JP6468540B2 - Substrate transport mechanism, substrate mounting mechanism, film forming apparatus, and methods thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate transfer apparatus, a mounting apparatus, a film forming apparatus, and a method thereof used for a display panel of an electronic device.

  In recent years, display panels used in organic electronic devices have become thinner, while the size of a single substrate to be cut out for multiple panels is also increasing in order to increase the efficiency of bulk production. . As a method for forming such a large substrate, the substrate is lifted with its outer peripheral portion (peripheral portion) sandwiched and placed on a mask (mounting body) for forming a thin film material layer on the substrate surface. A method of vapor-depositing a material through a mask is known (Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-277655 A

  In the manufacture of thin and large substrates, the influence of deflection due to the weight of the substrate is large. That is, since the film formation region is provided in the central portion of the substrate, the substrate can be sandwiched only at the outer peripheral portion of the substrate. Therefore, when the peripheral portion is sandwiched and lifted, the unsupported central portion is bent. When the substrate is placed on the mask, the placement position may change depending on the degree of deflection because the substrate comes into contact with the mask from the central portion that is bent and protrudes downward. Therefore, it is necessary to perform an alignment process in which the substrate is repeatedly placed on the mask until it can be placed at a desired placement position. The degree of deflection of the substrate varies among individual substrates, and the degree of positional deviation when placed on the mask also changes depending on the degree of clamping by the clamping mechanism.

  The objective of this invention is providing the technique which can reduce the influence of the bending of a board | substrate in conveyance and mounting of a board | substrate.

In order to achieve the above object, the substrate transport mechanism of the present invention comprises:
First support portion supporting the lower surface of the substrate, the relative movement passes between the plurality of the second support portion from a position higher than the plurality of second support portion to the position lower than the second support section Then, the second support portion supports the lower surface of the substrate, the upper surface of the substrate supported by the second support portion is pressed by the pressing portion, and the substrate is pressed against the second support portion and the second support portion. In the substrate transport mechanism sandwiched between
The control unit that controls the relative positions of the first support unit, the second support unit, and the pressing unit is configured so that the pressing unit presses the upper surface after the lower surface is supported by the second support unit. Until the first support portion is positioned between the plurality of second support portions, and after the pressing portion presses the upper surface, the first support portion is relatively moved to the lower position. It is characterized by.
In order to achieve the above object, the substrate mounting mechanism of the present invention comprises:
The substrate transport mechanism;
A mounting body for mounting the substrate;
Have
The control unit controls a relative position between the second support unit and the pressing unit and the mounting body, and the substrate sandwiched between the second support unit and the pressing unit is placed on the mounting body. It is mounted on the top.
In order to achieve the above object, the film forming apparatus of the present invention comprises:
The substrate mounting mechanism having a mask for performing a vapor deposition process for forming a film on the substrate as the mounting body,
A supply source for supplying a deposition material to the substrate placed on the mask through the mask;
A chamber for accommodating the substrate mounting mechanism and the supply source;
It is characterized by having.
In order to achieve the above object, the substrate transport method of the present invention comprises:
A substrate transfer method,
The first support portion supporting the lower surface of the substrate, from a higher position than the plurality of second supporting portions, a delivery step for relatively moving the position between the plurality of the second supporting portion,
While the first support portion is positioned between the plurality of second support portions, the substrate is held by the pressing portion so that the substrate is held between the second support portion and the pressing portion. A clamping step of pressing the upper surface of
When the substrate is sandwiched between the second support portion and the pressing portion, a retreating step of relatively moving the first support portion to a position lower than the second support portion ;
It is characterized by including.
In order to achieve the above object, the substrate mounting method of the present invention comprises:
Each step in the substrate transport method,
A placement step of placing the substrate sandwiched between the second support portion and the pressing portion by the sandwiching step on a placement body;
It is characterized by including.
In order to achieve the above object, the film forming method of the present invention comprises:
Each step in the substrate mounting method,
As the placement step, a placement step of placing the substrate on a mask for performing a vapor deposition process for forming a film on the substrate as the placement body;
A deposition process of supplying a deposition material to the substrate placed on the mask through the mask and performing the deposition process;
It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the influence of the deflection of the substrate in transporting and placing the substrate.

