Prediction device and manufacturing method of organic el panel

Abstract

To provide a technique for facilitating organic EL panel production management by predicting chromaticity during lighting of an organic EL panel.SOLUTION: A prediction device for predicting chromaticity during lighting in an organic EL panel, in which a luminescent layer is formed and the luminescent layer contains a red luminescent material component and a green luminescent material component, executes: a first distribution calculation step of acquiring the thickness distribution of a red layer at each position on a principal surface of a first substrate in a case where the red layer composed of only the red luminescent material component is filmed on the principal surface of the first substrate; a second distribution calculation step of acquiring the thickness distribution of a green layer at each position on a principal surface of a second substrate in a case where the green layer composed of only the green luminescent material component is filmed on the principal surface of the second substrate; a standardization step of standardizing the thickness distribution of the red layer in a first region and the thickness distribution of the green layer in a second region; and a prediction step of predicting the chromaticity during lighting of the organic EL panel from a radio of the thicknesses or a difference in thickness between the red layer and the green layer at respective positions in the first region and the second region.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a prediction device for predicting the chromaticity of an organic EL panel, and also to a manufacturing method for an organic EL panel in which chromaticity is predicted in advance. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, organic EL panels have been attracting attention as lighting devices. Patent Document 1, for example, discloses an organic EL panel for such lighting. The organic EL panel of Patent Document 1 has an organic EL element laminated on a transparent insulating substrate, and the organic EL element is sealed with the transparent insulating substrate and an inorganic sealing layer. The organic EL element has a transparent electrode layer, an organic functional layer, and a back electrode layer superimposed thereon. In the organic EL panel of Patent Document 1, the organic functional layer is configured by stacking, in this order from the transparent electrode layer side, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a blue fluorescent light-emitting layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, a connection layer, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a red / green phosphorescent light-emitting layer, and an electron transport layer. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-174162 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the manufacture of organic EL panels for lighting, a structure having a laminated film on a substrate is formed by sequentially depositing thin films on the substrate, and the structure is divided into a plurality of parts to form a plurality of organic EL panels. However, the plurality of organic EL panels thus formed may have variations in product characteristics. In detail, when the multiple organic EL panels manufactured were each turned on and measured, there were cases where the chromaticity when lit was slightly different between one of the multiple organic EL panels and the other one.

[0005] Here, the fact that the product characteristics of an organic EL panel are unknown until production poses problems in mass production and management of the product. In other words, when forming an organic EL panel, there was a desire to know in advance what characteristics the organic EL panel to be formed will have (what the chromaticity will be when lit).

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for predicting the chromaticity of an organic EL panel when it is turned on, and facilitating the production management of organic EL panels. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] As a result of intensive research by the present inventors to solve the above problems, it was discovered that the thickness of a specific film constituting a part of the laminated film unintentionally differs in each part, which causes the production of organic EL panels with different characteristics. In other words, it was discovered that the characteristics may differ between an organic EL panel formed including a thick part of a specific thin film that is a part of the laminated film and an organic EL panel formed including a thin part. One aspect of the present invention derived based on the above discovery is a prediction device for predicting chromaticity during lighting in an organic EL panel in which a light-emitting layer is formed by a film-forming gas released from a gas release unit, the light-emitting layer containing a red light-emitting material component and a green light-emitting material component, the prediction device including: a first distribution calculation step of releasing a red light-emitting gas containing a red light-emitting material from the gas release unit toward a main surface of a first substrate, and acquiring a thickness distribution of the red layer at each position on the main surface of the first substrate when a red layer composed only of the red light-emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the first substrate; and a second distribution calculation step of releasing a green light-emitting gas containing a green light-emitting material from the gas release unit toward a main surface of a second substrate, and acquiring a thickness distribution of the green layer at each position on the main surface of the second substrate when a green layer composed only of the green light-emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the second substrate. a standardization step of standardizing the difference between the minimum and maximum thickness of the red layer in a first region on the main surface of the first base material and the difference between the minimum and maximum thickness of the green layer in a second region on the main surface of the second base material that is in the same positional relationship with the gas release portion as the first region, or such that the average thickness of the red layer at each position in the first region on the main surface of the first base material and the average thickness of the green layer at each position in the second region on the main surface of the second base material that is in the same positional relationship with the gas release portion as the first region, are the same value; and a prediction step of predicting the chromaticity when the organic EL panel is turned on based on the thickness ratio or thickness difference between the red layer and the green layer at each position in the first region and the second region.

[0008] According to this aspect, the chromaticity-related characteristics of an organic EL panel can be predicted before production, which facilitates production management of organic EL panels.

[0009] Preferably, the light-emitting layer is a single layer containing a red light-emitting material component and a green light-emitting material component.

[0010] Preferably, the prediction step predicts chromaticity from a relationship between a thickness ratio between a red layer and a green layer at each position on a past organic EL panel and color coordinates in a CIE-xy color space at each position on the past organic EL panel when the organic EL panel was turned on.

[0011] According to this aspect, it is possible to more accurately predict the chromaticity characteristics of an organic EL panel to be manufactured.

[0012] Another aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing an organic EL panel, comprising: a first distribution calculation step of emitting a red light-emitting gas containing a red light-emitting material from a gas emission unit toward a main surface of a first substrate, and acquiring a thickness distribution of the red layer at each position on the main surface of the first substrate when a red layer composed only of a red light-emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the first substrate; a second distribution calculation step of emitting a green light-emitting gas containing a green light-emitting material from the gas emission unit toward a main surface of a second substrate, and acquiring a thickness distribution of the green layer at each position on the main surface of the second substrate when a green layer composed only of a green light-emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the second substrate; and a second distribution calculation step of calculating a difference between a minimum value and a maximum value of the thickness of the red layer in a first region on the main surface of the first substrate and a thickness distribution of the green layer at each position on the main surface of the second substrate. The method for manufacturing an organic EL panel includes a normalization step of normalizing the difference between the minimum and maximum thicknesses of the green layer in a second region on the main surface that has the same positional relationship with the gas release portion as the first region, so that the difference between the minimum and maximum thicknesses of the green layer is the same value, or the average thickness of the red layer at each position in the first region on the main surface of the first base material is the same as the average thickness of the green layer at each position in the second region on the main surface of the second base material, so that the average thickness of the red layer at each position in the second region on the main surface of the second base material is the same value; and a prediction step of predicting the chromaticity when the organic EL panel is turned on based on the thickness ratio or thickness difference between the red layer and the green layer at each position in the first region and the second region, and manufacturing the organic EL panel after the prediction step.

[0013] In this aspect, the chromaticity-related characteristics of an organic EL panel can be predicted before production, which facilitates production management of the organic EL panel.

