Filling device and thermal evaporation equipment

Abstract

The utility model discloses a filling device and thermal evaporation equipment, and belongs to the technical field of thin film deposition equipment. The filling device comprises a driving assembly and a feeding assembly, the feeding assembly contains a coating material, the feeding assembly is connected with the output end of the driving assembly, and the feeding assembly can be driven by the driving assembly to movably enter and exit from the process cavity in the first direction so that a discharging opening of the feeding assembly can be located over an evaporation source in the process cavity. According to the filling device, updating and filling of a coating material are completed on the premise that an evaporation source is not taken out, the operation duration of adding a new material into the evaporation source is greatly shortened, the operation complexity of adding the new material into the evaporation source is greatly reduced, and the overall utilization rate of thermal evaporation equipment is improved; meanwhile, the contact time of the coating material and water and oxygen in ambient air is greatly shortened, and the denaturation risk of the coating material is reduced; and compared with an original coating material adding operation mode, the risks of personnel injury and equipment damage are greatly reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to thin film deposition equipment technical field especially, relates to filling device and hot evaporation equipment. BACKGROUND

[0002] Hot evaporation is a kind of physical vapor deposition method, and is a kind of form of thin film deposition.Hot evaporation refers to the process that the substrate or workpiece to be plated is placed in the vacuum chamber, and the solid plating film material is evaporated and vaporized by heating to deposit on the substrate or workpiece surface and form thin film or coating.The plating film material applied to hot evaporation technology can be pure atomic element, including metal and non-metal, and can also be oxide and nitride molecules.

[0003] In the actual production of the existing hot evaporation equipment, when the plating film material in the evaporation source is exhausted, the evaporation source as a whole needs to be taken out from the chamber and refilled with new material.The refilling process is complicated and time-consuming, which seriously affects the overall equipment utilization rate, and there is a risk of personnel injury and equipment damage.In addition, for water-oxygen-sensitive plating film materials, the inevitable contact with water and oxygen in the environment during the filling process poses a risk of material denaturation.Once the material denatures, the hot evaporation process will be affected, or the material evaporation rate will be abnormal, causing the uniformity of the film layer to deteriorate, or the performance of the grown film layer will be abnormal, causing the performance of the final product to be abnormal, or other abnormalities will cause the quality of the grown film layer to be poor, resulting in the production of defective products.

[0004] Therefore, it is urgent to design a filling device and hot evaporation equipment to solve the above technical problems. INVENTION CONTENTS

[0005] The utility model aims at providing a kind of filling device, which can realize the filling of plating film material without taking out evaporation source.

[0006] To achieve this purpose, the utility model adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] The filling device comprises:

[0008] A drive assembly; and,

[0009] A feeding assembly containing plating film material, the feeding assembly is connected with the output end of the drive assembly, and the feeding assembly can be movably in and out of the process chamber in the first direction under the driving action of the drive assembly, so that the discharge port of the feeding assembly can be located directly above the evaporation source in the process chamber.

[0010] As a preferred technical solution of the above-mentioned filling device, the feeding assembly includes a screw conveyor, the screw conveyor includes a bushing and a screw shaft, the bushing is provided with a feeding port and a discharging port, the screw shaft is disposed in the bushing and the screw shaft is connected to the output end of the drive assembly.

[0011] As a preferred technical solution of the above-mentioned packing device, the packing device further includes a guide rail, which is disposed outside the process chamber along the first direction, and a slider is provided on the bushing, with the slider and the guide rail slidingly engaged.

[0012] As a preferred embodiment of the above-mentioned filling device, the feeding assembly further includes a connecting bracket, one end of which is connected to the bushing and the other end of which is connected to the slider.

[0013] As a preferred embodiment of the above-mentioned packing device, the packing device further includes a gate valve, which is disposed at the opening of the process chamber and is capable of opening or closing the opening.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment of the above-mentioned packing device, the packing device further includes an elastic element, one end of which is connected to the gate valve and the other end of which is connected to the connecting bracket.

[0015] As a preferred technical solution for the above-mentioned packing device, one end of the gate valve is connected to the outer wall of the process chamber via a flange, and the other end is connected to the elastic element via a flange. The end of the elastic element away from the gate valve is connected to the connecting bracket via a flange.

[0016] As a preferred technical solution for the above-mentioned packing device, the elastic element is a bellows, which is sleeved on the outer periphery of the bushing.