Schematic top view of a part of the electronic device manufacturing equipment Schematic cross-sectional view of film deposition system Perspective view of substrate holding unit Illustration of organic EL display device Schematic diagram of transfer robot Illustration of substrate transfer process Illustration of substrate transfer process Flow chart of film formation process Explanatory drawing of substrate transport mechanism of comparative example

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments and examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the following embodiments and examples are merely illustrative of preferred configurations of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these configurations. In the following description, the hardware configuration and software configuration of the apparatus, processing flow, manufacturing conditions, dimensions, materials, shapes, and the like limit the scope of the present invention only to those unless otherwise specified. It is not intended.

  The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a technique for highly accurate conveyance and position adjustment of a substrate. The present invention can be preferably applied to an apparatus for forming a thin film (material layer) having a desired pattern by vacuum deposition on the surface of a parallel plate substrate. Arbitrary materials such as glass, resin, and metal can be selected as the material of the substrate, and any material such as organic material and inorganic material (metal, metal oxide, etc.) can be selected as the vapor deposition material. Specifically, the technology of the present invention can be applied to manufacturing apparatuses such as organic electronic devices (for example, organic EL display devices, thin film solar cells), optical members, and the like. In particular, the organic EL display device manufacturing apparatus is required to further improve the substrate transport accuracy and the substrate / mask alignment accuracy by increasing the size of the substrate or increasing the definition of the display panel. This is one example.

[Example 1]
<Manufacturing equipment and manufacturing process>
FIG. 1 is a top view schematically showing a part of the configuration of an electronic device manufacturing apparatus. The manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1 is used, for example, for manufacturing a display panel of an organic EL display device for a smartphone. In the case of a display panel for a smartphone, for example, after forming an organic EL film on a substrate having a size of about 1800 mm × about 1500 mm and a thickness of about 0.5 mm, the substrate is diced to produce a plurality of small size panels. The

  An electronic device manufacturing apparatus generally has a plurality of film forming chambers 111 and 112 and a transfer chamber 110 as shown in FIG. In the transfer chamber 110, a transfer robot 119 for holding and transferring the substrate 10 is provided. The transfer robot 119 is, for example, a robot having a structure in which a robot hand for holding a substrate is attached to an articulated arm (details will be described later), and the substrate 10 is carried into and out of each film forming chamber. .

  Each of the film formation chambers 111 and 112 is provided with a film formation apparatus (also referred to as a vapor deposition apparatus). A series of film formation processes such as delivery of the substrate 10 to the transfer robot 119, adjustment of the relative position between the substrate 10 and the mask (alignment), fixation of the substrate 10 on the mask, film formation (evaporation) are performed by the film formation apparatus. Done automatically. The film forming apparatus in each film forming chamber has almost the same basic structure (particularly, the structure related to substrate transport and alignment), although there are differences in details such as the difference in vapor deposition source and mask. . Hereinafter, a common configuration of the film forming apparatuses in the respective film forming chambers will be described.

<Deposition system>
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus. In the following description, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system in which the vertical direction is the Z direction is used. At the time of film formation, the substrate is fixed so as to be parallel to the horizontal plane (XY plane), and the short direction (direction parallel to the short side) of the substrate at this time is the X direction, and the long direction (direction parallel to the long side). ) In the Y direction. The rotation angle around the Z axis is represented by θ.

The film forming apparatus has a vacuum chamber 200. The inside of the vacuum chamber 200 is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere such as nitrogen gas. In the vacuum chamber 200, a substrate holding unit 210, a mask 220, a mask base 221, a cooling plate 230, and a vapor deposition source 240 are generally provided. The substrate holding unit 210 is means for holding and transporting the substrate 10 received from the transport robot 119, and is also called a substrate holder. The mask 220 is a metal mask having an opening pattern corresponding to the thin film pattern formed on the substrate 10, and is fixed on the frame-shaped mask base 221. The substrate 10 is placed on the mask 220 during film formation. Therefore, the mask 220 also serves as a mounting body on which the substrate 10 is mounted. The cooling plate 230 is a member that is in close contact with the substrate 10 (the surface opposite to the mask 220) during film formation and suppresses an increase in temperature of the substrate 10, thereby suppressing deterioration and deterioration of the organic material. The cooling plate 230 may also serve as a magnet plate. The magnet plate is a member that enhances the adhesion between the substrate 10 and the mask 220 during film formation by attracting the mask 220 with a magnetic force. The evaporation source 240 includes an evaporation material, a heater, a shutter, an evaporation source drive mechanism, an evaporation rate monitor, and the like (all not shown).