[0014] Preferably, the prediction step is a step of predicting chromaticity from the relationship between the thickness ratio between the red layer and the green layer at each position on the past organic EL panel and the color coordinates in the CIE-xy color space at each position on the past organic EL panel when it was turned on.

[0015] According to this aspect, the chromaticity characteristics of the organic EL panel can be predicted more accurately. Effect of the Invention

[0016] The present invention can provide a technique for predicting the chromaticity of an organic EL panel when it is turned on, and facilitating production management of organic EL panels. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a manufacturing apparatus for an organic EL panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus body of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an organic EL device that can be suitably manufactured by the organic EL panel manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1, in which hatching has been omitted for ease of understanding. [Figure 4] 11A and 11B are images showing an example of a normalized film thickness distribution, where FIG. 11A shows an example of a film thickness distribution of a red layer, and FIG. 11B shows an example of a film thickness distribution of a green layer. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the film thickness ratios of each part calculated from the normalized film thickness distribution of the red layer and the film thickness distribution of the green layer shown in FIG. 4, where (a) shows an example in which the parts with larger calculated film thickness ratio values ​​are displayed darker and the parts with smaller calculated film thickness ratio values ​​are displayed whiter, and (b) shows an example in which the parts with smaller calculated film thickness ratio values ​​are displayed darker and the parts with larger calculated film thickness ratio values ​​are displayed whiter. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a CIE-xy color space in which measured values ​​of an actually produced organic EL device are plotted. [Figure 7] 7 is a graph showing the relationship between an intercept calculated based on the CIE-xy color space shown in FIG. 6 and a film thickness ratio. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and may be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the following embodiments (including modified examples) may be combined as appropriate.

[0019] A manufacturing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for manufacturing an organic EL device 100, and includes a prediction apparatus 2 and a manufacturing apparatus main body 3, as shown in FIG.

[0020] The prediction device 2 is a computer, and has, as its hardware configuration, a control unit, a storage unit, a communication unit, an input unit, and a display unit.

[0021] In detail, the control unit is mainly composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs various arithmetic processing, a ROM that is a main memory, and a RAM for temporarily storing various data, and comprehensively controls each part that constitutes the prediction device 2. In other words, the CPU performs arithmetic processing using the programs and data stored in the ROM and RAM, thereby controlling each part and realizing each part. The storage unit has a storage device such as an HDD (hard disk drive) or an SSD (solid state drive), and stores various information including databases and various programs. The communication unit has a communication I / F. That is, the prediction device 2 can transmit and receive information (data, signals) to and from external devices via a network, and can obtain information from the manufacturing device body 3 in this embodiment. The input unit is mainly composed of input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and receives input to the manufacturing apparatus 1 (prediction apparatus 2) by a user. The display unit is configured with a display device such as a display, and displays various information.

[0022] Moreover, the prediction device 2 has, as its main components, a film thickness information acquisition unit 10, a first distribution calculation unit 11, a second distribution calculation unit 12, a normalization unit 13, a film thickness ratio calculation unit 14, a prediction unit 15, and a pre-learning unit 16. Each of these units is realized by the CPU of the control unit of the prediction device 2 performing arithmetic processing using programs and data stored in the ROM, RAM, etc.

[0023] The film thickness information acquiring unit 10 is a part that acquires film thickness information, which will be described later, and receives the film thickness information transmitted from the manufacturing apparatus body 3.

[0024] The first distribution calculation section 11 is a section that acquires the film thickness distribution of the red layer in a first distribution calculation step that will be described later.

[0025] The second distribution calculation section 12 is a section that acquires the film thickness distribution of the green layer in a second distribution calculation step that will be described later.

[0026] The normalization unit 13 is a component that executes a normalization process, which will be described later.

[0027] The film thickness ratio calculation unit 14 is a part that executes a film thickness ratio calculation step, which will be described later.

[0028] The prediction unit 15 is a part that executes a prediction step, which will be described later.

[0029] The pre-learning unit 16 is a component that executes a quantification step, a correlation acquisition step, and a reference value setting step, which will be described later.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 2, the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 is a vacuum deposition apparatus equipped with a film forming section 25, multiple film forming gas supply sections 26 (26a to 26c), multiple gas supply flow paths 27 (27a to 27c), and a main body side control device (not shown). Specifically, the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 is a gas carrier evaporation apparatus that vaporizes or sublimes the thin film forming material in the vaporizer of the film forming gas supply section 26a to 26c to generate vapor of the thin film forming material (hereinafter also referred to as material vaporization gas), and sprays the film forming gas containing the material vaporization gas onto the film forming substrate 200 in the film forming section 25, thereby forming each film that constitutes the laminated film on the film forming substrate 200.

[0031] The film forming section 25 is equipped with a film forming chamber 30, a substrate holding section 31, a mask section 32, a film forming gas emission section 33 (gas emission section), and an exhaust system section 35, and sprays a film forming gas from the film forming gas emission section 33 onto a film forming substrate 200 arranged in the film forming chamber 30 to form a thin film on the film forming substrate 200.

[0032] The substrate holding section 31 is a section for holding the substrate 200 to be film-formed such that the surface to be film-formed of the substrate 200 faces the film-formation gas discharge section 33 . The mask portion 32 is a portion that limits the portion on the substrate 200 on which a film is to be formed, and has openings that are used to pattern the thin film to be formed on the substrate 200 on which a film is to be formed.

[0033] The film forming gas discharge part 33 is a part that discharges a film forming gas to the film forming substrate 200, and is specifically a deposition head. That is, the film forming gas discharge part 33 has a gas discharge port, which faces the film forming substrate 200 held by the substrate holding part 31, and blows the film forming gas from the gas discharge port onto the film forming substrate 200. The film forming gas discharge part 33 of this embodiment has an internal space, and the film forming gases supplied from the film forming gas supply parts 26a to 26c are mixed in the space and can be sprayed from the gas discharge port.

[0034] The exhaust system section 35 has a vacuum pump (suction means) such as a rotary pump, and is a section that exhausts gas within the film deposition chamber 30 to the outside, thereby maintaining the inside of the film deposition chamber 30 substantially in a vacuum state.

[0035] The film forming gas supply unit 26 is a portion that supplies a film forming gas to the gas supply passage 27 . That is, although detailed illustration is omitted, the deposition gas supply unit 26 has a material supply unit which is a material supply mechanism that quantitatively supplies a solid or liquid thin film forming material, a vaporization unit having a vaporization chamber and a heating member, and a carrier gas supply unit that supplies a carrier gas. The carrier gas is an inert gas that does not react with the thin film forming material.

