating chamber 21 sequentially coat the lower surface of the substrate on the carrier through the transfer device.

[0123] Figure 3Schematic diagram of a structure of an embodiment of the atomic layer deposition apparatus provided by the present invention. Among them, the atomic deposition apparatus of the present application further includes a gas supply system 6, and the gas supply system is used to supply gas to the spray module. The spray module includes air outlet holes, and the air outlet holes include a plurality of first precursor gas holes 320a, a plurality of second precursor gas holes 320b, and a plurality of isolation gas holes 320c. The first precursor gas holes and the second precursor gas holes are arranged alternately along the length direction of the reaction chamber, and isolation gas holes are arranged between adjacent first precursor gas holes and second precursor gas holes, so that the first precursor gas and the second precursor gas are isolated by the isolation gas. The spray module of the present application further includes an air inlet module 34, and the gas supply system supplies gas to each air outlet hole through the air inlet module.

[0124] As a second aspect of the present application, a continuous film coating method is disclosed, which uses the above-mentioned continuous film coating apparatus, as Figure 2 shown, and the specific steps include:

[0125] S100. Provide an initial carrier plate, the initial carrier plate includes a plurality of substrates, and the substrates include a front side and a back side;

[0126] S200. Transfer the initial carrier plate from the first inlet to the first coating chamber through a transfer device, and perform a first coating process on the back side of the substrate to obtain a first carrier plate with a first film layer deposited on the back side of the substrate;

[0127] S300. Transfer the first carrier plate out from the first outlet and into the atomic layer deposition chamber from the second inlet, and perform an atomic layer deposition process on the back side of the substrate to obtain a second carrier plate with a second film layer deposited on the back side of the substrate. The second film layer and the first film layer are stacked on the back side of the substrate;

[0128] S400. Transfer the second carrier plate out from the second outlet to complete continuous film coating.

[0129] In step S100, the present application does not make special limitations on the substrate, which can be a semiconductor silicon wafer or a glass substrate.

[0130] In step S200, the first coating process includes physical vapor deposition and / or chemical vapor deposition. For example, evaporation coating, magnetron sputtering, plasma-enhanced chemical reaction vapor deposition, etc.

[0131] In step S300, the atomic layer deposition process includes time-separated atomic layer deposition or space-separated atomic layer deposition. The deposited film layer can be an electron transport layer of perovskite, such as metal oxides such as SnO2, Al2O3, TiO2, MoO3, V2O5, etc.

[0132] In step S400, the present application does not make special limitations on the subsequent preparation method. For example, after atomic layer deposition, coating processes such as evaporation coating and sputtering can be continued to achieve a continuous multi-layer film process.

[0133] The continuous coating device of the present application can comprehensively integrate different coating processes to achieve continuous coating in a vacuum. The coating or deposition direction of the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber is set to coat or deposit the lower surface of the substrate from bottom to top, reducing the intermediate turning operation, canceling the vacuum transfer chamber for chamber switching, reducing the number of additional evacuation and vacuum pumping times, making the production efficiency higher, and making the deposited film layer have less particle contamination and higher film layer quality from bottom to top.

[0134] The present application will be described below in conjunction with a specific embodiment.

[0135] Provide an initial substrate. The initial substrate includes a crystalline silicon bottom cell, an ITO composite layer, a hole transport layer, and a perovskite light absorption layer stacked in sequence. The initial substrate includes a front side and a back side.

[0136] Place multiple initial substrates in a carrier tray with the back sides of the initial substrates facing down.

[0137] Place the carrier tray on the loading table. After the feed chamber is evacuated, the loading table transfers the carrier tray into the feed chamber through the feed port. The feed chamber is evacuated. After the vacuum degree reaches the set requirement, the first transfer port of the feed chamber is opened and connected to the first inlet of the evaporation coating chamber. The carrier tray feed transmission device transfers the carrier tray from the first inlet into the evaporation coating chamber.

[0138] The evaporation coating chamber maintains a vacuum. C60 powder is placed in an evaporation crucible as an evaporation source, and the evaporation source is heated. After the evaporation temperature reaches the set temperature, the evaporation source evaporates upward to form a film on the back side of the substrate on the carrier tray. The first carrier tray transmission device in the evaporation coating chamber receives the carrier tray and reciprocally drives the carrier tray in the evaporation coating chamber to achieve uniform evaporation coating preparation of the C60 film layer. After evaporation coating for the set time, the evaporation coating stops. The first outlet of the evaporation coating chamber and the connected transfer valve and the second inlet are opened. The first carrier tray transmission device transfers the carrier tray out of the first outlet and enters the atomic layer deposition chamber through the transfer valve and the second inlet.