  A substrate Z actuator 250, a clamp Z actuator 251, a cooling plate Z actuator 252, an X actuator (not shown), a Y actuator (not shown), and a θ actuator (not shown) are provided above (outside) the vacuum chamber 200. ing. These actuators include, for example, a motor and a ball screw, a motor and a linear guide, and the like. The substrate Z actuator 250 is a driving means for moving the entire substrate holding unit 210 up and down (moving in the Z direction). The clamp Z actuator 251 is a driving unit for opening and closing a clamping mechanism (described later) of the substrate holding unit 210. The cooling plate Z actuator 252 is driving means for moving the cooling plate 230 up and down. The X actuator, Y actuator, and θ actuator (hereinafter collectively referred to as “XYθ actuator”) are drive means for alignment of the substrate 10. The XYθ actuator rotates the entire substrate holding unit 210 and the cooling plate 230 in the X direction, the Y direction, and θ rotation. In this embodiment, the X, Y, and θ of the substrate 10 are adjusted with the mask 220 fixed. However, the position of the mask 220 is adjusted, or the positions of both the substrate 10 and the mask 220 are adjusted. By adjusting, the substrate 10 and the mask 220 may be aligned.

  Cameras 260 and 261 for measuring the positions of the substrate 10 and the mask 220 are provided above (outside) the vacuum chamber 200 in order to align the substrate 10 and the mask 220. The cameras 260 and 261 photograph the substrate 10 and the mask 220 through a window provided in the vacuum chamber 200. By recognizing the alignment mark on the substrate 10 and the alignment mark on the mask 220 from the image, each XY position and relative displacement in the XY plane can be measured. In order to achieve high-precision alignment in a short time, a first alignment that roughly aligns (also referred to as “rough alignment”) and a second alignment that aligns with high accuracy (also referred to as “fine alignment”). It is preferable to perform the two-stage alignment. In that case, it is preferable to use two types of cameras, a low-resolution but wide-field first alignment camera 260 and a narrow-field but high-resolution second alignment camera 261. In the present embodiment, for each of the substrate 10 and the mask 220, alignment marks attached to two locations on a pair of opposing sides are measured by two first alignment cameras 260, and the four corners of the substrate 10 and the mask 220 are measured. The alignment marks attached to are measured with four second alignment cameras 261.

  The film forming apparatus includes a control unit 270. The control unit 270 controls the substrate Z actuator 250, the clamp Z actuator 251, the cooling plate Z actuator 252, the XYθ actuator, and the cameras 260 and 261, as well as transport and alignment of the substrate 10, deposition source control, and film formation control. It has functions such as. The control unit 270 can be configured by a computer having a processor, memory, storage, I / O, and the like, for example. In this case, the function of the control unit 270 is realized by the processor executing a program stored in the memory or storage. As the computer, a general-purpose personal computer may be used, or an embedded computer or a PLC (programmable logic controller) may be used. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the control unit 270 may be configured by a circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA. Note that a control unit 270 may be provided for each film forming apparatus, or one control unit 270 may control a plurality of film forming apparatuses.

Note that the components related to the holding / transport and alignment of the substrate 10 (substrate holding unit 2)
10, the substrate Z actuator 250, the clamp Z actuator 251, the XYθ actuator, the cameras 260 and 261, the control unit 270 and the like are also referred to as “substrate mounting device”, “substrate holding device”, “substrate transport device”, and the like.

<Board holding unit>
The configuration of the substrate holding unit 210 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the substrate holding unit 210.

  The substrate holding unit 210 is means for holding and transporting the substrate 10 by holding the peripheral edge portion of the substrate 10 by a holding mechanism. Specifically, the substrate holding unit 210 includes a plurality of support frames 301 provided with a plurality of support tools 300 that support each of the four sides of the substrate 10 from below, and a plurality of the substrate 10 sandwiched between the support tools 300. And a clamp member 303 provided with the pressing tool 302. The pair of support tools 300 and the pressing tool 302 constitute one clamping mechanism. In the example of FIG. 3, three support tools 300 are arranged along the short side of the substrate 10, and six clamping mechanisms (a pair of the support tool 300 and the pressing tool 302) are arranged along the long side. It is configured to sandwich two sides. However, the configuration of the clamping mechanism is not limited to the example of FIG. 3, and the number and arrangement of the clamping mechanisms may be changed as appropriate in accordance with the size and shape of the substrate to be processed or the film formation conditions. The support tool 300 is also called a “receiving claw” or “finger”, and the pressing tool 302 is also called a “clamp”.

