KR20180027137A - A roll-to-roll type apparatus for depositing a atomic layer on film - Google Patents

Abstract

While the present invention is capable of high-speed deposition in a roll-to-roll mode, the source gas or the reactive gas is not diffused into the main roller and the auxiliary roller drive space, the cleaning cycle of the chamber is very long, The present invention relates to a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus capable of depositing an excellent thin film with high productivity, and an apparatus for depositing a roll-to-roll atomic layer according to the present invention includes: an inner chamber having a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape and forming a predetermined process space therein; An outer chamber which is installed to surround four surfaces of the inner chamber except for the two surfaces facing each other in the form of a donut and form a constant purge space therein; A film supply unit installed at one side of the space between the outer chamber and the inner chamber and continuously supplying a film to be subjected to the atomic layer deposition process; A film recovery unit installed on the other side of the space between the outer chamber and the inner chamber for continuously recovering the film having undergone the atomic layer deposition process; An auxiliary roller unit installed along opposite side edges of the inner chamber and guiding the film supplied from the film supply roll to pass through the processing space repeatedly; A gas supply unit installed on one side wall of the inner chamber and spraying the source gas, the purge gas and the process gas in a direction perpendicular to the film moving in the process space so as to maintain a layered flow; A gas discharge unit installed on the other side wall of the inner chamber and discharging the source gas, the purge gas and the process gas injected by the gas supply unit so as to pass through the process space while maintaining the layer flow; And a purge gas supply unit for supplying a purge gas to the outer chamber to maintain a pressure higher than the process space.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus,

More particularly, the present invention relates to a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus capable of high-speed deposition in a roll-to-roll manner, while a source gas or a reactive gas is not diffused into a main roller and an auxiliary roller drive space, The present invention relates to a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus capable of carrying out a long, time-divisional atomic layer deposition process and depositing a thin film having high quality with high productivity.

In the case of atomic layer deposition (ALD), a thin film is formed by the chemical reaction of the precursors on the surface of the substrate, so that it is possible to deposit a nano thin film having excellent thickness uniformity on a wide substrate. In addition, atomic layer deposition can deposit a conformal thin film in a complex three-dimensional structure. Therefore, atomic layer deposition is an indispensable deposition technique for nano-scale semiconductor devices, large area displays and solar cell devices, and complex nano-scale optoelectronic devices. It is attracting attention.

However, such an atomic layer deposition has an advantage of being able to grow an excellent step coverage and a high quality thin film, but has a limit of low productivity. In order to overcome the limitations of low productivity of atomic layer deposition, many studies such as cyclic CVD, plasma enhanced ALD (PEALD), batch type ALD, and roll-to-roll ALD have been conducted have.

Among these many studies, roll to roll ALD is a method of growing a thin film by growing a thin film on a flexible substrate through a continuous process through stable movement of a deposition object (typically a flexible substrate, for example) moving from roll to roll Method.

In general, the thickness of the grown thin film of ALD is determined by the cycle in which the process proceeds. A cycle is a periodic repetition of the ALD process. ALD is a cycle of four cycles in which the four processes of source / purge / reactant / purge are periodically repeated periodically. The way to control the cycle of these cycles is divided into temporal and spatial aspects.

The time-divisional ALD system can control the thickness of the grown thin film by controlling the cycle by temporal division through adjustment of the pulse time and the purge time under the same spatial domain. Time-divisional ALD systems are used in most common ALD systems.