[0036] When the deposition gas is supplied from the deposition gas supply unit 26 to the gas supply flow path 27, the material dispersion gas in which the thin film forming material is dispersed in the carrier gas is supplied to the vaporization unit (vaporization chamber) and heated, and the thin film forming material is vaporized to become the material vaporization gas. Then, the gas containing this material vaporization gas is discharged outside the vaporization chamber and further mixed with the carrier gas to become the deposition gas, which is supplied to the gas supply flow path 27.

[0037] The gas supply passage 27 connects the film forming unit 25 and the film forming gas supply section 26, and is a passage for sending out a film forming gas from the film forming gas supply section 26 to the film forming unit 25.

[0038] That is, the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 of this embodiment has a plurality of film forming gas supply units 26a-26c and a plurality of gas supply passages 27a-27c corresponding to the film forming gas supply units 26a-26c, respectively. Each pair of one film forming gas supply unit 26 and a gas supply passage 27 corresponding to one film forming gas supply unit 26 constitutes a material gas discharge system capable of supplying a material vaporization gas (material gas) vaporized by the vaporizer to the film forming gas discharge unit 33 by a carrier gas.

[0039] In the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 of this embodiment, the film formation gas is supplied from the film formation gas supply section 26 through the gas supply passage 27 to the film formation gas discharge section 33, and the film formation gas is discharged from the film formation gas discharge section 33 onto the film formation substrate 200 fixed to the substrate holding section 31. The film formation gas discharged onto the film formation substrate 200 is cooled on the film formation substrate 200 and precipitates to deposit a thin film on the film formation substrate 200.

[0040] As described above, the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 of this embodiment has a plurality of film-forming gas supplying parts 26a to 26c. Therefore, by supplying film-forming gases using different thin film forming materials from each of the film-forming gas supplying parts 26 to the film-forming gas discharging part 33, a plurality of types of film-forming gases are mixed in the film-forming gas discharging part 33, and a co-deposition film can be co-deposited on the substrate 200 to be film-formed.

[0041] That is, the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 of this embodiment can supply a film-forming gas using different thin film forming materials from each of the multiple film-forming gas supply parts 26 to the film-forming gas discharge part 33. In addition, at that time, it is possible to supply a film-forming gas from one or more film-forming gas supply parts 26 to the film-forming gas discharge part 33, and spray one type of film-forming gas or a gas in which multiple types of film-forming gases are mixed onto the film-forming substrate 200 to form a thin film. Therefore, the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 of this embodiment can form multiple types of thin films that constitute each layer of the laminated film of the organic EL device. The film-forming substrate 200 may be the substrate 102 described later or the conductive substrate 101.

[0042] Moreover, the film formation unit 25 of this embodiment has a thickness meter (not shown) in the film formation chamber 30. This thickness meter is an instrument that acquires the thickness of each portion of the thin film formed in the film formation chamber 30, and functions as a film thickness information acquisition means. That is, the manufacturing apparatus main body 3 of this embodiment can acquire film thickness information (information about the thickness of each portion of a predetermined thin film) by the film thickness information acquisition means, and transmit the acquired film thickness information to the film formation gas supply unit 26.

[0043] Here, a detailed description will be given of the organic EL device 100 that can be suitably manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus 1 of this embodiment. The organic EL device 100 of this embodiment is, in particular, an organic EL panel for lighting.

[0044] 3, the organic EL device 100 includes an organic EL element 110 in which a light-emitting functional layer 105 and a second electrode layer 106 are laminated on a first electrode layer 103 of a conductive substrate 101, and the first electrode layer 103, the light-emitting functional layer 105, and the second electrode layer 106 are superimposed when the conductive substrate 101 is viewed in plan. Note that in the organic EL device 100, a sealing layer (not shown) is laminated on the organic EL element 110, and the organic EL element 110 is sealed by a substrate 102 of the conductive substrate 101 and the sealing layer (not shown). The organic EL device 100 of this embodiment is a bottom-emission type organic EL device in which, when a voltage is applied between the first electrode layer 103 and the second electrode layer 106, a light-emitting region, which is the overlapping portion of the first electrode layer 103 and the second electrode layer 106 of the light-emitting functional layer 105, emits light, and the light is emitted from the substrate 102 side of the conductive substrate 101.

[0045] The conductive substrate 101 is a substrate that has a planar shape and is conductive, and is configured by laminating a first electrode layer 103 on a substrate 102 .

[0046] The base material 102 is not particularly limited as long as it can support the organic EL element 110, and for example, a light-transmitting substrate such as a glass substrate, a flexible substrate, or the like can be used. The base material 102 of this embodiment is a light-transmitting insulating substrate that has light-transmitting and insulating properties and that can extract light generated in the organic EL element 110 when a voltage is applied. The base material 102 also has sealing properties and serves as a sealing substrate that seals the organic EL element 110 together with a sealing layer (not shown).

[0047] The first electrode layer 103 is a transparent conductive layer having transparency and conductivity, and can be, for example, a transparent conductive oxide layer made of a transparent conductive oxide such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), tin oxide (SnO2), or zinc oxide (ZnO).

[0048] The light-emitting functional layer 105 is configured by laminating a first light-emitting unit 111, a connection unit 112, and a second light-emitting unit 113 in this order from the first electrode layer 103 side toward the second electrode layer 106 side.

[0049] First light-emitting unit 111 is a blue light-emitting unit that emits blue light when lit, and is a short-wavelength light-emitting unit that emits light with a shorter wavelength than second light-emitting unit 113. The first light-emitting unit 111 includes, in this order from the first electrode layer 103 side toward the connection unit 112 side, a first hole injection layer 120, a first hole transport layer 121, a first organic light-emitting layer 122, and a first electron transport layer 123.

[0050] The first hole injection layer 120 contains a hole injection material, is adjacent to and in contact with the first electrode layer 103 in the thickness direction, and is a layer that injects holes toward the first hole transport layer 121 side.

[0051] The first hole transport layer 121 contains a hole transport material and transports the holes injected from the first hole injection layer 120 toward the first organic light emitting layer 122 .

[0052] First organic light-emitting layer 122 is a blue light-emitting layer that contains a charge transport material that transports electrons or holes as a host material and a blue light-emitting material as a first dopant material. In the first organic light-emitting layer 122 of this embodiment, an electron transport material or a hole transport material is used as the host material, and a fluorescent blue light-emitting material is used as the first dopant material.

[0053] The first electron transport layer 123 contains an electron transport material, is adjacent to and in contact with the connection unit 112 in the thickness direction, and transports electrons injected from the connection unit 112 toward the first organic light-emitting layer 122.

[0054] The connection unit 112 injects electrons into the first light-emitting unit 111 side and injects holes into the second light-emitting unit 113 side. As shown in FIG. 3, the connection unit 112 has, in this order from the first light-emitting unit 111 side to the second light-emitting unit 113 side, a first electron-side connection layer 130, a second electron-side connection layer 131, a buffer layer 132, and a hole-side connection layer 133.