  For example, the transfer of the substrate 10 from the transfer robot 119 to the substrate holding unit 210 is performed as follows. First, the clamp member 303 is raised by the clamp Z actuator 251, and the pressing tool 302 is separated from the support tool 300, so that the clamping mechanism is released. After the substrate 10 is introduced between the support tool 300 and the pressing tool 302 by the transport robot 119, the clamp member 303 is lowered by the clamp Z actuator 251, and the pressing tool 302 is pressed against the support tool 300 with a predetermined pressing force. As a result, the substrate 10 is sandwiched between the pressing tool 302 and the support tool 300. In this state, by driving the substrate holding unit 210 by the substrate Z actuator 250, the substrate 10 can be moved up and down (moved in the Z direction). Since the clamp Z actuator 251 is raised / lowered together with the substrate holding unit 210, the state of the clamping mechanism does not change even when the substrate holding unit 210 is raised / lowered.

  3 indicates a second alignment alignment mark attached to the four corners of the substrate 10, and reference numeral 102 indicates a first alignment alignment mark attached to the center of the short side of the substrate 10. Show.

<Example of Manufacturing Method of Electronic Device>
Next, an example of an electronic device manufacturing method using the film forming apparatus of the present embodiment will be described. Hereinafter, as an example of an electronic device, a configuration and a manufacturing method of an organic EL display device will be exemplified.
First, an organic EL display device to be manufactured will be described. 4A shows an overall view of the organic EL display device 60, and FIG. 4B shows a cross-sectional structure of one pixel.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, in the display area 61 of the organic EL display device 60, a plurality of pixels 62 each including a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a matrix. Although details will be described later, each of the light-emitting elements has a structure including an organic layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. Here, the pixel refers to a minimum unit that enables display of a desired color in the display area 61. In the case of the organic EL display device according to this example, the pixel 62 is configured by a combination of the first light emitting element 62R, the second light emitting element 62G, and the third light emitting element 62B that emit different light. The pixel 62 is often composed of a combination of a red light emitting element, a green light emitting element, and a blue light emitting element, but may be a combination of a yellow light emitting element, a cyan light emitting element, and a white light emitting element. It is not limited.

  FIG. 4B is a schematic partial cross-sectional view taken along the line AB of FIG. The pixel 62 includes a first electrode (anode) 64, a hole transport layer 65, one of the light emitting layers 66 </ b> R, 66 </ b> G, and 66 </ b> B, an electron transport layer 67, and a second electrode (cathode) 68 on a substrate 63. And an organic EL element. Among these, the hole transport layer 65, the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B, and the electron transport layer 67 correspond to the organic layer. In the present embodiment, the light emitting layer 66R is an organic EL layer that emits red, the light emitting layer 66G is an organic EL layer that emits green, and the light emitting layer 66B is an organic EL layer that emits blue. The light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B are formed in patterns corresponding to light emitting elements that emit red, green, and blue (sometimes referred to as organic EL elements). The first electrode 64 is formed separately for each light emitting element. The hole transport layer 65, the electron transport layer 67, and the second electrode 68 may be formed in common with the plurality of light emitting elements 62R, 66G, and 66B, or may be formed for each light emitting element. Note that an insulating layer 69 is provided between the first electrodes 64 in order to prevent the first electrode 64 and the second electrode 68 from being short-circuited by foreign matter. Furthermore, since the organic EL layer is deteriorated by moisture and oxygen, a protective layer 70 for protecting the organic EL element from moisture and oxygen is provided.

  In order to form the organic EL layer in units of light emitting elements, a method of forming a film through a mask is used. In recent years, display devices have been improved in definition, and a mask having an opening width of several tens of μm is used for forming an organic EL layer. In the case of film formation using such a mask, if the mask receives heat from the evaporation source during film formation and is thermally deformed, the position of the mask and the substrate is shifted, and the pattern of the thin film formed on the substrate is desired. It will be formed out of position. Therefore, a film forming apparatus (vacuum evaporation apparatus) according to the present invention is suitably used for forming these organic EL layers.

  Next, an example of a method for manufacturing an organic EL display device will be specifically described.

First, a circuit (not shown) for driving the organic EL display device and a substrate 63 on which the first electrode 64 is formed are prepared.
An acrylic resin is formed by spin coating on the substrate 63 on which the first electrode 64 is formed, and the acrylic resin is patterned by a lithography method so that an opening is formed in a portion where the first electrode 64 is formed. 69 is formed. This opening corresponds to a light emitting region where the light emitting element actually emits light.
The substrate 63 patterned with the insulating layer 69 is carried into the first film formation apparatus, the substrate is held by the substrate holding unit, and the hole transport layer 65 is a common layer on the first electrode 64 in the display region. As a film formation. The hole transport layer 65 is formed by vacuum deposition. Actually, since the hole transport layer 65 is formed in a size larger than the display region 61, a high-definition mask is not necessary.

