JP-7856456-B2 - Evaporation source for vacuum deposition apparatus

JP7856456B2JP 7856456 B2JP7856456 B2JP 7856456B2JP-7856456-B2

Inventors

中村寿充

Assignees

株式会社アルバック

Dates

Publication Date: 20260511
Application Date: 20220322

Claims (2)

In a vacuum deposition apparatus, which is placed inside a vacuum chamber and vaporizes or sublimes a deposition material to deposit onto an object to be deposited, It has a storage box whose interior is divided into two compartments, upper and lower, by a partition member. A passage is formed in the partition member that allows communication between the first chamber and the second chamber, and a butterfly valve that can rotate from a closed position perpendicular to the vertical direction is provided within this passage, and a discharge section is provided on the wall surface of the containment box defining the second chamber that allows the vaporized or sublimated deposition material to be discharged into the vacuum chamber. In the closed position of the butterfly valve, the conductance between the first chamber and the second chamber is determined by the gap between the valve plate of the butterfly valve and the inner wall surface of the communication passage, and the second chamber is configured to maintain a non-leakage state of the vaporized or sublimated vaporized material when the vaporized or sublimated vaporized material present in the first chamber is heated and vaporized or sublimated . A pressure-receiving portion is formed on the valve stem portion of the butterfly valve located within the aforementioned housing box, and a drive unit is further provided that applies pressing force to this pressure-receiving portion to rotate the valve stem portion around its axis, thereby rotating the butterfly valve from a closed position to an open position. A vapor deposition source for a vacuum deposition apparatus, characterized in that the drive unit comprises a pressing rod that enters the housing box and applies pressing force to a pressure receiving part, a bellows tube that is externally fitted to the portion of the pressing rod that protrudes outside the housing box, and a drive unit that extends and retracts the bellows tube to move the pressing rod forward and backward .
In a vacuum deposition apparatus, which is placed inside a vacuum chamber and vaporizes or sublimes a deposition material to deposit onto an object to be deposited, It has a storage box whose interior is divided into two compartments, upper and lower, by a partition member. A passage is formed in the partition member that allows communication between the first chamber and the second chamber, and a butterfly valve that can rotate from a closed position perpendicular to the vertical direction is provided within this passage, and a discharge section is provided on the wall surface of the containment box defining the second chamber that allows the vaporized or sublimated deposition material to be discharged into the vacuum chamber. In the closed position of the butterfly valve, the conductance between the first chamber and the second chamber is determined by the gap between the valve plate of the butterfly valve and the inner wall surface of the communication passage, and the second chamber is configured to maintain a non-leakage state of the vaporized or sublimated vaporized material when the vaporized or sublimated vaporized material present in the first chamber is heated and vaporized or sublimated. A vapor deposition source for a vacuum deposition apparatus, characterized in that an upright wall portion is provided along the outer peripheral edge of the valve plate portion on at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the valve plate portion of the butterfly valve.

Description

This invention relates to a deposition source for a vacuum deposition apparatus, which is placed in a vacuum chamber and used to vaporize or sublimate a deposition material for deposition onto a substrate. For example, in the manufacturing process of organic EL elements, there is a step in which a solid deposition material (organic material) such as α-NPD or 2-TNATA is vaporized or sublimated (hereinafter simply referred to as "sublimation") in a vacuum atmosphere onto a substrate, which is the material to be deposited on, to deposit a predetermined thin film onto the surface of the substrate. Generally, a vacuum deposition apparatus is used for this deposition process. A known deposition source used in such a vacuum deposition apparatus is one that comprises a crucible filled with organic material and a heating means for heating the crucible. The crucible is heated to a predetermined temperature (e.g., 300°C) in a vacuum chamber in a vacuum atmosphere, and the organic material is heated and sublimated by heat transfer from the crucible walls and radiant heat. This sublimated material is then released from the top opening of the crucible, thereby depositing (forming) a predetermined thin film onto the substrate surface. Organic materials used in such applications are relatively expensive, and if excessive heat is applied, they easily decompose or degrade due to heat. The deposition rate when depositing film onto a substrate surface is primarily controlled by the amount of heat applied to the crucible per unit time by a heating means. However, at the beginning of heating organic materials, it is difficult to stabilize the sublimation rate while adjusting the amount of heat to prevent excessive heat from being applied to the organic material. In such cases, it is generally known to provide a shutter to cover the top opening of the crucible, but this results in a large amount of organic material being wasted. Therefore, a deposition source for a vacuum deposition apparatus is known, for example, in Patent Document 1. This apparatus comprises a sublimation container filled with organic material and having a heating means, and a diffusion container with a discharge section (passage) formed to diffuse the sublimated deposition material inside and release the diffused material. The two containers are connected to each other by a predetermined length connecting pipe with a flow control valve. At the start of heating, the flow control valve is closed. Once the sublimation rate in the sublimation vessel stabilizes, the flow control valve is opened. This causes the sublimated organic material in the sublimation vessel to be introduced into the diffusion vessel through the connecting pipe due to the pressure difference between the sublimation vessel and the diffusion vessel, where it diffuses. This diffused material is then released from the discharge section due to the pressure difference with the vacuum chamber. During film formation, the deposition rate can be adjusted by controlling the opening of the flow control valve. However, the conventional example described above consists of multiple components, including a sublimation vessel, a diffusion vessel, and a connecting pipe with a flow control valve. Furthermore, when heating the sublimation vessel to a predetermined temperature, the connecting pipe must be made longer to prevent malfunctions due to thermal expansion of the components that operate the flow control valve. As a result, the deposition source becomes larger, leading to the problem of a larger vacuum deposition apparatus. Patent No. 6207319 A schematic partial cross-sectional view showing a vacuum deposition apparatus equipped with a deposition source according to an embodiment of the present invention.(a) is a magnified view of the deposition source shown in Figure 1, and (b) is a cross-sectional view along line IIb-IIb in Figure 1.A graph showing experimental results confirming the action of the present invention.Enlarged cross-sectional view of the vapor deposition source in a modified example. The following describes an embodiment of the deposition source for the vacuum deposition apparatus of the present invention, using the example of a case where the object to be deposited is a glass substrate of a predetermined thickness with a rectangular outline (hereinafter referred to as "substrate Sw"), the deposition material is a sublimable organic material Ms, and a predetermined organic film is deposited on one side of the substrate Sw. In the following, terms indicating directions such as "up" and "down" are based on Figure 1, which shows the installation position of the vacuum deposition apparatus. Referring to Figure 1, the vacuum deposition apparatus Dm equipped with the deposition source DS of this embodiment includes a vacuum chamber 1. A vacuum pump is connected to the vacuum chamber 1 via an exhaust pipe (not specifically shown or described), allowing for vacuum evacuation to a predetermined pr