[0139] The atomic layer deposition chamber maintains a vacuum. The spraying module sprays upward on the back side of the substrate on the carrier tray. Among them, the first precursor gas source is dimethyltin or tetramethyltitanium, the second precursor gas source is oxygen, and an inert gas curtain is provided between the two precursor gas sources. The second carrier tray transmission device receives the carrier tray and reciprocally drives the carrier tray in the atomic layer deposition chamber to prepare SnO2. After multiple reciprocating movements to the set time or set thickness, the spraying stops. The second outlet is opened and connected to the second transfer port of the discharge chamber. The second carrier tray transmission device transfers the carrier tray out of the second outlet and enters the discharge chamber through the second transfer port.

[0140] When the second transfer port is closed and the air in the discharge chamber is evacuated, after the air pressure is consistent with the atmospheric pressure, the carrier tray discharge transmission device transmits the carrier tray from the discharge port, and finally an intermediate product of a perovskite battery with an electron transport layer continuously deposited with C60 and SnO2 on the back of the substrate is obtained.

[0141] This is only a specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention includes but is not limited to the content described in the drawings and the above specific implementation manner. Any modification that does not deviate from the functional and structural principles of the present invention will be included in the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A continuous coating device, characterized in that: The continuous coating device comprises: At least one first coating chamber (21), a material source (22) being arranged at the bottom of the first coating chamber, the first coating chamber comprising a first side wall and a second side wall, the first side wall being provided with a first inlet, and the second side wall being provided with a first outlet; An atomic layer deposition chamber (31), the atomic layer deposition chamber comprising a spray module (32), the spray module comprising a gas outlet surface, the spray module being arranged at the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber, the gas outlet surface facing the top of the atomic layer deposition chamber, the atomic layer deposition chamber comprising a third side wall and a fourth side wall, the third side wall being provided with a second inlet, and the fourth side wall being provided with a second outlet; A transmission device is used to transport a carrier carrying a substrate through the first entrance, the first coating chamber, the first outlet, the second entrance, the atomic layer deposition chamber and the second outlet in sequence, the first outlet corresponds to the second entrance and is selectively connected, so that the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber coat the lower surface of the substrate in sequence through the transmission device.

2. The continuous coating device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first side wall is disposed opposite to the second side wall, the third side wall is disposed opposite to the fourth side wall, and the first inlet, the first outlet, the second inlet and the second outlet have the same height.

3. The continuous coating device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The transmission device comprises a first carrier transmission device (23) and a second carrier transmission device (33), wherein the first carrier transmission device is used to drive the carrier to translate in the first coating chamber, and the second carrier transmission device is used to drive the carrier to translate in the atomic layer deposition chamber, and the first carrier transmission device is at the same height as the second carrier transmission device.

4. The continuous coating device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first carrier transmission device includes a plurality of first transmission mechanisms, and the second carrier transmission device includes a plurality of second transmission mechanisms. The side walls of the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber are both provided with a plurality of transmission holes. The first transmission mechanism is inserted into the transmission hole of the first coating chamber to form a first transmission wheel, and the second transmission mechanism is inserted into the transmission hole of the atomic layer deposition chamber to form a second transmission wheel. The first transmission wheel and / or the second transmission wheel are used to carry and transmit the carrier, and the bearing surface height of the first transmission wheel is consistent with the bearing surface height of the second transmission wheel.

5. The continuous coating device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second transmission mechanism also includes multiple synchronous wheels, synchronous belts and multiple auxiliary transmission parts. The multiple synchronous wheels are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction on the outside of the atomic layer deposition chamber, and the auxiliary transmission parts are arranged between adjacent synchronous wheels. Any adjacent synchronous wheels and the auxiliary transmission parts therebetween are connected by the synchronous belt sleeve so that the multiple synchronous wheels can be transmitted synchronously.

6. The continuous coating device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second transmission wheel includes an extension portion, a carrier plate contact portion and a limiting portion, wherein the extension portion, the carrier plate contact portion and the limiting portion are arranged and connected along the axial direction of the second transmission wheel, the limiting portion is arranged between the extension portion and the carrier plate contact portion, the carrier plate contact portion is used to carry and transmit the carrier plate, and the outer diameter of the limiting portion is larger than the outer diameter of the carrier plate contact portion, so that the limiting portion limits the carrier plate in the width direction.

7. The continuous coating device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The edge of the spray module is provided with a plurality of mounting notches, and the plurality of mounting notches are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction. The plurality of mounting notches correspond one-to-one to the plurality of second transmission wheels, and the shape of the mounting notches matches the second transmission wheel, so that there is a gap between the spray module and the second transmission wheel.