Next, the substrate 63 on which the hole transport layer 65 is formed is carried into the second film forming apparatus and held by the substrate holding unit. The substrate and the mask are aligned, the substrate is placed on the mask, and the light emitting layer 66R that emits red is formed on the portion of the substrate 63 where the element that emits red is disposed. According to this example, the mask and the substrate can be satisfactorily overlapped, and highly accurate film formation can be performed.
Similarly to the formation of the light emitting layer 66R, the light emitting layer 66G that emits green is formed by the third film forming apparatus, and the light emitting layer 66B that emits blue is formed by the fourth film forming apparatus. After the formation of the light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B is completed, the electron transport layer 67 is formed on the entire display region 61 by the fifth film formation apparatus. The electron transport layer 67 is formed as a layer common to the three-color light emitting layers 66R, 66G, and 66B.
The substrate on which the electron transport layer 67 has been formed is moved to the sputtering apparatus, the second electrode 68 is formed, and then the protective layer 70 is formed by moving to the plasma CVD apparatus, whereby the organic EL display device 60 is completed. To do.

From when the substrate 63 with the insulating layer 69 patterned is carried into the film formation apparatus until the film formation of the protective layer 70 is completed, if the light emitting layer made of an organic EL material is exposed to an atmosphere containing moisture or oxygen, There is a risk of deterioration due to moisture and oxygen. Therefore, in this example, the carrying-in / out of the substrate between the film forming apparatuses is performed in a vacuum atmosphere or an inert gas atmosphere.
In the organic EL display device thus obtained, a light emitting layer is accurately formed for each light emitting element. Therefore, if the manufacturing method is used, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of defects in the organic EL display device due to the displacement of the light emitting layer.

<Substrate transport mechanism (substrate transport method)>
A characteristic configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment is characterized in how the substrate 10 is transferred when the transfer robot 119 transfers the substrate 10 to the substrate holding unit 210 in the vacuum chamber 200 in the film forming apparatuses 111 and 112. More specifically, the substrate 10 carried by the transfer robot 119 is introduced between the support tool 300 and the pressing tool 302 of the substrate holding unit 210 and is held between the pressing tool 302 and the support tool 300. This is how the substrate 10 is delivered.

(Robot arm configuration)
The configuration of the transfer robot 119 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A is a schematic plan view of the transfer robot 119. FIG. 5B is a schematic side view of the transfer robot 119. Note that the configuration of the transfer robot (the configuration of the robot arm and the robot hand) described here is merely an example, and is not limited to such a configuration.
The transfer robot 119 generally includes a robot hand 90 for carrying the substrate 10 and a robot arm 91 for freely moving the robot hand 90 to an arbitrary position in XYZ orthogonal coordinates.

The robot arm 91 includes a base 910 fixedly installed on the installation surface of the transfer chamber 110, and arms 911, 912, 913 sequentially connected to the base 910 via joints 920, 921, 922. The first arm 911 is connected to the base 910 via the first joint 920 so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the installation surface (Z direction). The second arm 912 extends in the direction perpendicular to the installation surface (Z direction) via the second joint 921 with respect to the first arm 911 and via the third joint 922 with respect to the third arm 913, respectively. It is connected so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis. A robot hand 90 is connected to the tip of the third arm 913. The horizontal position (XY coordinates) of the robot hand 90 can be arbitrarily displaced by a combination of rotations of the arms 911 to 913.
The first arm 911 is configured to be movable up and down in the direction along the joint 920 with respect to the base 910 (in the direction of arrow Z1 in the figure). By raising and lowering the first arm 911, the second arm 912 and the third arm 913 are also raised and lowered, thereby changing the height of the robot hand 90 and changing the height of the substrate 10 (in the direction of arrow Z2 in the figure). .

  The robot hand 90 includes a spine rod 901 extending from the tip of the third arm 913 and a plurality of rib rods 902 extending from both side surfaces of the spine rod 901 in a direction perpendicular to the spine rod 901. A plurality of pads 903 (first support portions) for supporting the lower surface of the substrate 10 are provided on the upper surface of the rib rod 902. The pads 903 are made of an elastic member such as silicone rubber so as to be supported without damaging the substrate surface, and a plurality of pads 903 are provided in consideration of the deflection of the substrate 10.