On the other hand, a space-divisional ALD system refers to a method of controlling the thickness of a thin film by controlling the cycle by dividing the space where the source, reaction, and purging processes occur. These space-divisional ALD systems are commonly used in roll-to-roll ALD systems. The reason for this is that there is some difficulty in controlling the cycle through temporal partitioning due to the nature of the roll-to-roll ALD system (the same mobility of the moving flexible substrate is required). For this reason, the method of controlling the cycle is used by dividing the space of the pulse process and the space of the purge process.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a roll-to-roll type atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the prior art. 1, the prior art roll-to-roll type atomic layer deposition equipment is characterized in that a plurality of rotating roller members 40 are arranged in a row on both sides in a processing space 30 defined by the partitioning means 20 And the film F starting from the unwinding roller 50 provided outside the process space 30 enters the process space 30 and travels on the plurality of rotation roller members 40, A layer deposition process is performed, and the layer is rolled up by the take-up roller 60 and discharged. At this time, the space where the take-up roller (50) and the take-up roller (60) are installed is partitioned from the process space (30) and filled with purge gas.

However, in the roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus having such a structure, as shown in FIG. 1, since the plurality of rotating roller members 40 are exposed to the deposition space 30, a thin film is deposited on the surface of the auxiliary roller member The thin film thus deposited is a cause of particle generation, causing a serious problem in practical use of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of depositing a thin film on a substrate, And to provide a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus capable of depositing a thin film having excellent quality with high productivity.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for depositing a roll-to-roll atomic layer, including: an inner chamber having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and forming a predetermined process space therein; An outer chamber which is installed to surround four surfaces of the inner chamber except for the two surfaces facing each other in the form of a donut and form a constant purge space therein; A film supply unit installed at one side of the space between the outer chamber and the inner chamber and continuously supplying a film to be subjected to the atomic layer deposition process; A film recovery unit installed on the other side of the space between the outer chamber and the inner chamber for continuously recovering the film having undergone the atomic layer deposition process; An auxiliary roller unit installed along opposite side edges of the inner chamber and guiding the film supplied from the film supply roll to pass through the processing space repeatedly; A gas supply unit installed on one side wall of the inner chamber and spraying the source gas, the purge gas and the process gas in a direction perpendicular to the film moving in the process space so as to maintain a layered flow; A gas discharge unit installed on the other side wall of the inner chamber and discharging the source gas, the purge gas and the process gas injected by the gas supply unit so as to pass through the process space while maintaining the layer flow; And a purge gas supply unit for supplying a purge gas to the outer chamber to maintain a pressure higher than the process space.

In the present invention, the inner chamber is formed in a slit shape spaced apart from the side walls of the inner chamber by a predetermined distance so as to pass through opposite side walls thereof, and a space through which the film guided by the auxiliary roller portion passes And a passing slit provided on the substrate.

In the present invention, the film supply unit may include a film supply roller installed at one side of the outer chamber and wound with a film to be processed; A film cutting unit installed adjacent to the film feed roller and cutting the film fed by the film feed roller; And a film connecting portion provided adjacent to the film cutting portion and connecting another film to an end of the cut film.

The gas supply unit may further include a shower head coupled to one side wall of the inner chamber and spraying the gas to maintain a layered flow in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the moving film in the processing space; And a gas supply line coupled to the rear surface of the showerhead for supplying a source gas, a purge gas, a purge gas, and a reactive gas in pulse form in order of a source gas, a purge gas, a reactive gas, and a purge gas to the showerhead desirable.

In the present invention, the auxiliary roller unit may include a plurality of auxiliary rollers arranged to be spaced apart from the one side wall of the inner chamber by a predetermined distance, and guiding the process space movement path of the film. A purge gas curtain is formed in a space between the inner chamber and the auxiliary roller in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the film to prevent the source gas leaking from the auxiliary chamber and the reaction gas from moving in the direction of the auxiliary roller, And a gas curtain forming portion.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that at least one electrode capable of forming plasma is provided in the inner chamber.

The roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus according to the present invention may further include a heater unit installed outside the outer chamber or the inner chamber, for heating the temperature of the processing space to a temperature suitable for the atomic layer deposition process.

According to the present invention, since it is a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus, it is possible to deposit a thin film at a high speed. In particular, since the source gas and the reactive gas do not meet in the process space, The cleaning cycle of the chamber is very long.