[0055] The first electron-side connecting layer 130 is an electron-injecting layer that contains an electron injection material, is adjacent to and in contact with the first electron transport layer 123 of the first light-emitting unit 111 in the thickness direction, and, together with the second electron-side connecting layer 131, injects electrons into the first electron transport layer 123.

[0056] The second electron-side connecting layer 131 is an electron-injecting layer that contains an electron-injecting material different from that of the first electron-side connecting layer 130.

[0057] The buffer layer 132 contains an insulating material and is a layer that reduces the carrier injection barrier between the second electron side connection layer 131 and the hole side connection layer 133, and is an insulating layer that has insulating properties.

[0058] The hole-side connection layer 133 is a hole injection layer that contains a hole injection material, is adjacent to and in contact with the second hole injection layer 140 of the second light-emitting unit 113 in the thickness direction, and injects holes into the second hole injection layer 140 of the second light-emitting unit 113.

[0059] The second light-emitting unit 113 is a reddish green light-emitting unit that emits reddish green light when lit, and is a long wavelength light-emitting unit that emits light with a longer wavelength than the first light-emitting unit 111. As shown in FIG. 3, the second light-emitting unit 113 includes, in this order from the connection unit 112 side toward the second electrode layer 106 side, a second hole injection layer 140, a second hole transport layer 141, a second organic light-emitting layer 142 (light-emitting layer), a second electron transport layer 143, and a second electron injection layer 144.

[0060] The second hole injection layer 140 contains a hole injection material, is adjacent to and in contact with the hole-side connection layer 133 of the connection unit 112 in the thickness direction, and injects holes injected from the hole-side connection layer 133 of the connection unit 112 toward the second hole transport layer 141.

[0061] The second hole transport layer 141 contains a hole transport material and transports the holes injected from the second hole injection layer 140 toward the second organic light emitting layer 142 .

[0062] Second organic light-emitting layer 142 is a red-green light-emitting layer that contains a charge transport material that transports electrons or holes as a host material, a red light-emitting material as a second dopant material, and a green light-emitting material as a third dopant material. In this embodiment, the second organic light-emitting layer 142 uses an electron transport material or a hole transport material as a host material, a phosphorescent red light-emitting material as a second dopant material, and a phosphorescent green light-emitting material as a third dopant material.

[0063] The second electron transport layer 143 contains an electron transport material and transports the electrons injected from the second electron injection layer 144 toward the second organic light emitting layer 142 .

[0064] The second electron injection layer 144 contains an electron injection material, is adjacent to and in contact with the second electrode layer 106 in the thickness direction, and is a layer that injects electrons toward the second electron transport layer 143 side.

[0065] The second electrode layer 106 is an electrode layer that is conductive and pairs with the first electrode layer 103 . The second electrode layer 106 is made of a conductive material, and may be, for example, a metal layer containing a metal such as silver (Ag), aluminum (Al), zirconium (Zr), titanium (Ti), silicon (Si), or lithium (Li), or an alloy of these metals, or a laminate of two or more of these metals. Note that the second electrode layer 106 of this embodiment has a multilayer structure in which a first metal layer such as lithium metal and a second metal layer such as silver are laminated.

[0066] In the organic EL element 110, when a voltage is applied between the first electrode layer 103 and the second electrode layer 106, the light-emitting functional layer 105 between the first electrode layer 103 and the second electrode layer 106 emits light, and when the substrate 102 is viewed in a plane, it is possible to form a light-emitting region that extends in a planar shape.

[0067] Next, a correlation learning operation and a reference value setting operation that are executed prior to the prediction operation executed by the manufacturing apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail. In the following explanation, unless otherwise specified, an example will be given in which a laminated film is formed on a film-forming substrate 200 to manufacture an organic EL panel, and then the panel is divided into 20 pieces (4 x 5) to manufacture organic EL devices 100 (small organic EL panels).

[0068] The correlation learning operation includes a first distribution calculation step, a second distribution calculation step, a normalization step, a film thickness ratio calculation step, a manufacturing step of actually manufacturing the organic EL device 100, a quantification step, and a correlation acquisition step.

[0069] (First distribution calculation step) In the first distribution calculation step, a red layer forming step of forming a red layer is executed, and then a film thickness distribution of a part or the whole of the red layer is acquired. The red layer forming process is a process in which a film forming gas (red light emitting gas) containing a red light emitting material, which is one of the dopant materials in the above-mentioned second organic light emitting layer 142, as a thin film forming material is supplied to the film forming gas discharge section 33, and the film forming gas is discharged to form a thin film (first prediction thin film). At this time, the thin film forming material does not contain a green light emitting material, which is the other dopant material in the second organic light emitting layer 142. In other words, the red light emitting gas in the red layer forming process is a film forming gas that does not contain a green light emitting material. Therefore, the thin film (first prediction thin film) formed is a red layer that does not contain a green light emitting material component and is composed only of a red light emitting material component.

[0070] In this red layer forming step, a red layer is formed on the main surface of the first base material. That is, the first substrate is the substrate 200 on which the red layer is formed. In this embodiment, a substrate that is actually used in the manufacture of the organic EL device 100 (that becomes part of the organic EL device 100) is used as the first substrate. That is, the first substrate may be a light-transmitting substrate, a flexible substrate, or a substrate having the first electrode layer 103 laminated on a substrate. Alternatively, a substrate that is not used in the manufacture of the organic EL device 100 may be used as the first substrate.

[0071] When the red layer is formed in the red layer forming step, the thickness of each portion of the formed red layer is measured by a thickness meter in the film formation chamber 30, and the obtained measured values ​​are transmitted to the film thickness information acquisition unit 10 of the prediction device 2. Then, the first distribution calculation unit 11 calculates (acquires) the film thickness distribution of the red layer formed on the first region (the film thickness variation of each portion in the target portion of the red layer) from the measured values ​​received by the film thickness information acquisition unit 10 and information on the measurement positions of each measured value. Note that in this embodiment, the entire main surface of the first substrate is defined as the first region, and the overall film thickness distribution of the red layer formed on the entire main surface of the first substrate is calculated.

[0072] In this embodiment, the entire main surface of the first substrate is the first region, but in the first distribution calculation step, a part of the main surface of the first substrate may be the first region. When a part of the main surface of the first substrate is the first region and a part of the red layer is formed in a part of the main surface of the first substrate outside the first region, the first distribution calculation step calculates the film thickness distribution of a part of the red layer. In other words, the first distribution calculation step is a step of calculating the film thickness distribution of the red layer based on the measured values ​​transmitted to the film thickness information acquisition unit 10, and is a step of acquiring the thickness (film thickness distribution) of each part in the target part of the red layer by targeting a part or the whole of the red layer.

