Evaporation apparatus for depositing material on a flexible substrate and method therefore

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11058010-B2
Application number	US-201616318812-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2016
Priority date	Aug 1, 2016
Publication date	Jul 6, 2021
Grant date	Jul 6, 2021

Abstract

An evaporation apparatus (100) for depositing material on a flexible substrate (160) supported by a processing drum (170) is provided. The evaporation apparatus includes: a first set (110) of evaporation crucibles aligned in a first line (120) along a first direction for generating a cloud (151) of evaporated material to be deposited on the flexible substrate (160); and a gas supply pipe (130) extending in the first direction and being arranged between an evaporation crucible of the first set (110) of evaporation crucibles and the processing drum (170), wherein the gas supply pipe (130) includes a plurality of outlets (133) for providing a gas supply directed into the cloud of evaporated material, and wherein a position of the plurality of outlets is adjustable for changing a position of the gas supply directed into the cloud of evaporated material.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An evaporation apparatus for depositing material on a flexible substrate supported by a processing drum, the evaporation apparatus comprising:
a first set of evaporation crucibles aligned in a first line along a first direction for generating a cloud of evaporated material to be deposited on the flexible substrate; and
a gas supply pipe coupled to an actuator, the gas supply pipe extending in the first direction and being arranged between an evaporation crucible of the first set of evaporation crucibles and the processing drum,
wherein the gas supply pipe comprises a plurality of outlets for providing a gas supply directed into the cloud of evaporated material, and
wherein a position of the plurality of outlets is adjustable for changing a position of the gas supply directed into the cloud of evaporated material,
wherein the position of the gas supply is adjustable by relocating the gas supply pipe within a plane being perpendicular to the first direction relative to an initial position of the gas supply pipe and by rotating the gas supply pipe around a longitudinal axis of the gas supply pipe.

2. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first line of the first set of evaporation crucibles is defined through the center of at least two of the evaporation crucibles in the first set of evaporation crucibles, wherein the position of the gas supply is adjustable in a second direction being different from the first direction, and wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first line.

3. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the position of the gas supply is adjustable within the plane being perpendicular to the first direction within a positioning range of ±80 mm.

4. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a second set of evaporation crucibles aligned in a second line along the first direction for generating a further cloud of evaporated material to be deposited on the flexible substrate, and the second line of the second set of evaporation crucibles is defined through the center of at least two of the evaporation crucibles in the second set of evaporation crucibles, wherein the first line and the second line are displaced with respect to each other in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction.

5. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the first line and the second line are displaced to each other in a range of between 20 mm and 90 mm.

6. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the first set of evaporation crucibles and the second set of evaporation crucibles are arranged in a staggered manner.

7. An evaporation system comprising an evaporation apparatus and an oil printing module configured for printing a patterned oil layer on a flexible substrate, the evaporation apparatus being an evaporation apparatus for depositing material on a flexible substrate supported by a processing drum, the evaporation apparatus comprising:
a first set of evaporation crucibles aligned in a first line along a first direction for generating a cloud of evaporated material to be deposited on the flexible substrate; and
a gas supply pipe coupled to an actuator, the gas supply pipe extending in the first direction and being arranged between an evaporation crucible of the first set of evaporation crucibles and the processing drum,
wherein the gas supply pipe comprises a plurality of outlets for providing a gas supply directed into the cloud of evaporated material, and
wherein a position of the plurality of outlets is adjustable for changing a position of the gas supply directed into the cloud of evaporated material,
wherein the position of the gas supply is adjustable by relocating the gas supply pipe within a plane being perpendicular to the first direction relative to an initial position of the gas supply pipe and by rotating the gas supply pipe around a longitudinal axis of the gas supply pipe.

8. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the second direction is a horizontal direction.

9. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the position of the gas supply is adjustable within a plane being perpendicular to the first direction within a positioning range of ±60 mm.

10. The evaporation apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the first line and the second line are displaced to each other in a range of between 40 mm and about 80 mm.

11. An evaporation apparatus for depositing material on a substrate, comprising:
a first set of evaporation crucibles aligned in a first line along a first direction for generating evaporated material; and
a gas supply pipe coupled to an actuator configured to move the gas supply pipe, the gas supply pipe being arranged between an evaporation crucible of the first set of evaporation crucibles and a substrate,
the actuator being configured to relocated the gas supply pipe within a plane perpendicular to the first direction and configured to rotate the gas supply pipe about a longitudinal axis of the gas supply pipe.

12. The evaporation apparatus of claim 11 , the gas supply pipe further comprising a plurality of adjustable outlets extending in the first direction.

13. The evaporation apparatus of claim 11 , the first line of the first set of evaporation crucibles is defined through the center of at least two of the evaporation crucibles in the first set of evaporation crucibles, the position of the gas supply pipe being adjustable in a second direction different from the first direction.

14. The evaporation apparatus of claim 11 , the position of the gas supply pipe being adjustable within the plane being perpendicular to the first direction within a positioning range of +/−80 mm.

15. The evaporation apparatus of claim 11 further comprising a second set of evaporation crucibles aligned in a second line along the first direction, and the second line of the second set of evaporation crucibles is defined through the center of at least two of the evaporation crucibles in the second set of evaporation crucibles, the first line and the second line being displaced with respect to each other in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc
• Trassl Roland

Inventors

• Trassl Roland

Classifications

• C23C14/0063

  characterised by means for introducing or removing gases · CPC title

• C23C14/562

  for coating elongated substrates · CPC title

• C23C14/081

  of aluminium, magnesium or beryllium · CPC title

• C23C14/0021

  Reactive sputtering or evaporation · CPC title

• C23C14/0084

  Producing gradient compositions · CPC title