Thin Film Deposition Apparatus with Barrier Wall Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional fine metal mask (FMM) deposition methods for organic light-emitting display devices have low deposition efficiency and difficulty in reusing deposited materials, making it challenging to manufacture large substrates efficiently and effectively.
Innovation Solution
A thin film deposition apparatus with a barrier wall assembly that partitions the deposition space into sub-deposition areas, allowing for precise deposition and reusing of materials, featuring a smaller second nozzle that can be moved relative to the substrate, and a system to recycle unused deposition material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional fine metal mask (FMM) deposition method is used, then thin film can be formed on substrate, but deposition efficiency is low and material reuse is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The deposition chamber is divided into multiple deposition areas by barrier walls, with each area independently controllable. This segmentation allows selective deposition in different regions and enables unused materials in certain areas to be collected and reused, thereby improving deposition efficiency and reducing material waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a material recovery system that collects unused deposition materials from the deposition chamber and returns them to the material source. This recovering mechanism directly addresses the material waste problem by enabling reuse of un deposited materials, improving both productivity and reducing substance loss.
2Manufacturing precision
If FMM is used for deposition, then patterned thin film can be formed, but it is difficult to manufacture large substrates efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single large FMM for entire substrate deposition, the patent segments the deposition process into multiple areas with individual barrier walls. Each barrier wall can be independently controlled to deposit patterns in specific regions, enabling efficient manufacturing of large substrates while maintaining pattern accuracy through localized control.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier walls are designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing dynamic adjustment of deposition areas during the manufacturing process. This dynamic capability enables flexible adaptation to different substrate sizes and patterns, improving manufacturing efficiency for large substrates while preserving pattern accuracy.
3Device complexity
If deposition material is not reused, then deposition process is simple, but material cost increases and yield decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a material recovery and reuse system that collects unused deposition materials and returns them to the material source. While this adds some complexity to the deposition system, it significantly improves production yield by reducing material waste and enabling multiple uses of the same material, thereby justifying the increased system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The deposition system is designed to automatically collect and reuse materials without requiring external intervention. The barrier walls and material recovery mechanisms operate autonomously during the deposition process, allowing the system to service itself in terms of material management, which improves yield while keeping the operational complexity manageable.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Improves deposition efficiency, reduces material waste, and facilitates the manufacturing of large substrates by enhancing the reuse of deposition materials, thereby reducing costs and increasing production yield.
Implementation Method 1
a deposition source (110) that discharges a deposition material (115)
Data Source
AI summary
A thin film deposition apparatus that can be used to manufacture large substrates on a mass scale and that improves manufacturing yield, and an organic light-emitting display device manufactured using the thin film deposition apparatus. The organic light-emitting display device includes: a substrate including a plurality of sub-deposition areas arranged parallel to each other; at least one thin film transistor formed on the substrate, the at least one thin film transistor comprising a semiconductor active layer, a gate electrode insulated from the semiconductor active layer, and source and drain electrodes contacting the semiconductor active layer; a plurality of pixel electrodes formed on the thin film transistor; a plurality of organic layers formed on each of the pixel electrodes; and a counter electrode formed on the organic layers, wherein the plurality of organic layers lie in each of the sub-deposition areas and have a larger shadow zone the further a distance from a center of the corresponding deposition area.