[0073] More specifically, in the first distribution calculation step of this embodiment, the formed red layer is divided into 20 regions (see FIG. 4(a)), and the film thickness is measured at one or more locations in each region (one location at the center in this embodiment) to obtain the film thickness distribution of the red layer. That is, the film thickness of each region (each part) of the red layer corresponding to each of the organic EL devices 100 to be manufactured is measured to obtain the film thickness distribution. In other words, the first region is divided into 20 regions, and the film thickness of a portion of the red layer formed on each region is measured to obtain the film thickness distribution of the red layer.

[0074] (Second distribution calculation process) The second distribution calculation step includes performing a green layer forming step of forming a green layer, and then acquiring a film thickness distribution of a part or the entirety of the green layer. The second distribution calculation step may be performed before or after the first distribution calculation step, and may not necessarily be performed after the first distribution calculation step. In other words, the second distribution calculation step may be performed first, followed by the first distribution calculation step.

[0075] The green layer forming process is a process in which a film forming gas (green light emitting gas) containing a green light emitting material, which is another dopant material in the above-mentioned second organic light emitting layer 142, as a thin film forming material is supplied to the film forming gas discharge section 33, and the film forming gas is discharged to form a thin film (second prediction thin film). At this time, the thin film forming material does not contain a red light emitting material, which is one of the dopant materials in the second organic light emitting layer 142. In other words, the green light emitting gas in the green layer forming process is a film forming gas that does not contain a red light emitting material. Therefore, the thin film (second prediction thin film) formed is a green layer that contains only a green light emitting material component and does not contain a red light emitting material component.

[0076] In this green color layer forming step, a green color layer is formed on the main surface of the second base material. That is, the second substrate is the substrate 200 on which the green layer is formed, and is a substrate different from the substrate used in the red layer forming step. As with the first substrate, the second substrate in this embodiment is a substrate that is actually used in the manufacture of the organic EL device 100 (becomes a part of the organic EL device 100). However, it is also possible to use a substrate that is not used in the manufacture of the organic EL device 100 as the second substrate.

[0077] The first and second substrates described above are not particularly limited, but may be the same type of substrate. That is, if the first substrate is a light-transmitting substrate, the second substrate may also be a light-transmitting substrate, and substrates of the same type (same material, structure, use, etc.) may be used. The first and second substrates are not particularly limited, but may be substrates of the same size (substrates having the same or approximately the same area of ​​the main surface on which the thin film is formed). In this embodiment, the first base material and the second base material are of the same type and have the same (or approximately the same) size (the size of the main surface, that is, the area).

[0078] The green layer forming step is preferably performed in the same film forming unit 25 as the red layer forming step. That is, the red layer forming step and the green layer forming step are preferably performed under the same conditions as those for actually forming the second organic light-emitting layer 142. More specifically, it is preferable to use the film deposition chamber 30, the substrate holding unit 31, the mask unit 32, and the film deposition gas discharge unit 33 that are actually used for depositing the second organic light-emitting layer 142. In this case, it is preferable that the relative positional relationship of each unit is the same as that during deposition of the second organic light-emitting layer 142. In this embodiment, the red layer forming process and the green layer forming process are formed under the same conditions. That is, when forming the red layer and the green layer, the relative positional relationship of each of the substrate holding unit 31, the mask unit 32, and the film forming gas releasing unit 33 in the film forming chamber 30 is the same.

[0079] When the green layer is formed in the green layer forming step, the thickness of each portion of the formed green layer is measured by a thickness meter in the film formation chamber 30, and the obtained measured values ​​are transmitted to the thickness information acquisition unit 10 of the prediction device 2. Then, the second distribution calculation unit 12 calculates (acquires) the thickness distribution of the green layer formed on the second region (the variation in thickness of each portion in the target portion of the green layer) from the measured values ​​received by the thickness information acquisition unit 10 and information on the measurement positions of each measured value. Note that in this embodiment, the entire main surface of the second substrate is the second region, and the overall thickness distribution of the green layer formed on the entire main surface of the second substrate is calculated.

[0080] Here, in this embodiment, as described above, the second substrate is formed under the same conditions as the first substrate, using the same size and type of substrate. Therefore, the first region and the second region are regions of the same area. In addition, the positional relationship between the deposition gas discharge section 33 and the first region in the first distribution calculation process (the red layer formation process and the process of acquiring the thickness distribution of the red layer) is the same as the positional relationship between the deposition gas discharge section 33 and the second region in the second distribution calculation process (the green layer formation process and the process of acquiring the thickness distribution of the green layer).

[0081] In this embodiment, the entire main surface of the second substrate is the second region, but in the second distribution calculation step, a part of the main surface of the second substrate may be the second region. When a part of the main surface of the second substrate is the second region and a part of the green layer is formed in a part of the main surface of the second substrate outside the second region, the second distribution calculation step calculates the film thickness distribution of a part of the green layer. In other words, the second distribution calculation step is a step of calculating the film thickness distribution of the green layer based on the measured values ​​transmitted to the film thickness information acquisition unit 10, and is a step of acquiring the thickness (film thickness distribution) of each part in the target part of the green layer by targeting a part or the whole of the green layer.

[0082] That is, the first region and the second region may both be regions that are part of the main surface of the substrate, both may be regions that are the entire main surface of the substrate, or one may be a part of the main surface of the substrate and the other may be a region that is the entire main surface of the substrate. The first region and the second region may be regions that have the same size (same area) and have the same positional relationship with the deposition gas release section 33.

[0083] More specifically, in the second distribution calculation step, similar to the first distribution calculation step described above, the formed green layer is divided into 20 regions (see FIG. 4(b)), and the film thickness is measured at one or more locations (multiple locations in this embodiment) in each region to obtain the film thickness distribution of the green layer. That is, the film thickness of each region (each part) of the green layer corresponding to each of the organic EL devices 100 to be manufactured is measured to obtain the film thickness distribution. In other words, the second region is divided into 20 regions, and the film thickness of a portion of the green layer formed on each region is measured to obtain the film thickness distribution of the green layer.

[0084] In this case, each of the 20 regions of the green layer (or second region) corresponds to each of the 20 regions of the red layer (or first region) described above (see FIG. 4(a)) that have the same position in the matrix. The corresponding regions are regions that have the same positional relationship with the film-forming gas discharge section 33. The corresponding regions are also regions that correspond to the same single organic EL device 100 (one of the organic EL devices formed by dividing it into 20 pieces). In the following description, these corresponding regions (pairs of regions that correspond to each other) are also referred to as corresponding regions.