(Delivery of board)
The transfer of the substrate 10 from the transfer robot 119 to the substrate holding unit 210 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, in order to transfer the substrate 10 from the robot hand 90 to the substrate holding unit 210, a configuration for controlling the relative position between the robot hand 90 (pad 903) and the substrate holding unit 210 (supporting tool 300, pressing tool 302), that is, The transfer robot 119 (robot arm 91), the control unit 270, and the like correspond to the control unit of the present invention.

  In general, the substrate 10 is transferred by a configuration in which the robot hand 90 (pad 903) supporting the substrate 10 is relatively moved from a position higher than the support 300 to a lower position to support the substrate 10 so that the robot hand 90 is supported. This is done by switching from the support tool 300 to the support tool 300. In this embodiment, the robot hand 90 moves relative to the stationary substrate holding unit 210 to change the relative position between the two, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. In other words, the robot hand 90 may be configured to change (relatively move) the relative positions of the substrate holding unit 210 by moving without moving, or by moving both.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing the state of substrate delivery in time series. 6A shows a state before the substrate 10 is carried in, FIG. 6B shows a state after the substrate 10 is carried in and before the holding of the substrate 10 by the holding mechanism, and FIG. 6C shows that the substrate 10 is held by the holding mechanism. Later, each state is shown.
FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing how the substrates are transferred in time series. FIG. 7A shows a state immediately after the robot hand 90 accesses the inside of the substrate holding unit 210 (before the substrate 10 is transferred to the support 300) (first relative position). FIG. 7B shows a state in which the transport robot 90 has been lowered to a height at which the pad 903 is positioned between the adjacent support members 300, and the lowering operation has been temporarily stopped (second relative position). FIG. 7C shows a state in which the pressing tool 302 is lowered to press the upper surface of the substrate 10 and the substrate 10 is held between the supporting tool 300 (third relative position). FIG. 7D shows a state in which the robot hand 90 (pad 903) is separated (retracted) from the position where the robot 10 is supported (fourth relative position).
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the film forming process including the substrate transfer flow in which the transfer robot 119 transfers the substrate 10 to the substrate holding unit 210 described above.

  First, the control unit 270 operates the transfer robot 119 (robot arm 91) to introduce the robot hand 90 carrying the substrate 10 into the vacuum chamber 200 (FIG. 8, S101). As shown in FIGS. 6A, 6 </ b> B, and 7 </ b> A, the robot hand 90 has a support tool 300 (second support part) and a pressing tool 302 (pressing part) with respect to the substrate holding unit 210. Is inserted at a predetermined height, that is, above the support tool 300 and below the pressing tool 302 (pressing portion). The substrate 10 is supported by only the pad 903 of the robot hand 90.

  Next, as a delivery process, the control unit 270 operates the transport robot 119 to start the lowering of the robot hand 90 (FIG. 8, S102). Then, as shown in FIG. 7B, the robot hand 90 moves down to a position where the substrate support surface (upper surface) of the pad 903 is substantially the same height as the substrate support surface (upper surface) of the support 300, It stops at the position (FIG. 8, S103). As a result, the substrate 10 is supported by both the support portions of the pad 903 and the support tool 300. This support state eliminates or reduces the deflection of the substrate 10 that occurs when the pad 903 alone is supported.

Next, as a clamping process, the control unit 270 controls the lifting mechanism (clamp Z actuator 251) of the pressing tool 302 to lower the pressing tool 302 to a position where the upper surface of the substrate 10 is pressed (S104 in FIG. 8). As shown in FIGS. 6C and 7C, the pressing tool 302 that was in the non-pressing position is lowered to the pressing position, and the substrate 10 that is supported by both the support portions of the pad 903 and the supporting tool 300. The upper surface is pressed so as to be sandwiched between the support tool 300. As a result, the substrate 10 is held by the substrate holding unit 210 by the holding mechanism including the support tool 300 and the pressing tool 302. In this way, by sandwiching the substrate 10 in a state of being supported by both the support portions of the pad 903 and the support tool 300, the substrate 10 can be sandwiched with little or no deflection.