Further, the roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus of the present invention has a pair of the film supply unit, the film recovery unit, and the auxiliary roller unit, so that the chamber size is very small, and thus the foot print of the equipment is very small.

1 is a view showing a configuration of a conventional roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus.
2 and 3 are views showing the internal structure of a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram showing gas flow in a roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a partial perspective view showing the action of the purge gas curtain forming portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 and 3, the roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes an inner chamber 110, an outer chamber 120, a film supply unit 130, a film recovery unit 140, An auxiliary roller unit 150, a gas supply unit 160, a gas discharge unit 170, and a purge gas supply unit 180.

First, the inner chamber 110 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and forms a certain process space therein. That is, the inner chamber 110 provides a process space P in which the atomic layer deposition process can proceed in a time-division manner while the film F to be subjected to the atomic layer deposition process is repeatedly passed through many times.

To this end, in the present embodiment, a plurality of passing slits 116 are formed in the inner chamber 110, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the passage slit 116 is formed in a slit shape spaced apart from the side wall of the inner chamber 110 so as to pass through opposite side walls of the side wall of the inner chamber 110, And a space through which the film F guided by the auxiliary roller unit 150 passes. 2, the passing slit 116 is formed by thinly passing through the side wall of the inner chamber 110 in a straight line shape, and a plurality of passing slits 116 are formed in parallel. At this time, the width of the passing slit 116 is formed to be two to three times larger than the thickness of the film F, so that the gap between the film F and the slit 116 is minimized. P can be minimized.

3, each passing slit 116 is symmetrically formed at positions facing each other so that the film F passing through each passing slit 116 moves vertically across the processing space do.

When the plurality of passing slits 116 are formed adjacent to each other, the film F is repeatedly passed through the process space P a plurality of times, and the process repeatedly proceeds to form a thin film on the film surface at a high speed.

In this embodiment, at least one electrode (not shown) capable of forming a plasma is provided in the inner chamber 110. When electrodes are formed to form a plasma, a thin film having better characteristics can be deposited more efficiently.

2 and 3, the outer chamber 120 is installed so as to surround the four surfaces of the inner chamber 110 except the two opposite surfaces of the inner chamber 110 in the form of a donut, It is a component that forms a constant purge space. A space between the outer chamber 120 and the inner chamber 110 is formed and the auxiliary roller unit 150 and the film supply unit 130 and the film recovery unit 140, And a roll driving space M to be installed and driven is formed.

In this embodiment, one surface of the outer chamber 120 needs to be opened to supply a film to the film supply unit 130 or to discharge the film from the film recovery unit 140, The rear surface where the portion 170 is formed is preferred, but other side surfaces or upper surfaces may be opened.

Also, in this embodiment, it is preferable that a heater unit (not shown) is further installed outside the outer chamber 120 or the inner chamber 110. Since the temperature of the process space P must be maintained at a temperature suitable for the atomic layer deposition process, the inner chamber 110 is heated by the heater to maintain the temperature.

2 and 3, the film supply unit 130 is installed at a space between the outer chamber 120 and the inner chamber 110, that is, at one side of the roll driving space M, Is a component that continuously supplies the film (F) to be subjected to the deposition process. Therefore, the film supply unit 130 winds a predetermined amount of the film on its outer surface, and supplies the film F wound at a constant speed while rotating to the inner chamber 110.

In this embodiment, the film supply unit 130 may include a film supply roller 132, a film cut unit 134, and a film connection unit 136. 2 and 3, the film feed roller 132 is installed at one side of the inner side of the outer chamber 120 and is a component to which the film F to be processed is wound, (Not shown). The first roller rotation part 131 is connected to an external part of the film supply roller 132 through the outer chamber 120 and rotates the film supply roller 132 And a motor having a power source.

3, the film cutting unit 134 is disposed adjacent to the film feed roller 132 and is configured to cut a film F supplied by the film feed roller 132 to be. 3, the film F to be processed in the roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of auxiliary rollers 152, And is installed over the chamber 120. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to set a new film again after the process for one film (F) is completed.