[0017] As a preferred technical solution for the above-mentioned packing device, the bellows is provided with an observation window, and at least the part of the bushing facing the observation window is transparent.

[0018] The purpose of this invention is to provide a thermal evaporation device that can fill coating materials without removing the evaporation source.

[0019] To achieve this objective, the present invention also adopts the following technical solution:

[0020] A thermal evaporation apparatus includes the aforementioned packing device.

[0021] The filling device disclosed in this utility model includes a driving component and a feeding component. The feeding component contains coating material and is connected to the output end of the driving component. Under the driving action of the driving component, the feeding component can move in and out of the process chamber along a first direction, so that the outlet of the feeding component is located directly above the evaporation source in the process chamber. This filling device enables the replacement and filling of coating material without removing the evaporation source, greatly shortening the operation time of adding new material to the evaporation source, significantly reducing the complexity of the operation, and improving the overall uptime of the thermal evaporation equipment. At the same time, it also greatly shortens the contact time between the coating material and water and oxygen in the ambient air, reducing the risk of coating material denaturation. Compared with the original coating material addition operation method, it greatly reduces the risk of personnel injury and equipment damage.

[0022] The thermal evaporation equipment disclosed in this utility model includes the aforementioned filling device. This thermal evaporation equipment enables the replacement and filling of coating materials without removing the evaporation source, greatly shortening the operation time for adding new material to the evaporation source, significantly reducing the complexity of adding new material to the evaporation source, and improving the overall uptime of the thermal evaporation equipment. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a front view of the packing device provided in a specific embodiment of this utility model;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the process chamber provided in a specific embodiment of this utility model;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a front view of the thermal evaporation equipment provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention when it is in a non-filled state;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a front view of the thermal evaporation equipment provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention when it is in the packing state;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional view of the thermal evaporation equipment provided in a specific embodiment of this utility model when it is in a non-filled state;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a cross-sectional view of the thermal evaporation equipment provided in a specific embodiment of this utility model when it is in the packing state;

[0029] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the bushing provided in a specific embodiment of this utility model;

[0030] Figure 8 This is a structural schematic diagram of the bushing and drive assembly provided in a specific embodiment of the present utility model;

[0031] Figure 9This is a structural schematic diagram of the elastic element provided in a specific embodiment of this utility model.

[0032] In the picture:

[0033] 1. Bushing; 2. Screw shaft; 3. Feed port; 4. Guide rail; 5. Slider; 6. Gate valve; 7. Elastic element; 8. Connecting bracket; 9. Servo motor; 10. Magnetohydrodynamic fluid; 11. Ball valve; 101. Discharge port; 701. Observation window;

[0034] 100. Packing device; 200. Process chamber; 201. Evaporation source; 202. Part to be coated. Detailed Implementation

[0035] To make the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of this utility model more apparent and understandable, the specific embodiments of this utility model are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Many specific details are set forth in the following description to provide a full understanding of this utility model. However, this utility model can be implemented in many other ways different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar modifications without departing from the spirit of this utility model. Therefore, this utility model is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

[0036] In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this utility model.

[0037] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the description of this utility model, "a plurality of" means at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0038] In this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "joining," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components, unless otherwise explicitly limited. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model according to the specific circumstances.

[0039] In this utility model, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, "above" or "below" the second feature can mean that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, or that the first feature is in indirect contact with the second feature through an intermediate medium. Furthermore, "above," "on top of," and "over" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. "Below," "below," and "under" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.

[0040] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "set on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or there may be an intervening element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intervening element. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and similar expressions used herein are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent the only possible implementation.

[0041] This embodiment discloses a thermal evaporation device, such as... Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the thermal evaporation equipment includes a process chamber 200 and a packing device 100. The process chamber 200 can create a high vacuum environment, providing conditions for the thermal evaporation process. The process chamber 200 contains an evaporation source 201 and a workpiece 202 to be coated, such as a substrate, located directly above the evaporation source 201. The raw material for film formation is placed in the evaporation source 201. Under process conditions, the material is heated and evaporated to form a vapor flow. The vapor flow passes through the chamber and impacts the substrate, depositing the material onto the substrate to form a thin film layer. The packing device 100 is used to replenish the evaporation source 201 with new coating material.