  Next, the control unit 270 operates the transfer robot 119 as a retreating process to restart the lowering operation of the robot hand 90 (FIG. 8, S105), and when the control unit 270 is lowered to a predetermined height, the controller 270 leaves the vacuum chamber 200 (FIG. 8). 8, S106). As shown in FIG. 7D, the robot hand 90 moves down to a position where the pad 903 is lower than the support 300, that is, a position where the substrate 10 is not supported, the delivery of the substrate 10 is completed, and the robot hand 90 leaves the vacuum chamber 200. . Thereafter, the alignment step in the above-described film forming process is started as a placing step (FIG. 8, S107). That is, in the placing step of placing the substrate 10 on the mask 220 for performing a vapor deposition process for forming a film on the substrate 10, the placement position of the substrate 10 with respect to the upper surface of the mask 220 (substrate placing surface) is predetermined. Repeat until the mounting position is reached. When the alignment process is completed, a vapor deposition process for supplying a vapor deposition material to the substrate 10 from the vapor deposition source 240 (supply source) via the mask 220 and performing a vapor deposition process is started (FIG. 8, S108). Subsequent steps are as described above.

<Excellent points of this embodiment>
As described above, this embodiment is characterized in that the support state of the substrate 10 by the robot hand 90 (pad 903) is maintained when the substrate 10 is sandwiched between the support tool 300 and the pressing tool 302. The effect of this feature will be described in comparison with a comparative example. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a substrate transport mechanism (substrate transport method) of a comparative example. FIG. 9A shows a state after the substrate 10 is transferred from the robot hand 90 to the support tool 300, and the pressing tool 302 is not lowered to the pressing position (non-clamping state). FIG. These respectively show the state where the pressing tool 302 is lowered to the pressing position (clamping state).

  In the comparative example, in the substrate delivery operation of the robot hand 90, when the robot hand 90 is moved relative to the support tool 300 from a position higher than the support tool 300 to a lower position, the lowering operation of the robot hand 90 is not stopped. It has a configuration. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 9A, after the substrate 10 is transferred from the robot hand 90 (pad 903) to the support tool 300, the substrate 10 is supported by the support tool 300 before the pressing tool 302 is lowered to the pressing position. A state where only 300 is supported occurs. For this reason, the substrate 10 may bend between the adjacent supports 300. When the pressing tool 302 presses the upper surface of the substrate 10 and clamps the substrate 10 with the support tool 300 in this state, the substrate 10 is clamped in a state where deflection occurs as shown in FIG. 9B. It will be. When pinching is performed in such a bent state, there are cases where pinching cannot be performed well, and variations in pinching state occur. Further, in the clamping state with the above-described deflection, if the process proceeds to the subsequent alignment process, there is a possibility that the variation in the mounting position in the first mounting operation (first alignment) in the alignment process becomes large. is there. As a result, there is a possibility that the number of repetitions of the mounting operation in the alignment process increases.

  On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the robot hand 90 supports the substrate until the substrate 10 is sandwiched between the support tool 300 and the pressing tool 302, whereby FIG. ), The substrate 10 can be sandwiched with little or no deflection. The clamping operation can be performed stably, and variations in the clamping state can be reduced. Since the operation of the robot hand 90 is temporarily stopped, the tact time in the substrate transport process increases, but in the subsequent alignment process, variation in the placement position of the substrate 10 with respect to the mask 220 in the first alignment is suppressed. Become. Accordingly, the tact time of the entire film forming process including the substrate placing process and the subsequent vapor deposition process is reduced.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the descent operation of the robot hand 90 is stopped, and a stationary state in which the substrate 10 is supported by both the support portions of the pad 903 and the support 300 is formed, so that it is supported only by the pad 903. It is possible to eliminate the deflection of the substrate 10 that has occurred when the substrate was touched.

  In this embodiment, the lowering operation of the robot hand 90 is temporarily stopped. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the lowering speed of the robot hand 90 is reduced, and the pad 903 is lowered at a low speed so that the pad 903 can support the lower surface of the substrate 10 (suppress deflection) until the pressing unit 303 presses the upper surface of the substrate 10. The operation may be continued.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Board | substrate, 300 ... Support tool (2nd support part), 302 ... Press tool (press part), 90 ... Robot hand, 902 ... Rib rod (1st support part), 903 ... Pad (1st support part)

Claims (20)