[0085] (Standardization process) The normalization process is a process of normalizing the obtained film thickness distribution of the red layer and the film thickness distribution of the green layer. In this embodiment, the film thickness distribution of the red layer and the film thickness distribution of the green layer are normalized by setting the average value of the measured film thickness at each portion in each film thickness distribution to 1. In detail, the normalization unit 13 calculates the average film thickness of each portion of the red layer and the average film thickness of each portion of the green layer based on each measurement value. Then, for example, when the average value of the measurements of the film thickness distribution of the red layer is 0.5 μm, the measurement value of the portion of the film thickness distribution of the red layer where the measurement value is 0.2 μm becomes 0.4, and the measurement value of the portion of the film thickness distribution of the red layer where the measurement value is 0.8 μm becomes 1.6, and so on. In other words, the normalization unit 13 sets the average value of the measurement value of the film thickness of each portion of the red layer to 1, and corrects each measurement value belonging to the film thickness distribution of the red layer. Similarly, when the average value of the measured values ​​of the thickness distribution of the green layer is 0.4 μm, the portion in the thickness distribution where the measured value is 0.2 μm becomes 0.5, the portion where the measured value is 0.8 μm becomes 2.0, etc. In other words, the normalization unit 13 sets the average value of the measured values ​​of the thickness of each portion of the green layer to 1, and corrects each measured value belonging to the thickness distribution of the green layer. In this way, the film thickness distribution of the red layer and the film thickness distribution of the green layer are standardized. An example of the thickness distribution of the red layer normalized in this way is shown in Figure 4(a), and an example of the thickness distribution of the green layer normalized in this way is shown in Figure 4(b). In Figure 4, the thicker the film, the darker the film, and the thinner the film, the lighter the film. It can also be seen that the thickness distribution of the red layer and the thickness distribution of the green layer are different.

[0086] (Thickness ratio calculation process) The film thickness ratio calculation step is a step of calculating the film thickness ratio of each portion based on the normalized film thickness distribution of the red layer and the film thickness distribution of the green layer. That is, the respective corrected measurement values ​​in the normalized red layer thickness distribution are designated as R1, R2, ..., and the respective corrected measurement values ​​in the normalized green layer thickness distribution are designated as G1, G2, .... R1 and G1, R2 and G2, ... are designated as corresponding measurement values ​​(measurement values ​​at the same measurement position). At this time, the thickness ratio calculation unit 14 calculates G1 / R1, G2 / R2, .... Here, the term "same measurement position" means that the measurement position in the red layer and the measurement position in the green layer have the same positional relationship with film formation gas discharge section 33.

[0087] That is, in the film thickness ratio calculation step, the film thickness ratio for each of the corresponding regions is calculated. That is, the ratio of the film thickness in the region of the red layer (or first region) whose position in the matrix is ​​(1,1) (see FIG. 4, etc.) to the film thickness in the region of the green layer (or second region) whose position in the matrix is ​​the same (1,1) is calculated. Similarly, the film thickness ratio of the corresponding region whose positions in the matrix are both (1,2), the film thickness ratio of the corresponding region whose positions in the matrix are both (1,3), etc. are calculated.

[0088] In this way, by calculating the film thickness ratio for each corresponding region, it is possible to know whether each part is a part where the green layer is thicker than the red layer, a part where the red layer is thicker than the green layer, or a part where the thickness of the red layer and the thickness of the green layer are the same or approximately the same. Note that "each part" refers to a part where the positional relationship between each of the corresponding regions and the deposition gas discharge section 33 is the same. An example of the film thickness ratio of each part calculated in this manner is shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the film thickness ratio of each part calculated based on the normalized film thickness distribution of the red layer and the film thickness distribution of the green layer shown in Figure 4. Figure 5(a) also shows an example in which the parts with larger calculated film thickness ratio values ​​are displayed darker and the parts with smaller calculated film thickness ratio values ​​are displayed lighter. In other words, this is an example in which the parts with a larger thickness of the green layer relative to the thickness of the red layer are displayed darker. In contrast, in Figure 5(b), the smaller the calculated film thickness ratio, the darker the area, and the larger the ratio, the lighter the area. In other words, this is an example where the greater the thickness of the red layer relative to the thickness of the green layer, the darker the area.

[0089] (manufacturing process) The manufacturing process is a process that is executed after the first distribution calculation process and the second distribution calculation process, and is a process for actually manufacturing the organic EL device 100. In this manufacturing process, at least the second organic light-emitting layer 142 is formed in the film formation chamber 30 in which the above-mentioned red layer and green layer are formed, to manufacture the organic EL device 100. At this time, the second organic light-emitting layer 142 is formed under the same conditions as in the above-mentioned red layer forming process and green layer forming process. In other words, the relative positional relationship of each part of the substrate holding part 31, mask part 32, and film formation gas releasing part 33 in the film formation chamber 30 is the same as the positional relationship in the red layer forming process and green layer forming process.

[0090] The organic EL device 100 manufactured in the manufacturing process has a second organic light-emitting layer 142 formed in the film formation chamber 30. At this time, the second organic light-emitting layer 142 possessed by each of the plurality (20 pieces) of organic EL devices 100 is one of the 20 pieces obtained by dividing the second organic light-emitting layer 142 formed in the film formation chamber 30 into 4 × 5 pieces. That is, the second organic light-emitting layer 142 of the organic EL device 100 is a layer (thin film) formed in a portion corresponding to one corresponding region, where the one corresponding region has the same positional relationship as the film-deposition gas discharge section 33. In other words, the second organic light-emitting layer 142 of each of the multiple organic EL devices 100 is a layer formed in a portion corresponding to a different corresponding region. For example, the second organic light-emitting layer 142 of a first organic EL device 100 among the multiple organic EL devices 100 is formed in a portion corresponding to the corresponding region whose row and column position is (1,1). Similarly, the second organic light-emitting layer 142 of a second organic EL device 100 is formed in a portion corresponding to the corresponding region whose row and column position is (1,2), and so on. From the above, each of the multiple organic EL devices 100 corresponds to a different corresponding region, and can be said to be an organic EL device 100 associated with each different corresponding region.