8. The continuous coating device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spray module further includes a plurality of support and stop members, which are disposed between the spray module and the bottom surface of the atomic layer deposition chamber and are used to support the spray module and to ensure a set interval between the spray module and the carrier.

9. The continuous coating device according to claim 8, characterized in that: The support limiter includes a plurality of limit rods and a plurality of adjustment mechanisms, and the spray module includes a plurality of first limit holes. The first end of the limiting rod is fixedly connected to the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber, and the second end of the limiting rod is movably connected to the spray module through the first limiting hole, so that the first limiting hole limits the spray module. Two ends of the adjustment mechanism are fixedly connected to the bottom of the atomic layer deposition chamber and the spray module respectively, and the adjustment mechanism is used to adjust the distance between the spray module and the carrier.

10. The continuous coating device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The atomic layer deposition chamber further comprises an upper chamber cover (8) and a heating module (5), the upper chamber cover being used to close the atomic layer deposition chamber from the top of the atomic layer deposition chamber, and the heating module (5) being arranged on the upper chamber cover.

11. The continuous coating device according to claim 10, characterized in that: The heating module includes multiple heating elements and multiple heating plates. The multiple heating elements are fixedly connected to the upper chamber cover and the heating plates. The heating elements are used to transfer electrical energy from the outside to the atomic layer deposition chamber to heat the heating plates. The multiple heating plates are arranged along the transmission direction.

12. The continuous coating device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The continuous coating device further comprises a vacuum system (4) and a transmission valve (1c), wherein the first outlet and the second inlet are connected via the transmission valve (1c). The vacuum system includes a plurality of vacuum pipelines, and the plurality of vacuum pipelines are respectively connected to the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber, so that when the vacuum degrees of the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber are consistent, the transfer valve can be opened, and the carrier passes through the first outlet through the transfer device and then enters the atomic layer deposition chamber from the second inlet through the transfer valve.

13. The continuous coating device according to claim 12, characterized in that: The size of the transfer valve along the transfer direction is smaller than the size of the carrier along the transfer direction, so that when the carrier is transferred out of the first outlet by the transfer device, the two ends of the carrier can be respectively located in the first coating chamber and the atomic layer deposition chamber and are simultaneously carried and transmitted by the transfer device.

14. The continuous coating device according to claim 12, characterized in that: The vacuum pipeline includes an exhaust pipe, which is arranged on the lower side of the spray module in the atomic layer deposition chamber. A plurality of the exhaust pipes are arranged at intervals along the transmission direction. The exhaust pipe includes a plurality of exhaust ports, so that the gas exhausted from the spray module is discharged from the lower side through the exhaust ports.

15. The continuous coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that: The continuous coating device also includes a feed chamber (10), the feed chamber includes a carrier feed transmission device (10a), the feed chamber also includes a fifth side wall and a sixth side wall arranged opposite to each other, the fifth side wall is provided with a feed port, the sixth side wall is provided with a transfer entrance, the feed port and the transfer entrance correspond to the first entrance or the second entrance and have the same height, so that the carrier can pass through the feed port through the carrier feed transmission device to enter the feed chamber, and can pass through the transfer entrance to leave the feed chamber and enter the first coating chamber and / or the atomic layer deposition chamber.

16. The continuous coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that: The continuous coating device also includes a discharge chamber (11), which includes a carrier plate discharge transmission device and a seventh side wall and an eighth side wall arranged opposite to each other, the seventh side wall is provided with a transfer outlet, and the eighth side wall is provided with a discharge port, the discharge port and the transfer outlet correspond to the first outlet or the second outlet and have the same height, so that the carrier plate can pass through the carrier plate discharge transmission device through the transfer outlet to enter the discharge chamber, and can pass through the discharge port to leave the discharge chamber.

17. A continuous coating method, characterized in that: The continuous coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 16 comprises: Providing an initial carrier, the initial carrier carrying a plurality of substrates, the substrates comprising a front side and a back side; The initial carrier is introduced into the first coating chamber from the first entrance through the transmission device, and the back side of the substrate is subjected to a first coating process to obtain a first carrier with a substrate having a first film layer deposited on the back side; The first carrier is transferred from the first outlet through the transfer device and transferred from the second inlet to the atomic layer deposition chamber, and the back side of the substrate is subjected to atomic layer deposition to obtain a second carrier with a second film layer substrate deposited on the back side, and the second film layer and the first film layer are stacked on the back side of the substrate; The second carrier is transferred out from the second outlet through the transfer device to complete the continuous coating.

18. The continuous coating method according to claim 17, characterized in that: The first coating process includes physical vapor deposition and / or chemical vapor deposition.

19. The continuous coating method according to any one of claims 17 or 18, characterized in that: The atomic layer deposition process includes time-isolated atomic layer deposition or space-isolated atomic layer deposition.

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