[0042] The filling device 100 in this embodiment includes a driving assembly and a feeding assembly. The feeding assembly contains coating material and is connected to the output end of the driving assembly. The feeding assembly can move in and out of the process chamber 200 along a first direction under the driving action of the driving assembly, so that the outlet 101 of the feeding assembly can be located directly above the evaporation source 201 in the process chamber 200. The process chamber 200 has an opening, the height of which is between the evaporation source 201 and the substrate, allowing the feeding assembly to enter the process chamber 200 through the opening to feed material to the evaporation source 201, and to exit the process chamber 200 through the opening.

[0043] This implementation method enables the replacement and filling of coating materials without removing the evaporation source 201, greatly shortening the operation time for adding new materials to the evaporation source 201, significantly reducing the complexity of the operation, and improving the overall uptime of the thermal evaporation equipment. At the same time, it also greatly shortens the contact time between the coating material and water and oxygen in the ambient air, reducing the risk of coating material denaturation. Compared with the original method of adding coating materials, it greatly reduces the risk of personnel injury and equipment damage.

[0044] Specifically, such as Figures 3 to 6 As shown, the feeding assembly in this embodiment includes a screw conveyor, which includes a bushing 1 and a screw shaft 2. The bushing 1 is provided with a feeding port 3 and a discharging port 101. The screw shaft 2 is disposed in the bushing 1 and connected to the output end of the drive assembly. Coating material is added to the bushing 1 through the feeding port 3. The screw shaft 2 pushes the coating material forward. When the discharging port 101 of the bushing 1 is directly above the evaporation source 201 in the process chamber 200, the screw shaft 2 pushes the coating material into the evaporation source 201. Optionally, the discharging port 101 is located on the side wall of the bushing 1 away from the drive assembly and directly opposite the evaporation source 201, allowing the coating material to fall directly from the bushing 1 into the evaporation source 201. It should be noted that both the bushing 1 and the screw shaft 2 are high-precision machined parts. The gap between the helical blades of the screw shaft 2 and the inner wall of the bushing 1 is extremely small, minimizing the possibility of coating material entering the gap between the helical blades and the inner wall of the bushing 1.

[0045] The drive assembly includes a servo motor 9 and a magnetofluid 10. The magnetofluid 10 is an intermediate component that establishes a connection between the helical shaft 2 and the servo motor 9. The structure and working principle of this drive assembly are existing technologies and will not be described in detail here.

[0046] The filling device 100 in this embodiment further includes a guide rail 4, which is disposed outside the process chamber 200 along a first direction. A slider 5 is provided on the bushing 1, and the slider 5 and the guide rail 4 are slidably engaged. By providing the guide rail 4, conditions are provided for the movement of the feeding assembly, so that the feeding assembly can move in and out of the process chamber 200 along the first direction under the driving action of the drive assembly to complete the feeding. It should be noted that the movement of the feeding assembly can be automatically controlled or manually controlled, and this embodiment does not specifically limit it.

[0047] Combination Figure 7 and Figure 8 As shown, the feeding assembly also includes a connecting bracket 8, one end of which is connected to the bushing 1, and the other end to the slider 5. The connecting bracket 8 is generally L-shaped and includes a first connecting part and a second connecting part that are vertically connected. The first connecting part is connected to the bushing 1, and the second connecting part is connected to the slider 5, realizing a sliding connection between the bushing 1 and the guide rail 4. Optionally, the first connecting part has a through hole, through which the bushing 1 passes, improving the support stability of the connecting bracket 8 for the bushing 1.

[0048] The packing device 100 in this embodiment also includes a gate valve 6, which is disposed at the opening of the process chamber 200. The gate valve 6 can open or close the opening. In the non-packing state, the gate valve 6 is in the closed state, that is, the gate valve 6 closes the opening of the process chamber 200, sealing and isolating the process chamber 200 from the packing device 100, so that the process chamber 200 forms a closed environment for the evaporation process; in the packing state, the gate valve 6 is in the open state, that is, the gate valve 6 opens the opening of the process chamber 200, and the bushing 1 can pass through the gate valve 6 to enter the process chamber 200 for packing.

[0049] To improve the stability of the packing process, the packing device 100 in this embodiment also includes an elastic element 7. One end of the elastic element 7 is connected to the gate valve 6, and the other end is connected to the bushing 1. The elastic element 7 is telescopic. During the feeding process, the elastic element 7 provides a stable damping force for the movement of the bushing 1. During the retraction process, the elastic element 7 provides a stable restoring force for the movement of the bushing 1.