[0091] (quantification process) The quantification step is a step in which each of the (20) organic EL devices 100 manufactured in the manufacturing step actually emits light, and the light is quantified in the CIE-xy color space (CIE-xy chromaticity coordinate system). That is, the manufactured organic EL device 100 is actually caused to emit light, and luminance, chromaticity, and the like are measured using a sensor (not shown). Then, the pre-learning unit 16 acquires each measurement value, either automatically or through input by the user. This enables the pre-learning unit 16 to acquire a CIE-xy color space (see FIG. 6) in which the acquired measurement values ​​are plotted. Note that the black line in the CIE-xy color space shown in FIG. 6 represents blackbody radiation, and the circles (◯), triangles (△), and squares (□) are coordinates corresponding to each organic EL device 100. Then, the pre-learning unit 16 calculates the value of the intercept b of a line that passes through the coordinates corresponding to each organic EL device 100 in the CIE-xy color space and has a slope of 1 (the value of b in the linear equation y=x+b). That is, in the quantification step, an operation is performed to calculate the value of the intercept b corresponding to (associated with) each organic EL device 100 based on the measured values ​​of the organic EL device 100 and the CIE-xy color space.

[0092] (Correlation acquisition process) The correlation acquisition step is a step of acquiring the correlation between the film thickness ratio corresponding to each organic EL device 100 and the value of the intercept b. Note that the "film thickness ratio corresponding to the organic EL device 100" refers to the film thickness ratio in the corresponding region corresponding to (associated with) each of the organic EL devices 100 described above. The film thickness ratio corresponding to the organic EL device 100 is the film thickness ratio calculated in the film thickness ratio calculation step described above, and is the ratio of the red layer and the green layer formed at a position corresponding to the position where the second organic light-emitting layer 142 of the organic EL device 100 is formed. That is, it is the ratio of the measured film thickness of one of the 20 regions of the red layer (see FIG. 4(a)) to which the second organic light-emitting layer 142 of the target organic EL device 100 corresponds, to the measured film thickness of one of the 20 regions of the green layer (see FIG. 4(b)) to which the second organic light-emitting layer 142 corresponds.

[0093] Here, for example, it is assumed that the relationship between the film thickness ratio and the intercept b corresponding to each organic EL device 100 is as shown in the graph of FIG. 7. In this case, a value of about 1.06 among the values ​​of the film thickness ratio (thickness of green layer / thickness of red layer) exceeding 1.0 and less than 1.1 is set as the reference value, and it is predicted that b exceeds 0 when the film thickness ratio exceeds the reference value, and is less than 0 when it does not exceed the reference value. Therefore, in this case, for example, the pre-learning unit 16 may set the reference value to 1.06. Then, when the film thickness ratio exceeds the reference value in the prediction operation described later, it is determined that an organic EL device 100 with a strong green color is formed. That is, in the correlation acquisition step, an operation is performed to associate and store the film thickness ratio and the value of the intercept b, and preparations are made for executing the reference value setting operation.

[0094] (Standard value setting process) The reference value setting step is a step executed after the correlation acquisition step (correlation learning operation), and is a step of executing a reference value setting operation for setting the above-mentioned reference value. The reference value setting operation is an operation for determining a reference value at which the value of intercept b exceeds 0 from the relationship between the film thickness ratios and the intercept b of the multiple organic EL devices 100 based on the information associated and stored in the correlation acquisition process. As described above, in the reference value setting operation, the most suitable value among values ​​at which b is predicted to exceed 0 is set as the reference value.

[0095] Next, the prediction operation executed by the manufacturing apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail. The prediction operation of the present embodiment is an operation that is performed prior to the manufacture of the organic EL device 100, and is an operation that predicts the chromaticity of the organic EL device 100 that will be manufactured later.

[0096] Here, as described above, the manufacturing apparatus 1 of this embodiment manufactures the organic EL device 100 by forming each film constituting the laminated film on the film-forming substrate 200. In detail, after forming the laminated film on the film-forming substrate 200, the laminated film is divided into a predetermined number (20 pieces), thereby manufacturing the predetermined number (20 pieces) of organic EL devices 100. Therefore, the laminated film formed on the film-forming substrate 200 is divided into a plurality of parts, each of which becomes a laminated film of a different organic EL device 100. The prediction operation of this embodiment is an operation for predicting the chromaticity of each of the plurality of organic EL devices 100 formed by dividing the laminated film after its formation.

[0097] In the prediction operation of this embodiment, a first distribution calculation step, a second distribution calculation step, a normalization step, a film thickness ratio calculation step, and a prediction step are executed.

[0098] The first distribution calculation step, the second distribution calculation step, the normalization step, and the thickness ratio calculation step are the same as those described above, and therefore detailed explanations will be omitted. That is, the thickness ratios of the corresponding regions corresponding to each of the 20 organic EL devices 100 to be produced in the future are obtained.

[0099] (Prediction process) The prediction step is a step of comparing the film thickness ratio of the organic EL device 100 to be produced in the future with the reference value set in the reference value setting step, and predicting the chromaticity of the organic EL device 100 to be produced in the future. That is, the prediction unit 15 executes a comparison operation to compare the corresponding thickness ratio of the organic EL device 100 to be produced in the future with the reference value set in the reference value setting step. At this time, if the thickness ratio exceeds the reference value, it predicts that an organic EL device 100 with a strong green color will be formed. Also, if the thickness ratio is the same as the reference value, it predicts that an organic EL device 100 with the same intensities of green and red will be formed. Furthermore, if the thickness ratio is less than the reference value, it predicts that an organic EL device 100 with a strong red color will be formed. Furthermore, when it is predicted that an organic EL device 100 with a strong green color will be formed, it is predicted that the larger the difference between the film thickness ratio and the reference value (film thickness ratio-reference value), the more green the organic EL device 100 with a strong green color will be formed. Furthermore, when it is predicted that an organic EL device 100 with a strong red color will be formed, it is predicted that the larger the difference between the film thickness ratio and the reference value (reference value-film thickness ratio), the more intense the red color of the organic EL device 100 will be.

[0100] In this embodiment, the above-described prediction operation makes it possible to predict the chromaticity characteristics of the organic EL device 100 before actually manufacturing the organic EL device 100. Therefore, it is possible to know in advance the number of organic EL devices 100 that will be manufactured and have the chromaticity characteristics, which is preferable for production management.