In order to avoid the inconvenience of such film re-setting, once the process for one film is completed, the end of the film is cut, and then a new film is connected to make the process continuous. At this time, the film cutting unit 134 performs the cutting operation of the film.

As shown in FIG. 3, the film connecting part 136 is provided adjacent to the film cutting part 134 and is a component for connecting another film to the end of the cut film. Is connected to the end of the previous film of the new film by the film connecting portion 136 to perform a continuous process.

2 and 3, the film recovery unit 140 is installed on the other side of the space between the outer chamber 120 and the inner chamber 110, that is, opposite to the side where the film supply unit 130 is installed And is a component for continuously recovering the film (F) subjected to the atomic layer deposition process. The film recovery unit 140 may be composed of a film recovery roller 142 and a second roller rotation unit 144 for rotating the film recovery roller. The second roller rotation part 144 is installed on the outer side of the outer chamber 120 like the first roller rotation part 131 and engages with the end of the film recovery roller 142 to rotate it.

3, the auxiliary roller unit 150 is installed along opposite side edges of the inner chamber 110, and the film F supplied from the film supply roller 132 is moved in the direction Is a component guiding repeatedly passing through the process space (P). That is, the film F starting from the film supply unit 130 is repeatedly moved by the auxiliary roller unit 150 in the process space P in a state suitable for the process, (140).

3, the auxiliary roller unit 150 may include a plurality of auxiliary rollers 152 and a purge gas curtain forming unit 154. The auxiliary roller unit 150 may include a plurality of auxiliary rollers 152 and a purge gas curtain forming unit 154 as shown in FIG. The plurality of auxiliary rollers 152 are arranged to be spaced apart from the one side wall of the inner chamber 110 by a predetermined distance and guide the movement path of the process space P of the film F. 3, the auxiliary rollers 152 are installed on opposite sides of the inner chamber 110. The auxiliary rollers 152 are disposed on opposite sides of the inner chamber 110, And are spaced apart from each other at positions where they can pass.

3, the purge gas curtain forming unit 154 forms a purge gas in the space between the inner chamber 110 and the auxiliary roller 152 in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the film F, A curtain is formed to block the source gas and the reactive gas leaking in the inner chamber 110 from moving in the direction of the auxiliary roller 152. [

5, the passing slit 116 is formed so that the film F passes through and has a minimum spacing distance, and the pressure in the roll driving space M is higher than the pressure in the process space P However, a part of the gas existing in the inner chamber 110 may flow out through the passing slit 116. At this time, the purge gas curtain forming unit 154 injects purge gas in a space between the auxiliary roller 152 and the passing slit 116 in a direction perpendicular to the film F, . ;

In this case, the source gas or the reactive gas, which is partially discharged, is also discharged to the outside without reaching the auxiliary roller 152, so that there is an advantage that the thin film or particles are not deposited on the auxiliary roller 152.

4, the purge gas curtain forming unit 154 injects the purge gas in the same direction as the gas supplying unit 160, because it is easy to install the gas line.

2, the gas supply unit 160 is installed on one side wall of the sidewall of the inner chamber 110 on which the passing slit 116 is not formed, Purge gas, and process gas in a direction perpendicular to the film (F) to be sprayed to maintain a layer flow. In this embodiment, the gas supply unit 160 supplies a source gas, a purge gas, and a reactive gas to the process space P so that the atomic layer deposition process is performed in a time division manner.

To this end, the gas supply unit 160 may be formed of a showerhead 162 and a gas supply line 164, as shown in FIG. The shower head 162 is connected to the inner chamber 110 and injects the gas to keep the layer flow in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the film F moving in the process space P Lt; / RTI >

Next, the gas supply line 164 is coupled to the rear surface of the showerhead 162, and the showerhead 162 is supplied with a source gas, a purge gas, a reactive gas, a purge gas, And the reaction gas is supplied in a pulse form. The atomic layer deposition process can be performed in a time division manner by the gas supply line 164.