First support portion supporting the lower surface of the substrate, the relative movement passes between the plurality of the second support portion from a position higher than the plurality of second support portion to the position lower than the second support section Then, the second support portion supports the lower surface of the substrate, the upper surface of the substrate supported by the second support portion is pressed by the pressing portion, and the substrate is pressed against the second support portion and the second support portion. In the substrate transport mechanism sandwiched between
The control unit that controls the relative positions of the first support unit, the second support unit, and the pressing unit is configured so that the pressing unit presses the upper surface after the lower surface is supported by the second support unit. Until the first support portion is positioned between the plurality of second support portions, and after the pressing portion presses the upper surface, the first support portion is relatively moved to the lower position. A substrate transport mechanism.   The lower surface is supported by the first support portion and the second support portion after the lower surface is supported by the second support portion until the pressing portion presses the upper surface. The substrate transport mechanism according to claim 1. During the pre-Symbol from a lower surface in a state in which the second supporting part to support to the pressing portion presses the upper surface, the first support and the second support portion is positioned at the same height The substrate transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transport mechanism is provided.   The control unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit temporarily stops the first support unit when the control unit is positioned between the plurality of second support units in the relative movement. The board | substrate conveyance mechanism of description. The control unit determines the relative position,
A first relative position in which the first support portion is at a higher position than the second support portion, and the pressing portion is in a non-pressing position where the substrate is not pressed;
A second relative position in which the first support portion is positioned between the plurality of second support portions, and the pressing portion is in the non-pressing position;
A third relative position in which the first support portion is positioned between the plurality of second support portions, and the pressing portion is in a pressing position for pressing the substrate;
A fourth relative position in which the first support portion is at a position lower than the second support portion, and the pressing portion is in the pressing position;
The substrate transport mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transport mechanism is sequentially changed.   The substrate transport mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the low position is a position where the first support portion does not support the lower surface of the substrate. The substrate transfer mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A mounting body for mounting the substrate;
Have
The control unit controls a relative position between the second support unit and the pressing unit and the mounting body, and the substrate sandwiched between the second support unit and the pressing unit is placed on the mounting body. A substrate placement mechanism characterized by being placed on top.   The control unit moves the substrate sandwiched between the second support unit and the pressing unit relative to each other in a direction perpendicular to a mounting surface on which the substrate is mounted in the mounting body. 8. The substrate mounting mechanism according to claim 7, wherein the mounting operation of mounting on the mounting surface is repeated until the mounting position of the substrate with respect to the mounting surface becomes a predetermined mounting position. The substrate mounting mechanism according to claim 7 or 8, comprising a mask for performing a vapor deposition process for forming a film on the substrate as the mounting body.
A supply source for supplying a deposition material to the substrate placed on the mask through the mask;
A chamber for accommodating the substrate mounting mechanism and the supply source;
A film forming apparatus comprising: A substrate transfer method,
The first support portion supporting the lower surface of the substrate, from a higher position than the plurality of second supporting portions, a delivery step for relatively moving the position between the plurality of the second supporting portion,
While the first support portion is positioned between the plurality of second support portions, the substrate is held by the pressing portion so that the substrate is held between the second support portion and the pressing portion. A clamping step of pressing the upper surface of
When the substrate is sandwiched between the second support portion and the pressing portion, a retreating step of relatively moving the first support portion to a position lower than the second support portion ;
The board | substrate conveyance method characterized by including.   The substrate transfer method according to claim 10, wherein in the delivery step, the lower surface of the substrate is supported by the first support portion and the second support portion. In the delivery step, before Symbol substrate transfer method according to claim 10 or 11 a first supporting portion and the second supporting portion, characterized in that the same height.   The substrate transfer method according to claim 10, wherein, in the clamping step, a relative position between the first support portion and the second support portion is not changed. In the retracted step, before Symbol lower position, substrate transfer method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, wherein the first support portion is characterized in that it is a position that does not support the lower surface of the substrate. Each process in the board | substrate conveyance method of any one of Claims 10-14,
A placement step of placing the substrate sandwiched between the second support portion and the pressing portion by the sandwiching step on a placement body;
A substrate mounting method comprising:   In the placing step, the substrate sandwiched between the second support portion and the pressing portion is relatively moved in a direction perpendicular to a placement surface on which the substrate is placed in the placement body, The substrate placement method according to claim 15, wherein the placement operation of placing on the placement surface is repeated until the placement position of the substrate with respect to the placement surface becomes a predetermined placement position. Each process in the substrate mounting method according to claim 15 or 16,
As the placement step, a placement step of placing the substrate on a mask for performing a vapor deposition process for forming a film on the substrate as the placement body;
A deposition process of supplying a deposition material to the substrate placed on the mask through the mask and performing the deposition process;
A film forming method comprising: A method of manufacturing an electronic device having at least one of an organic film and a metal film formed on a substrate,
18. The method of manufacturing an electronic device, wherein the at least one film is formed by the film forming method according to claim 17. Each process in the substrate mounting method according to claim 15 or 16,
Forming a film on the substrate;
The manufacturing method of the electronic device characterized by the above-mentioned.   The method of manufacturing an electronic device according to claim 18, wherein the electronic device is a display panel of an organic EL display device.