[0101] In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the film thickness distribution of the red layer calculated in the first distribution calculation process and the film thickness distribution of the green layer calculated in the second distribution calculation process were each standardized with the average value of each measurement value set to 1. However, the normalization step may be performed so that the difference between the minimum value and the maximum value in the range of change in film thickness in each film thickness distribution becomes the same value. Here, when the film thickness distribution is normalized so that the minimum value of the range of film thickness change is m and the maximum value is M (M>m), each measurement value is converted to satisfy the following formula (1). In the following formula (1), the measurement value is X, the converted measurement value is Y, the maximum measurement value in the film thickness distribution to which the measurement value to be converted belongs is Xmax, and the minimum measurement value in the same film thickness distribution is Xmin. In this embodiment, m>0. Y={(X-Xmin)*(Mm) / (Xmax-Xmin)}+m...(1)

[0102] That is, the maximum and minimum values ​​of the film thickness of each part of the red layer are obtained based on each measured value, and similarly, the maximum and minimum values ​​of the film thickness of each part of the green layer are obtained. Then, by converting each measured value of each part of the film thickness distribution of the red layer as described above, the film thickness distribution of the red layer with a minimum value of m and a maximum value of M is calculated. Similarly, by converting each measured value of each part of the film thickness distribution of the green layer as described above, the film thickness distribution of the green layer with a minimum value of m and a maximum value of M is calculated. In this way, when standardizing so that the difference between the minimum value and the maximum value of the range of film thickness change in each film thickness distribution is the same value in the normalization process, the minimum values ​​of the range of film thickness change may be the same value (for example, 1), and the maximum values ​​of the range of film thickness change in each film thickness change may be the same value (for example, 2). When normalizing in this way, the maximum value / minimum value (the ratio of the maximum value to the minimum value) of the range of film thickness change in each film thickness distribution is normalized so that it is the same value.

[0103] On the other hand, when standardizing the difference between the minimum and maximum values ​​of the range of film thickness change to be the same value, the minimum values ​​may be different values ​​and the maximum values ​​may be different values. For example, the minimum value of the film thickness distribution of the red layer is standardized to be m1 and the maximum value to be M1, and the minimum value of the film thickness distribution of the green layer is standardized to be m2 and the maximum value to be M2. In this case, it is sufficient that the value of M1-m1 and the value of M2-m2 are the same value, and as an example, m1 and M1 are 1 and 2, and m2 and M2 are 3 and 4, and so on.

[0104] In the prediction operation of the above-described embodiment, the film thickness ratio of each portion is calculated, and the film thickness ratio is compared with a reference value to predict the chromaticity characteristics of the organic EL device 100 to be manufactured. However, for example, it is also possible to carry out the first distribution calculation step, the second distribution calculation step, and the normalization step, and to carry out a film thickness difference calculation step of calculating the difference in film thickness instead of the film thickness ratio calculation step. That is, instead of the step of calculating G1 / R1, G2 / R2, ..., a step of calculating (G1-R1), (G2-R2), ... may be carried out. In the prediction step, for example, it may be predicted that an organic EL device 100 with a strong green color will be formed when the difference in film thickness is a positive value and equal to or greater than a specified value. Also, it may be predicted that an organic EL device 100 with a strong red color will be formed when the difference in film thickness is less than the specified value or a negative value. However, it is preferable to execute the prediction operation of the above embodiment in order to execute a more accurate prediction.

[0105] In addition, the above-mentioned manufacturing apparatus 1 may execute only the prediction operation without executing the correlation learning operation and the reference value setting operation. That is, the operator may set a reference value in advance based on the relationship between the film thickness ratio and the intercept b, and the manufacturing apparatus 1 may execute the prediction operation based on the set reference value.

[0106] In the above embodiment, the red light emitting gas and the green light emitting gas are deposition gases that contain the dopant material of the second organic light emitting layer 142 but do not contain a host material, but the present invention is not limited to this. The red light emitting gas and the green light emitting gas may be gases that contain a host material. [Explanation of symbols]

[0107] 1 Manufacturing equipment 2. Prediction Device 33 Film-forming gas release section (gas release section) 100 Organic EL device (organic EL panel) 142 Second organic light-emitting layer (light-emitting layer)

Claims

1. A prediction device for predicting chromaticity during lighting of an organic EL panel, the luminescent layer being formed by a deposition gas discharged from a gas discharge section, the luminescent layer including a red luminescent material component and a green luminescent material component, the prediction device comprising: a first distribution calculation step of emitting a red light emitting gas containing a red light emitting material from the gas emission part toward a main surface of a first base material, and acquiring a thickness distribution of a red layer at each position on the main surface of the first base material when a red layer composed only of a red light emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the first base material; a second distribution calculation step of emitting a green light-emitting gas containing a green light-emitting material from the gas emission unit toward a main surface of a second base material, and acquiring a thickness distribution of a green layer at each position on the main surface of the second base material when a green layer composed only of a green light-emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the second base material; a normalization step of normalizing the difference between the minimum and maximum thicknesses of the red layer in a first region on the main surface of the first base material and the difference between the minimum and maximum thicknesses of the green layer in a second region on the main surface of the second base material that has the same positional relationship with the gas release portion as the first region, or the average thickness of the red layer at each position in the first region on the main surface of the first base material and the average thickness of the green layer at each position in the second region on the main surface of the second base material that has the same positional relationship with the gas release portion as the first region, are the same; A prediction device that performs a prediction step of predicting chromaticity when the organic EL panel is turned on based on the thickness ratio or thickness difference between the red layer and the green layer at each position in the first region and the second region.

2. The prediction device of claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting layer is a single layer including a red light-emitting material component and a green light-emitting material component.

3. 3. The prediction device according to claim 1, wherein the prediction step predicts chromaticity from a relationship between a thickness ratio between a red layer and a green layer at each position on a past organic EL panel and color coordinates in a CIE-xy color space at each position on the past organic EL panel when the organic EL panel was turned on.

4. A method for manufacturing an organic EL panel, comprising the steps of: a first distribution calculation step of emitting a red light-emitting gas containing a red light-emitting material from a gas emission unit toward a main surface of a first base material, and acquiring a thickness distribution of a red layer at each position on the main surface of the first base material when a red layer composed only of a red light-emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the first base material; a second distribution calculation step of emitting a green light-emitting gas containing a green light-emitting material from the gas emission unit toward a main surface of a second base material, and acquiring a thickness distribution of a green layer at each position on the main surface of the second base material when a green layer composed only of a green light-emitting material component is formed on the main surface of the second base material; a normalization step of normalizing the difference between the minimum and maximum thicknesses of the red layer in a first region on the main surface of the first base material and the difference between the minimum and maximum thicknesses of the green layer in a second region on the main surface of the second base material that has the same positional relationship with the gas release portion as the first region, or the average thickness of the red layer at each position in the first region on the main surface of the first base material and the average thickness of the green layer at each position in the second region on the main surface of the second base material that has the same positional relationship with the gas release portion as the first region, are the same; a prediction step of predicting chromaticity when the organic EL panel is turned on based on a thickness ratio or a thickness difference between the red layer and the green layer at each position in the first region and the second region, The method for manufacturing an organic EL panel includes manufacturing an organic EL panel after the prediction step.

5. 5. The method for manufacturing an organic EL panel according to claim 4, wherein the prediction step is a step of predicting chromaticity from a relationship between a thickness ratio between a red layer and a green layer at each position on a past organic EL panel and color coordinates in a CIE-xy color space at each position on the past organic EL panel when the organic EL panel was turned on.

Images