[0050] Furthermore, to protect the bushing 1, the elastic element 7 is a bellows, which is sleeved around the outer circumference of the bushing 1 to protect it. For example... Figure 9 As shown, an observation window 701 is provided at one end of the bellows near the process chamber 200, and at least the portion of the bushing 1 directly opposite the observation window 701 is transparent. By providing the observation window 701, the user can observe the condition of the coating material in the bushing 1, thereby better controlling the filling process.

[0051] In this embodiment, one end of the gate valve 6 is connected to the outer wall of the process chamber 200 via a flange, and the other end is connected to the elastic element 7 via a flange. The end of the elastic element 7 away from the gate valve 6 is connected to the connecting bracket 8 via a flange.

[0052] The feed port 3 on the bushing 1 is designed in a funnel shape for easy material addition. A ball valve 11 is installed at the feed port 3, specifically a manual ball valve 11. The two ends of the ball valve 11 are flanged to the bushing 1 and the feed port 3, respectively. The ball valve 11 is open when adding material and closed when not adding material to prevent foreign objects from entering the bushing 1. The flange connection has the advantages of easy disassembly, high strength, and good sealing performance.

[0053] The working process of this packing device 100 is briefly described below.

[0054] When the coating material in the evaporation source 201 is exhausted, the environment inside the process chamber 200 is switched from a vacuum state to an atmospheric pressure state. The gate valve 6 is opened via the equipment control system, and the feeding assembly is manually moved from the non-filling position to the filling position. The ball valve 11 is manually opened, and a fixed amount of new material is added to the bushing 1 through the feeding port 3. The new material falls into the space formed by the spiral shaft 2 and the inner wall of the bushing 1. The servo motor 9 is started via the equipment control system to drive the spiral shaft 2 to rotate. The spiral blades push the new material to the discharge port 101, which then falls into the evaporation source 201, thus filling the evaporation source 201. It is important to note that the feeding port 3 must be wiped clean before adding material to ensure its cleanliness and avoid contaminating the new coating material.

[0055] After feeding is complete, manually move the feeding assembly from the filling position to the non-filling position and close the gate valve 6.

[0056] Since the thermal evaporation equipment provided in this embodiment includes the aforementioned packing device 100, the technical advantages and effects that the thermal evaporation equipment can achieve also include the technical advantages and effects that the aforementioned packing device 100 can achieve, and will not be repeated here.

[0057] Note that the above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the technical principles employed. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and various obvious changes, readjustments, and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in detail through the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Many other equivalent embodiments may be included without departing from the concept of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A filling device, characterized in that The filling device comprises: a driving assembly; and a feeding assembly containing coating material, which is connected with the output end of the driving assembly and can be moved in and out of a process chamber (200) along a first direction under the driving of the driving assembly, so that a discharge port (101) of the feeding assembly can be located directly above an evaporation source (201) in the process chamber (200). The feeding assembly comprises a screw conveyor, which comprises a shaft sleeve (1) and a screw shaft (2), the shaft sleeve (1) is provided with a feeding port (3) and the discharge port (101), and the screw shaft (2) is arranged in the shaft sleeve (1) and connected with the output end of the driving assembly.

2. The filling device according to claim 1, wherein the filling device further comprises a guide rail (4) arranged outside the process chamber (200) along the first direction, and the shaft sleeve (1) is provided with a sliding block (5) which is in sliding fit with the guide rail (4).

3. The filling device according to claim 2, wherein the feeding assembly further comprises a connecting bracket (8) which is connected with the shaft sleeve (1) at one end and connected with the sliding block (5) at the other end.

4. The filling device according to claim 3, wherein the filling device further comprises a shutter valve (6) arranged at an opening of the process chamber (200), which can open or close the opening.

5. The filling device according to claim 4, wherein the filling device further comprises an elastic member (7) which is connected with the shutter valve (6) at one end and connected with the connecting bracket (8) at the other end.

6. The filling device according to claim 5, wherein one end of the shutter valve (6) is connected with the outer wall of the process chamber (200) through a flange, the other end is connected with the elastic member (7) through a flange, and the end of the elastic member (7) away from the shutter valve (6) is connected with the connecting bracket (8) through a flange.

7. The filling device according to claim 5, wherein the elastic member (7) is a bellows which is sleeved on the outer periphery of the shaft sleeve (1).

8. The filling device according to claim 7, wherein the bellows is provided with an observation window (701), and at least the part of the shaft sleeve (1) facing the observation window (701) is of a transparent structure.

9. A thermal evaporation apparatus characterized by, The filling device (100) according to any one of claims 1-8.

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