2, the gas discharge unit 170 is installed on the other side of the inner chamber 110, that is, on the opposite side of the gas supply unit 160, and the gas supply unit 160 The purge gas and the process gas are discharged to pass through the process space while maintaining the layer flow. Particularly, the gas discharging part 170 is formed in a predetermined buffer space (not shown in the drawing) so that the layer flow is broken and the vortex is not formed while the gases passing through the processing space P pass through the space where the film F exists. Time).

2, the purge gas supply unit 180 supplies purge gas to the outer chamber 120 such that the roll driving space M maintains a pressure higher than the process space P Lt; / RTI > When the pressure inside the roll driving space M is kept higher than the processing space P by the purge gas supplying part 180, the source gas and the reactive gas existing in the processing space P are supplied to the roll driving space There is an advantage not to leak.

100: A roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention
110: inner chamber 120: outer chamber
130: Film supply part 140: Film recovery part
150: auxiliary roller portion 160: gas supply portion
170: gas discharge part 180: purge gas supply part
190: pumping part F: film
M: Roll drive space P: Process space

Claims (7)

An inner chamber having a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape and forming a predetermined process space therein;
An outer chamber which is installed to surround four surfaces of the inner chamber except for the two surfaces facing each other in the form of a donut and form a constant purge space therein;
A film supply unit installed at one side of the space between the outer chamber and the inner chamber and continuously supplying a film to be subjected to the atomic layer deposition process;
A film recovery unit installed on the other side of the space between the outer chamber and the inner chamber for continuously recovering the film having undergone the atomic layer deposition process;
An auxiliary roller unit installed along opposite side edges of the inner chamber and guiding the film supplied from the film supply roll to pass through the processing space repeatedly;
A gas supply unit installed on one side wall of the inner chamber and spraying the source gas, the purge gas and the process gas in a direction perpendicular to the film moving in the process space so as to maintain a layered flow;
A gas discharge unit installed on the other side wall of the inner chamber and discharging the source gas, the purge gas and the process gas injected by the gas supply unit so as to pass through the process space while maintaining the layer flow;
And a purge gas supply unit for supplying a purge gas to the outer chamber to maintain a pressure higher than the process space. The apparatus according to claim 1,
And a passing slit formed in a slit shape spaced apart from the side wall of the inner chamber by a predetermined distance so as to pass through opposite side walls of the side wall and providing a space through which the film guided by the auxiliary roller portion passes Characterized in that the roll-to-roll atomic layer mounting apparatus comprises: The film processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A film supply roller installed at an inner side of the outer chamber and on which a film to be processed is wound;
A film cutting unit installed adjacent to the film feed roller and cutting the film fed by the film feed roller;
And a film connecting portion provided adjacent to the film cutting portion and connecting another film to an end of the cut film. 3. The fuel cell system according to claim 2,
A showerhead attached to one side wall of the inner chamber and spraying the gas so as to maintain a layered flow in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the film moving in the processing space;
And a gas supply line coupled to the rear surface of the showerhead for supplying a source gas, a purge gas, a reactive gas, a purge gas, and a source gas, a purge gas, and a reactive gas in pulse form to the showerhead, Wherein the roll-to-roll atomic layer deposition apparatus comprises: The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
A plurality of auxiliary rollers arranged side by side at a predetermined distance from one side wall of the inner chamber and guiding the process space movement path of the film;
A purge gas curtain is formed in a space between the inner chamber and the auxiliary roller in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the film to prevent the source gas leaking from the auxiliary chamber and the reaction gas from moving in the direction of the auxiliary roller, And a gas curtain forming part for forming a film on the substrate. The internal combustion engine as set forth in claim 2,
Wherein at least one electrode capable of forming a plasma is provided. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a heater unit installed outside the outer chamber or the inner chamber and heating the temperature of the process space to a temperature suitable for the atomic layer deposition process.

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